Measurement of transient surface temperatures during rubbing using infrared thermography

Infrared thermometer could provide IR radiance information to get the corresponding temperature as the machine is working. But the emissivity coefficient, which converts IR radiance to temperature, would vary with change of surface properties during rubbing, and this would bring dynamic error in measurement. In this study, we introduced a special tester, in the side of which compact IR thermometer are mounted. The thermometer enables us to measure contact surface temperature directly during tests of a rotating ring and a flat block which had a laser diode fixed under its contact surface. Based on Kirchhoff theory, the calculate model of the spectral emissivity is constructed. The normal emissivity at target region are measured through trigonometric ray consisted of InGaAsP laser source, PbSe detector and objective surface. So the temperature value from the IR thermometer could be corrected dynamically according to the real-time emissivity. The structure and the principle of the apparatus are described. The key technologies and the corresponding solution methods are briefly discussed. The error due to the rapid variations of emissivity value with change in contact conditions was shown, and it must be taken into consideration in radiometric temperature measurement in rubbing and could be especially useful in the verification of friction surface temperature predictions.