Stagnation point transient heat flux measurement analysis from coaxial thermocouples

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe transient heat flux measurement at stagnation point is a significant solicitation at highly compressed flow field environment. In aerodynamics surface heating point of view, the estimation of stagnation heat fluxes at the tip of a blunt body is very imperative. When the blunt body is exposed to high-speed flow field environments, at the stagnation point heat transfer would be maximum. The coaxial surface junction thermocouples (CSJTs) are convenient for short duration time scale due to the fast response in the range of millisecond or less (̴0.1 ms). These robust CSJTs have the tractability of intensifying them directly on any type of surface and can be used for routine measurement in ground-based impulse amenities as a temperature measuring devices where rapid heat loads are anticipated. In this work, three different types of coaxial thermocouples K-type, E-type, and J-type have been designed and contrived. The microstructural analysis of measuring surface property has been carried out to see the surface morphology using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESME) and chemical characterization of these CSJTs materials using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) technique is used to verify qualitatively appraise the CSJTs materials composition. The thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR) and sensitivity (S) of each coaxial thermocouple have been determined by using oil-bath calibration technique with the linear variation of resistance corresponding to the variation of temperature and found that these coaxial thermocouples are highly sensitive and suitable for highly transient heat transfer measurements. For this purpose, these three types of CSJTs have been tested under highly compressed heated air 310 K temperature for 100 ms at pressure 6.1 bar with Mach number unity (M = 1) using compressor test rig. Numerical simulation has also been carried out with these three RTDs to satisfy the experimental parameters using Ansys Fluent 15.0 and typical transient temperature recorded. Surface heat fluxes recovered from experimental and numerical transient temperatures histories using semi-infinite heat conduction modeling having good agreement with accuracy ±3% or less. This study divulges the expertise of these handmade coaxial thermocouples for transient surface heat flux measurement for short durations at highly compressed air facilities.