Viscosity measurements of Newtonian liquid by natural convection (Part 2: Evaluation method by mean temperature of heated vertical plate)

A simple method for viscosity measurements of Newtonian liquid by using the temperature difference between the surface of a uniformly heated vertical plate and the ambient liquid formed by natural convection has been proposed. Surface temperature is taken as its mean while the ambient liquid temperature is considered as the bulk. The measuring system is simply composed of a beaker containing a tested liquid, a vertical heated plate, thermocouples for the heated surface and the ambient liquid, a power supply, a voltmeter, a recorder, and a personal computer. From comparison of the measured results on pure water and silicone oil with known thermophysical properties, fairly good agreement has been obtained, and the validity of the present method has been confirmed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 37(2): 115–126, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20183