Study of Temperature Measurement Accuracy by Using Different Mounting Adhesives

Abstract

Thermal compounds are adhesive used to improve heat conduction between two surfaces. It can be used to secure a thermocouple to a surface which the temperature is being measured. This paper studies the temperature accuracy when using different types of thermal adhesives to secure thermocouples to a metal surface. An aluminum block attached to heater resistors was heated up by supplying varying power levels to create different temperatures. The measured temperature is compared to a reference thermocouple in the aluminum block to check the accuracy of each thermocouple when it is secured with different adhesives. It was found using the Loctite 3873 to secure a thermocouple to a metal surface will produce the most accurate temperature reading with an error below 2.6°C. This enables researchers to use the appropriate adhesive to obtain the most accurate results and also to know what are the errors contributed by different adhesives.