Development of techniques to determine temperature coefficient of resistance

The focus of this thesis was to develop a simple, repeatable method for characterizing the relationship of different materials' electrical resistance with respect to temperature. A measurement of this relationship is the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). Determining the TCR allows a material to be used as a temperature probe and can be utilized in thermal conductivity measurements. The test apparatus and measurement setup proved capable of determining the temperature coefficients of resistance of a copper-alloy wire and a carbon film resistor, giving TCR values of 0.0036 1/K and -0.00014 1/K, which was consistent with their published values. The work of this project aims to aid in the development of a micro-cooling system, which uses polycarbonate for its heat exchanger at cryogenic temperatures. A potential carbon film temperature probe was tested, but was found to be unfit for the intended use as a temperature probe on a polycarbonate surface due to catastrophic failures in the film, most likely caused by the different thermal expansion rates of the carbon and polycarbonate. Further research should be conducted to first find a more suitable temperature probe for polycarbonate and then conduct tests at cryogenic temperatures.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Seo, Scott Y.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John G. Brisson.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123270

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123270