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Micro Electro Mechanical Systems pp 1–30Cite as

Micro Thermal Flow Sensor

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Part of the book series: Micro/Nano Technologies ((MNT,volume 2))

Abstract

Measurement of fluid mechanics is very important in various fields, and flow sensors have been widely applied to execute accurate and efficient measurements. Compared with other sensing principle, thermal flow sensors are based on convective heat transfer and take merits of simple structure and easy use and thus offer a practical solution for various fluidics applications. In this chapter, we describe mainly hot-film anemometer fabricated on polyimide substrate. Hot-film or hot-wire anemometer utilizes a thermal element that serves as both a joule heater and a temperature sensor. We introduce the principle of thermal flow sensing, design and fabrication of the micro hot-film flow sensor, the measurement methodology, and application cases by using the micro hot-film flow sensors.

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Acknowledgments

The works were supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51735007) and National High-tech Program “863” of China (Grant No. 2012AA02A604 and 2006AA04Z257).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instrument, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Rong Zhu

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  1. Rong Zhu
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Correspondence to Rong Zhu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Qing-An Huang

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Zhu, R. (2017). Micro Thermal Flow Sensor. In: Huang, QA. (eds) Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. Micro/Nano Technologies, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2798-7_19-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2798-7_19-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2798-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2798-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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