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Joseph A. Neal
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Missouri - Columbia
Dr. Frank Feng
Abstract
Measuring temperature distributions across a material is applicable in multiple arenas. Specifically, it has applications within Department of Defense (DOD) programs researching the use of directed energy for missile defense. Often, to measure temperature distributions, many conventional thermocouples attached to the back of a material output voltages directly corresponding to temperature changes. Research is being conducted to determine more convenient and accurate ways to measure temperature distributions, such as investigating the use of intrinsic thermocouples. Rather than using two dissimilar wires to make a thermocouple, an intrinsic thermocouple is made of single wires and a plate of a different metal (the material of which the temperature distribution is being measured across). Using a hot plate, an intrinsic thermocouple made of an aluminum alloy 2024 plate and chromel wires was tested. The wires were spot welded into a 4x4 array in the middle of the plate. The intrinsic thermocouple was connected to a Multifunction Input/Output (I/O) box hooked up to a computer through a USB port. Tests were conducted by measuring voltage outputs from the intrinsic thermocouple in response to temperature changes provided by altering the hot plate temperature. A Type K thermocouple attached to an 80 TK thermocouple converter measured plate surface temperature. Test data indicates a consistent linear relationship between voltage and temperature. These results suggest intrinsic thermocouples are viable options for measuring temperature distributions. With more refinement, they could be integral to the DOD's testing programs to explore how materials react to laser heating (directed energy).
Joe Neal is a junior at the University of Missouri and will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with an aerospace emphasis in May 2012. Joe was born in Columbia, MO, and has lived there his entire life. He was valedictorian of his high school class of 550 students and has maintained a 3.925 GPA throughout his college career. Joe has conducted undergraduate research each semester in college and last summer he interned at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; working in the propulsion systems department. He will be interning at DRS Technologies in St. Louis this summer. Joe plans to attend graduate school at some point for an advanced aeronautical engineering degree and hopes to get a job in the aeronautical engineering field.
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