Heat-pipe Based Static Pressure Probe for High Enthalpy Flow Facilities

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop a static pressure probe for hypersonic and high enthalpy flow facilities, which will implement an integral heatsink design to cool the static probe heads and enable sustained operation at heat loads up to 300 W/cm2. This new sensor capability will enable ground test facilities to accurately diagnose the free-stream conditions present in supersonic and hypersonic flows without destruction or degradation of the probe. During the proposed Phase I effort, PSI will build two static pressure probes, one of which will be a cone-cylinder probe and the other will be a shortened length conical probe. These probes will then be exposed to hypersonic flow in PSIÆs Hypersonic Material Testbed (HMT) where they will be calibrated using data from a Schlieren imaging system, and the cooling ability of the probe will be verified to guide the Phase II design. Using data from these experiments, a preliminary Phase II prototype probe-rake system will be designed to interface with the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU). That preliminary design will be reviewed with Air Force personnel and resulting feedback will be incorporated into the final prototype design built and tested in the subsequent Phase II program.