SEDL / STP / STP885-EB / STP32927S

Modeling of Heat Flux Distortion Around Heat Flux Sensors

Apthorp, DM
Consulting engineer, Cambridge Consultants, Cambridge,

Bligh, TP
Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Pages: 20    Published: Jan 1985

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Abstract

The effect of a heat flux sensor on the heat transfer in the material surrounding the sensor has been studied in detail, and a steady-state finite difference computer model has been written to predict the ratio of the heat flux through the sensor to the undisturbed flux in the material surrounding the sensor, qs/qm, as a function of the ratio of the thermal conductivity of the sensor to that of the surrounding material, , as a function of the ratio of the thermal conductivity of the sensor to that of the surrounding material, ks/km, and the geometry of the situation. The results of the program show that , and the geometry of the situation. The results of the program show that qs/qm is a strong function of is a strong function of ks/km, varying from 0.37 to 1.31 as , varying from 0.37 to 1.31 as ks/km varies from 0.1 (concrete) to 10.0 (polystyrene) for a typical sensor in the center of surroundings 25.4 mm thick.