Rocket plume temperature measurement by wire welded thermocouples

Qiang Xu

doi:10.1117/12.659993

10 May 2006 Rocket plume temperature measurement by wire welded thermocouples

Qiang Xu

Proceedings Volume 6222, Sensors for Propulsion Measurement Applications; 62220Q (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.659993
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2006, Orlando (Kissimmee), Florida, United States

Abstract

The plume of solid rocket motor is a high velocity flow with high temperature. Temperature distribution in the plume is of great interest for analyzing the compatibility of rocket weapon system. The high temperature exhausted flow field would cause damage on certain equipment and loading vehicles. An instantaneous temperature field with sharp step is established by the exhausted flow field of rocket motor. The increasing rate of the step depends on the flow velocity at cross section of nozzle exit. To perform an accurate measurement of temperature inside the flow field, a thermocouple must be sturdy enough to endure the flow impingement. In the meantime, the thermocouple must have a short time constant to trace the temperature fluctuation in flow field and a small size to avoid disturbing the flow field severely. The dynamic performance of the thermocouples used in exhausted flow temperature measurement must be evaluated before the experiment. The thermocouple which can be used in measuring the temperature distribution in rocket plume was presented in this paper. A NAMNAC^(R) self-renew-erode thermocouples with a nominal time constant of 10 microseconds was used as a reference in a dynamic calibration test for this kind of thermocouple. The thermocouple could trace the temperature increase in the exhausted flow perfectly. This kind of thermocouples was used in several real tests of rocket motors, such as the temperature in free exhausted flow field of a stationary rocket motor test, the stagnate temperature in a shock flow field during the launching of a rocket, and the temperature in a launch tube.

Citation Download Citation

Qiang Xu "Rocket plume temperature measurement by wire welded thermocouples", Proc. SPIE 6222, Sensors for Propulsion Measurement Applications, 62220Q (10 May 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.659993

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