Measurement of mid-low order of magnitude of heat transfer rate using infrared thermography in rarefied flow

Based on the analysis of demand for measuring heat transfer of hypersonic vehicle at high attitude, aimed at the characteristic of mid-low order of magnitude of heat transfer rate at ground test for simulating rarefied flow, various factors of the influence on measurement accuracy of mid-low order of magnitude of heat transfer were analyzed. Firstly, the influence of model heating time on heat transfer measurement was analyzed from reducing lateral error of experiment model to controlling temperature rise of model surface, which was based on a steady heat transfer of model surface and one-dimensional and semi-infinite hypothesis. Secondly, model adiabat materials with low thermal diffusivity were put to use. Transient Plane Source Method was introduced so as to calibrate thermal physical parameter(density, specific heat ratio and thermal conductivity) of model material with high accuracy. Kinds of method, such as diffusing compensation and phase-locked method, were adopted to raise measurement accuracy of model surface emittance. Finally, when using thin-wall calorimetry to obtain model surface heat transfer rate, thermocouple was welded on the inner surface of test model to measure heat transfer rate such as MW/m² order of magnitude, while one was done on the outer surface of model to measure that with several kW/m² to several hundred kW/m² by thermocouple or by infrared thermography. In order to compare these results, on the experimental condition of Mach number 12, total pressure 4.2 MPa and total temperature 700 K, heat transfer rate at different points of the double cone thin-wall model was measured by thermocouple and infrared thermography simultaneously. The results indicated that the heat transfer rate measured with infrared thermometry was approaching to that done with thermocouple on the outer surface of model, that heat transfer rate by thermocouple on the outer surface of model was greater than that by thermocouple on the inner surface of test model, and that the influence of model heating time on the measurement of heat transfer rate with different order of magnitude was different.