Equilibrium Temperature and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Hot Wires in Supersonic Flow

Citation

McClellan, Robert (1955) Equilibrium Temperature and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Hot Wires in Supersonic Flow. Engineer's thesis, California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/AB2Y-MC42. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-12042003-105304

Abstract

An experimental investigation was made of two problems that are fundamental to the application of hot wire anemometry in a supersonic flow. First, the equilibrium temperature of a wire in supersonic flow was established as a function of the flow parameters. Second, the heat loss law for a heated wire in a supersonic flow was determined. In the latter case it was shown that the heat loss, represented by a Nusselt number, is a function of Reynolds number only, with the temperature loading as a parameter. There is no Mach number effect from M = 1.80 to M = 4.54, the range of the present experiments. The results show that the hot wire should be a satisfactory instrument for the measurement of both mean values and fluctuations of the mass flow and the stagnation temperature.

Thesis Files