Distortion in Thermal Field Around Inserted Thermocouples in Experimental Interfacial Studies

Abstract

The disturbance in a two-dimensional steady temperature field due to the presence of a thermocouple void is investigated. The void is located at a distance from an isothermal surface in a direction perpendicular to the heat flow lines. Using the electrical analog method, a computer-aided scanning and measurement system was developed for this study. The following two effects are investigated: (a) the change in the temperature field with the change in the distance between the void and the isothermal boundary. This allows us to define the location of the quasi-null point, (b) the interaction between two adjacent voids located along the direction of the heat flow; an aspect which has not been studied before. The results of this study are presented in a dimensionless form in terms of the contour maps of the disturbed temperature field and the temperature difference field. Estimates of the temperature measurement errors due to the above effects are presented.