Insulating the Plate

The photo shows the thermal insulation for the aluminum plate's backside (covering the heaters).  The reflective square is 25 mm deep polyisocyanurate foam insulation (Dow TUFF-R) with foil on both sides.  The light green border is 19 mm thick extruded polystyrene foam which is beveled to match the back of the aluminum plate.  The corners and metal-to-foam seams are held together with duct tape.  The sensor cable and heater connections thread between the two types of insulation.  The pieces of insulation were machined using a radial-arm saw and a band-saw.  Knife cuts were not as clean.

While suspension by piano wire will be sufficient for performing forced convection measurements of a downward facing horizontal plate, we lack a way to support the plate with insulation at non-horizontal inclinations, which would allow interesting natural convection measurements.