Fast Response Heat Flux Sensors and Efficient Data Reduction Methodology for Hypersonic Wind Tunnels

There is a DoD need for the development of robust sensors to obtain temporally and spatially resolved surface temperature and heat flux measurements on test articles in blowdown and continuous hypersonic wind tunnels. These micro-heat flux sensors are required in order to better understand the state of the boundary layer of a hypersonic vehicle; to better understand boundary layer instabilities; and to obtain high quality transitional and turbulent heat transfer data required for the design of hypersonic vehicles and CFD/model validation. Our proposed mQDOTT sensor system leverages MEMS technology to decrease the current state-of-the-art heat flux sensors’ form factor, providing reliable heat flux and surface temperature measurements in hypersonic aero-propulsion tunnels/vehicles, particularly in locations previously inaccessible. Such measurements are critical to understanding the hypersonic flowfield information that will ultimately be used to design hypersonic vehicles. The mQDOTT sensor system is comprised of the following components: (1) The Sensor Head comprised of the micro-heat flux sensing element and thin-film temperature element; (2) Electrical Connections integrated with (3) the sensor high temperature packaging, providing ease of implementation and ensuring the integrity of the instrumentation suite.