Using anisotropic heat flux sensors in aerodynamic experiments

We present the results of comparative measurements of the heat flux to a flat plate in a supersonic flow at a Mach number of M = 6, which were performed using the two following anisotropic heat sensors with different thicknesses of sensor elements: (i) Atomic Layer Thermo Pile (ALTP, Fortech GmbH, Germany) with a thickness of ∼0.5 × 10 −6 m and (ii) gradient heat flux sensor (GHFS, St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, Russia) with a thickness of ∼2 × 10 −4 m. The ALTP sensor can be used for directly measuring heat fluxes in processes with a characteristic time above 10 −6 s. A method for mathematically processing the GHFS response signal is proposed that allows heat flux oscillations to be revealed in gasdynamic process with a characteristic time on the order of 10 −4 s.