Thermochromic Liquid Crystal Material Research Articles

Identifying a Unique Communication Mechanism of Thermochromic Liquid Crystal Printing Ink

Thermochromic liquid crystal materials are commonly used in printing inks, opening up a wide range of possible applications. In order to ensure and control the most accurate application, the occurrence of the so-called colour play effect, i.e., the appearance of iridescent (rainbow) colours as a function of temperature, must be determined precisely. For this purpose, the temperature-dependent reflection of a sample must be measured using a spectrometer with an integrating sphere. The same values should be obtained for each sample containing the same thermochromic liquid crystalline material, irrespective of the spectrometer used, integrating sphere, layer thickness and the surface properties of the substrate. To describe this intrinsic property of the thermochromic liquid crystal material, the term communication mechanism might be considered. The research has shown how this mechanism is obtained experimentally.

Liquid Crystal Thermography Measurement Uncertainty Analysis and Its Application to Turbulent Heat Transfer Measurements

Liquid crystal thermography is an advanced nonintrusive measurement technique, which is capable of providing a high-accuracy continuous temperature field measurement, especially for a complex structured heat transfer surface. The first part of the paper presents a comprehensive introduction to the thermochromic liquid crystal material and the related liquid crystal thermography technique. Then, based on the aythors' experiences in using the liquid crystal thermography for the heat transfer measurement, the parameters affecting the measurement uncertainty of the liquid crystal thermography have been discussed in detail through an experimental study. The final part of the paper describes the applications of the steady and transient liquid crystal thermography technique in the study of the turbulent flow heat transfer related to the aeroengine turbine blade cooling.

The use of a segmented transducer for rib sparing in HIFU treatments

The use of focused ultrasound as a minimally invasive treatment for tumours is rapidly expanding. Target organs include the liver and kidneys. Both single element and phased array transducers may be used in the clinic. The presence of the rib cage presents a problem in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment planning, due to its high attenuation of the HIFU beam resulting in a loss of power at the focus as well as an increase in the risk of damage at the rib and to overlying tissues, including the skin. In this paper, a linearly segmented transducer, in which all active elements are driven in phase, has been investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate how a beam with a clinically useful profile could be achieved by removing the contribution of edge segments from one side of the transducer to the field. We have considered the case in which the HIFU beam approaches the rib cage during a treatment and investigated configurations of the transducer for which up to three segments on the edge are switched off. This problem has been studied initially using a linear acoustic field program to model the segmented transducer’s acoustic beam profile. Experimental measurements of the transducer’s acoustic field were performed using an automated beam plotting system. Temperature measurements were made on a rib surface for two transducer configurations using a fine wire thermocouple. A thermochromic liquid crystal material was used to assess qualitatively the heating pattern generated by the ultrasound beam. We show the rib sparing potential of the segmented transducer during HIFU treatment by demonstrating a reduction in the prefocal width of the ultrasound beam when edge segments are switched off. This has been predicted with the acoustic field model and demonstrated experimentally by acoustic field measurements and observations of the heating pattern generated by the ultrasound beam. A significant decrease in the temperature rise on a rib was observed in the case for which three edge segments were switched off compared with when all segments were active. We conclude that a segmented transducer extends the potential for treating liver tumours. In the case where the tumour lies behind, but close to the edge of, the ribs, energy loss at the focus and excessive heating in the rib and overlying tissue can be avoided by switching off edge segments. (E-mail: john.civale@icr.ac.uk)

Local Heat Transfer Measurements on a Curved Microsurface Using Liquid Crystal Thermography

In this paper, local heat transfer measurements in circular mini- and microchannels are presented through the use of unencapsulated thermochromic liquid crystals for local wall temperature measurement Microchannel heat transfer is fundamental to the design of a number of novel technologies in development for thermal control. Measurements are carried out in three different stainless steel tubes with nominal inner diameters of 1.07, 0.51, and 0.25 mm. The working fluids are distilled water and FC-72. A unique localized calibration of the thermochromic liquid crystal material is employed to minimize the effects of lighting nonuniformity and the effect of variable coating thickness. Local heat transfer and frictional pressure drop measurements are presented for the laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow regimes. The results are compared with correlations for both macro- and microchannels in the turbulent regime and show that, considering experimental uncertainty, both correlations are adequate for the experimental range investigated. Overall, the methods developed in this work demonstrate that the unencapsulated forms of thermochromic liquid crystals are a viable approach for temperature measurement in microheat transfer experiments.

A Novel Liquid Crystal Image Processing Technique Using Multiple Gas Temperature Steps to Determine Heat Transfer Coefficient Distribution and Adiabatic Wall Temperature

This paper presents a novel experimental technique, which combines thermochromic liquid crystals with multiple steps in gas temperature, to determine heat transfer coefficient and adiabatic wall temperature distributions. The transient heat transfer experiments have been conducted on a flat plate using the low-temperature analogue of an ISO standard propane-air burner commonly used in aero-engine fire certification. The technique involves the measurement of the surface temperature response of an insulating model to a change in gas temperature. A coating comprising more than one thermochromic liquid crystal material is used to increase the range of the surface measurement and this is combined with multiple step changes in gas temperature. These measures induce several peaks in liquid crystal intensity throughout the transient experiment and these are shown to improve the accuracy. The current technique employs useful data from both the heating and cooling phases in the heat transfer test. To the authors’ knowledge, this has not been investigated before and it is likely to be very useful for other applications of the liquid crystal transient heat transfer experiment. The uncertainties in all measurements have been quantified and are presented in this paper.

Liquid Flow and Vapor Formation Phenomena in a Flat Heat Pipe

The design and construction of a novel heat pipe apparatus is described, and results from experiments that employed the apparatus are presented. The apparatus is designed to permit visual and photographic study of liquid flow and vapor formation within the heat pipe wick structure, artery, and vapor flow channel. The vapor temperature field in the vapor flow channel is displayed by use of thermochromic liquid crystal material. Liquid and vapor flow phenomena observed during normal and the approach to boiling-limited heat pipe operation are described.