Abstract

In this paper, we describe an interferometric optical fibre sensor that has been developed for the measurement of heat transfer rates. It has been developed for a specific application in which surface heat transfer rates need to be determined on ceramic model structures (e.g. turbine blades) subjected to short pulses of hot or cold gas flows in wind tunnel experiments. Heat pulse lengths vary from 10 to 1000 ms and cause surface temperature changes of up to 200 K. The wind tunnel environment provides gas flow speeds up to Mach 0.8 and gas temperatures 400 K above ambient, but also gives rise to pressure changes of 10 bar and significant levels of vibration.

© 1992 Optical Society of America