An investigation of the response of temperature sensing probes to an unsteady flow field

The response of temperature measuring devices to pulsating flow fields has been a source of concern to compressor designers. A conventional temperature sensing device is known to respond to the highly energetic wake flow leaving a rotor and due to the long thermal time constant of the probe a temperature lying between the hot wake temperature and the relatively cooler main stream temperature tends to be indicated. This indicated temperature can be in serious error if included in a calculation to define the energy flux. This work is concerned with a theoretical and experimental examination of temperature sensor response to an unsteady pulsating flow typical of that occurring in a compressor.