Calibration of a silver thin film gauge for short duration convective step heat load

Abstract

Thin film gauges (TFGs) are a promising candidate for measuring transient heat fluxes in the applications involving very short duration of heating environment. They are basically resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) having the capability of responding in the range of few microseconds. In the present study, a silver thin film gauge (STFG) is fabricated and calibrated in-house with a view to assess the performance of STFGs in dynamic environment. Convective heat load is supplied by a hot-air gun where the heated air jet strikes the gauge and its response is obtained through voltage signal. Subsequently, the surface heat fluxes are estimated by using one dimensional heat conduction modeling. The similar experimental environment is studied to obtain the flow behavior of hot-air jet emanating into atmosphere by using numerical simulations. The self-similar velocities are plotted as well as the interference of outer domain into the experiment parameters has been studied. Ultimately, the surface heat fluxes obtained from various methods are compared to analyse the performance of this hand-made STFG. This study reveals the ability of STFGs to be used in practical short duration transient situations.