United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Peter Vokrot

Jose M Perotti

Bradley M Burns

Carlos T Mata

Josephine B Santiago

Carlos E Zavala

Self-Validating Thermocouple (SVT) Systems capable of detecting sensor probe open circuits, short circuits, and unnoticeable faults such as a probe debonding and probe degradation are useful in the measurement of temperatures. SVT Systems provide such capabilities by incorporating a heating or excitation element into the measuring junction of the thermocouple. By heating the measuring junction and observing the decay time for the detected DC voltage signal, it is possible to indicate whether the thermocouple is bonded or debonded. A change in the thermal transfer function of the thermocouple system causes a change in the rise and decay times of the thermocouple output. Incorporation of the excitation element does not interfere with normal thermocouple operation, thus further allowing traditional validation procedures as well.

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Peter Vokrot