title: Feasibility Test of a Liquid Film Thickness Sensor on a Flexible Printed Circuit Board Using a Three-Electrode Conductance Method.
abstract: Liquid film thickness measurements under temperature-varying conditions in a two-phase flow are of great importance to refining our understanding of two-phase flows. In order to overcome the limitations of the conventional electrical means of measuring the thickness of a liquid film, this study proposes a three-electrode conductance method, with the device fabricated on a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB). The three-electrode conductance method offers the advantage of applicability under conditions with varying temperatures in principle, while the FPCB has the advantage of usability on curved surfaces and in relatively high-temperature conditions in comparison with sensors based on a printed circuit board (PCB). Two types of prototype sensors were fabricated on an FPCB and the feasibility of both was confirmed in a calibration test conducted at different temperatures. With the calibrated sensor, liquid film thickness measurements were conducted via a falling liquid film flow experiment, and the working performance was tested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. kblee@kins.re.kr.|Department of Nuclear Safety, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon 34142, Korea. kblee@kins.re.kr.
authors.forename: Kyu Byung
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Thermal Hydraulics Safety Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon 34057, Korea. jongrok@kaeri.re.kr.
authors.forename: Jong Rok
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. parkgc@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Goon Cherl
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. chohk@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Hyoung Kyu
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Cho
keywords: liquid film sensor; liquid film thickness; three electrode conductance method; two-phase flow experiment