A New Experimental Technique for Measuring Surface Heat Transfer Coefficients Using Uncalibrated Liquid Crystals

A new experimental technique has been developed that permits the determination of local surface heat transfer coefficients on surfaces without requirement for calibration of the temperature-sensing device. The technique uses the phase delay that develops between the surface temperature response and an imposed periodic surface heat flux. This phase delay is dependent upon the thermophysical properties of the model, the heat flux driving frequency and the local heat transfer coefficient. It is not a function of magnitude of the local heat flux. Since only phase differences are being measured there is no requirement to calibrate the temperature sensor, in this instance a thermochromic liquid crystal. Application of a periodic surface heat flux to a flat plate resulted in a surface colour response that was a function of time. This response was captured using a standard colour CCD camera and the phase delay angles were determined using Fourier analysis. Only the 8 bit G component of the captured RGB signal was required, there being no need to determine a Hue value. From these experimentally obtained phase delay angles it was possible to determine heat transfer coefficients that compared well with those predicted using a standard correlation.