Multi-directional Heat Flux Measurements from a Discrete Thermal Measurement Gage

Measurements of heat flux are critical to successful testing and operation in hypersonic flow applications relevant to the Air Force. This is especially important on the surface of a body, as surface heat flux measurements predict future surface temperature, unlike a simple measurement of surface temperature alone. There are several methods to measure surface heat flux, however achieving accurate measurements is not trivial due to several sources of error. Lateral heating within the solid is one such source. Whether by diffusion, mismatched materials, or installation error, internal heat flow can significantly corrupt the measurement. Ahmic’s current commercial thermal measurement solution combines surface temperature gages with an innovative algorithm to resolve surface heat flux and account for lateral heating, however this approach requires several gages to be distributed over the measurement region. Under many test programs, sensor real estate is at a premium and compact solutions are required. To close this technology gap, Ahmic proposes an adaptation of its proven thermal measurement technology to resolve both normal and lateral heat flux on a single gage, significantly reducing measurement error in a physically compact package. Ahmic’s algorithm will also be adapted to accept multidirectional direct heat sources to support the new gage technology.