In the current analysis, surface temperature measurements, carried out with infrared thermography in a plasma wind tunnel experiment on a wing-leading-edge thermal-protection-system demonstrator, are performed and compared with the results of the test numerical rebuilding carried out through an integrated procedure coupling the external aerodynamic field to the internal thermal state of the structure. For the measurement campaign, an infrared mirror system is developed to allow the viewing of the leading-edge region, which was not visible from the standard optical access of the facility. The optical calibration of the camera with a special target is performed. The two-dimensional infrared images are rebuilt on the three-dimensional surface grid of the test article used for computational fluid dynamics computations, thus providing a useful tool for the direct comparison of numerical and experimental data. The comparison between numerical and experimental data is quite satisfactory even though some discrepancies, critically discussed, are present.
Hypersonic Test Analysis by Means of Aerothermal Coupling Methodology and Infrared Thermography
AIAA Journal ; 51 , 7 ; 1755-1769
2013-02-15
15 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English