Heat Flux Sensor Calibrator

The heat flux to space shuttle main engine (SSME) turbopump turbine blades may be as high as 10 to the 7th power. The heat flux causes thermal transients that are of the order of 1 sec as temperature varies from perhaps 1500 K to 100 K. It is suspected that these transients cause durability problems in the turbine blades. To quantitatively evaluate the effect of these transients, heat flux sensors or gauges were developed to obtain data to verify analytical models. The objective is to design and fabricate a system for steady state and transient calibration and durability testing of heat flux sensors for use in SSME turbine blades. The calibrator consists of: (1) the arc lamp, (2) a high speed positioning table for placing standard and special heat flux sensors in the incident beam of radiant heat flux, (3) provision for cooling the blade and special sensors inserted in the blade, (4) a computer for controlling the positioning table, storing electrical output values from sensors, and calculating heat flux from these values, and (5) a pyrometer for measuring sensor surface temperatures.