Development of a Temperature Distribution Measurement System for Transmission Oil for Transportation Equipment

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Thermometry
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Accurate temperature measurement is crucial for understanding transmission oil behavior.
• Microscopic impurities in oil scatter excitation light, hindering optical measurements.
• Existing methods may struggle with complex conditions like cavitation foaming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an optical sensor system for visualizing transmission oil temperature distribution.
• To overcome light scattering issues caused by oil impurities.
• To assess the system's applicability in challenging conditions, including cavitation foaming.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a thermo-sensitive phosphor (Pyrromethene 597) whose peak emission wavelength shifts with temperature.
• Employed a 532 nm Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) laser as excitation light to minimize scattering.
• Developed a measurement system to visualize temperature in arbitrary cross-sections of transmission oil.
• Measured temperature distribution in a vertical buoyant jet of transmission oil.

Main Results:

• Successfully visualized and measured the temperature distribution in transmission oil.
• Demonstrated that increasing excitation light wavelength reduces scattering effects.
• Validated the measurement method through experiments on a buoyant jet.
• Confirmed the system's capability to measure temperature in transmission oil with cavitation foaming.

Conclusions:

• The proposed optical sensor and measurement system effectively visualizes transmission oil temperature distribution.
• The system overcomes challenges posed by light scattering from oil impurities.
• The technology shows promise for applications in transmission systems, including those with cavitation foaming.