Professor Osamu Nakabeppu

Osamu Nakabeppu is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Meiji University and has been leading the Micro-Thermal Engineering Laboratory since 2006. He has been serving as Vice President for Research at Meiji University since 2024. He received his B.Eng. in Mechanical Physics and Engineering and his M.Eng. in Energy Science from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he also earned his D.Eng. in 1996.

His research spans a broad field of heat and mass transfer, with a particular focus on elucidating heat transfer phenomena through the development of microsensors. He has received several awards, including the ASME Heat Transfer Division Best Paper Award in 1997 and the Young Scientists' Prize from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2005. He has also been awarded the JSME Best Paper Award three times, in 2009, 2015, and 2021.

Prof. Nakabeppu is currently conducting research on heat flux measurement using MEMS sensors in various heat and mass transfer phenomena, such as engine heat loss, flame-wall interaction, and dropwise condensation.

Abstract:

By using thin-film sensors formed on wall surfaces, it becomes possible to measure the true local and instantaneous characteristics of heat and mass transfer phenomena. In this lecture, the method of heat flux measurement using thin-film RTD sensors (MEMS sensors) formed on metal substrates will be explained, along with examples of their application. Additionally, methods for monitoring heat and mass transfer phenomena using capacitive sensors and ion current sensors will be presented.

The metal-substrate MEMS sensors measure surface temperature with low thermal resistance using thin-film RTDs, and by combining this with internal temperature measurements, instantaneous heat flux can be obtained through unsteady heat conduction analysis. The measurement characteristics, including calibration procedures for accurate heat flux measurement, will also be introduced.　As an application example, the lecture will present instantaneous wall heat flux measurements in engine inner walls, obtained with high responsiveness during engine operation. In research on flame-wall interactions, where peak wall heat flux occurs due to flame quenching, a method for measuring the flame-wall distance using an ion current sensor will be introduced. Furthermore, research on monitoring techniques using capacitance and heat flux measurements to observe the formation of liquid films of dielectric liquids, such as gasoline, on wall surfaces will be presented.