Multiple hot-film sensor array calibration and skin friction measurement

A method for the calibration of closely spaced multiple hot-film sensor (MHFS) arrays of nickel-on-polyimide-substrate type was presented in this paper. The hot-film sensors were calibrated individually and in situ against the values of the wall-shear stresses determined from boundary-layer velocity profiles (developed on the front portion of a circular cylinder) through a specially designed wall-mounted hot-wire probe. The accuracy and feasibility of the present method was examined through the subsequent measurements of the skin-friction distributions on a circular cylinder (including the removal and bonding of the calibrated MHFS from a 10-cm diameter calibration cylinder and onto the surface of a 8-cm diameter test cylinder) and comparison of their consistency with the published results. The present MHFS calibration method is important in the non-intrusive multipoint measurements of the mean skin friction along the surfaces of two-dimensional aerodynamic objects of interest. (Author)