Dynamic compensation by coupled triple-thermocouples for temperature measurement error of high-temperature gas flow

Abstract

The gas flow temperature signal simulation system (ATSSS) plays a crucial role in the hardware-in-the-loop simulation of hypersonic aircraft. The accuracy of gas flow temperature measurements is of paramount importance for the ATSSS. This system comprises a high-temperature plasma heater, a gas flow mixing chamber, and thermocouples. The ATSSS exhibits specific characteristics such as high temperatures, rapid temperature changes, and fast flow rates. However, due to the large measurement time constant of high-temperature thermocouples, significant dynamic errors are introduced into the measurement results. To address this issue and enhance the dynamic measurement accuracy of gas flow temperature, this study establishes a thermocouple heat transfer model for the ATSSS. It also analyzes the mechanism behind the generation of dynamic errors in the ATSSS and proposes a three-thermocouple coupled temperature measurement dynamic compensation method (TTCTMDC). This method compensates for errors caused by thermal convection, thermal radiation, and thermal conduction under high-temperature conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce errors by 50% to 80%. In addition, an experimental platform for the ATSSS is constructed, and the TTCTMDC method is employed to compensate for measurement errors. The results indicate that the dynamic measurement error can be reduced to 1/4 to 1/2 of the original value using the TTCTMDC method. This research lays a foundation for the successful development of the ATSSS and provides a novel approach to dynamically measuring high-temperature gas flow, thereby advancing scientific research in the field of measurement.