On Fast-Response Probes: Part 1—Technology, Calibration, and Application to Turbomachinery

Abstract

A system for fast-response probe measurements in turbomachine flows has been developed and tested. The system has been designed for 40 kHz bandwidth and used with various in-house built probes accommodating up to four piezoresistive pressure transducers. The present generation of probes works accurately up to several bar pressure and 120°C temperature. The probes were found to be quite robust. The use of a miniature pressure transducer placed in the head of a probe showed that a precise packaging technique and a careful compensation of errors can considerably improve the accuracy of the pressure measurement. Methods for aerodynamic probe calibration and off-line data evaluation are briefly presented. These aimed, e.g., in the case of a four-hole probe, at measuring the velocity fluctuations as characterized by yaw, pitch, total pressure, and static pressure and at deriving mean values and spectral or turbulence parameters. Applications of the measuring system to turbomachinery flow in a radial compressor and to a turbulent pipe flow demonstrate the performance of the measuring system.