The use of hot-wire anemometry in transonic periodic flow

The unsteady wake profiles of an airfoil with an oscillating flap were measured in the NASA Ames 11 x 11-foot transonic wind tunnel. Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) and holography techniques were used in limited region where optical accessability is available. X-hot-film wire was used to measure the wake profiles in the complete region to obtain magnitude and direction of the flow. A thorough calibration was carried out to determine the sensitivity coefficients of the hot-wire in three different tunnels at transonic speeds. A calculation procedure is established to resolve the hot-wire signals at transonic speeds and applied in the measurements of steady and periodic wake profiles. The effect of flow incidence on the hot-wire signals is evaluated and incorporated in the analyses. Typical hot-wire results are compared with the results of LDV, holography and pitot-static tube embedded with Kulite transducers.