Detection and localization of changes in two-dimensional temperature distributions by electrical resistance tomography

This paper studies the feasibility of applying electrical resistance tomography (ERT) to detect changes in two-dimensional (2D) temperature distributions with potential applications in sensor development. The proposed sensor consists of a thin layer of porous metal film manufactured by spraying colloidal copper paint to a solid surface. A change of the temperature distribution on the surface changes the 2D distributed electrical conductivity of the metal film. The change of the electrical conductivity is localized and quantified with ERT, and further, to convert the estimated conductivity change of the sensor to temperature change, an experimentally developed model is used. The proposed temperature sensor is evaluated experimentally by applying it to a polymeric substrate, and exposing it to known temperature changes using heat sources of different shapes. The results demonstrate that the proposed sensor is capable of detecting and localizing temperature changes, and provides at least qualitative information on the magnitude of the temperature change.