A Miniaturized 3D Heat Flux Sensor to Characterize Heat Transfer in Regolith of Planets and Small Bodies.

Manuel Domínguez-Pumar,Joan Pons-Nin,Vicente Jiménez,Jose-Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi,Sandra Bermejo

doi:10.3390/s20154135

Manuel Domínguez-Pumar, Joan Pons-Nin + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s20154135

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Abstract

The objective of this work is to present the first analytical and experimental results obtained with a 3D heat flux sensor for planetary regolith. The proposed structure, a sphere divided in four sectors, is sensible to heat flow magnitude and angle. Each sector includes a platinum resistor that is used both to sense its temperature and provide heating power. By operating the sectors at constant temperature, the sensor gives a response that is proportional to the heat flux vector in the regolith. The response of the sensor is therefore independent of the thermal conductivity of the regolith. A complete analytical solution of the response of the sensor is presented. The sensor may be used to provide information on the instantaneous local thermal environment surrounding a lander in planetary exploration or in small bodies like asteroids. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first sensor capable of measuring local 3D heat flux.

Highlights

Many physical and chemical processes are strongly dependent on thermal energy transfer manifested in temperature and heat flux changes
The objective of this paper is to present the first 3D heat flux sensor for planetary regolith
A polystyrene structure has been built to house the regolith simulant, which is made of solid glass micro-beads with diameters in the range 40–70 μm and with a thermal conductivity of 0.1–0.2 W/(mK), depending on the porosity [44]

Summary

Introduction

Many physical and chemical processes are strongly dependent on thermal energy transfer manifested in temperature and heat flux changes. Temperature changes are usually the result of changes in heat flux patterns. Heat flux is a measure of the thermal energy transfer associated with the conduction, convection and radiation mechanisms [1,2]. Other more complex phenomena such as phase changes [3,4], chemical reactions [5], or even magnetic effects [6] may be involved. Measurement of heat flux is one of the key physical parameters to monitor in many applications [7,8,9,10,11]

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