Aerodynamic Heating Simulator for Transducer Development

A laboratory technique for the quantitative environmental testing and comparison of various types of subsurface transducers is described. Such transducers are currently in use to determine the transient surface temperature response to intense surface heating of a metal slab that is a good heat conductor. The simulator provides surface heating whose uniformity is estimated to be within about 3% of the heating rate over an area of 1 in.2 with flux capability exceeding 1500 w/cm2. (Surface melting of a semi‐infinite slab of pure copper occurs in less than 10 sec at this rate.) Because the method of heating is electric, a shaped surface heat pulse may be produced by programing an input Variac. An important feature of the device is its symmetry which permits identical heating of two opposing surfaces simultaneously.