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Thin-oil-film interferometric skin-friction measurements in short-duration supersonic flow

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Abstract

A direct experimental comparison was performed on two thin-oil-film skin-friction measurement techniques applied in short-duration, supersonic flow facilities. While both techniques use laser interferometry to measure the time rate of thinning of a thin-oil-film, one technique acquires data with a dual-laser-beam (DLB) configuration and the other gathers information with an expanded-laser-beam (ELB) configuration. The experimental investigation, as well as a theoretical uncertainty analysis, showed that when the data is limited due to short run-times, larger uncertainties or insufficient data for the determination of the skin-friction occurred with the DLB technique. Unlike the DLB method, the ELB technique can resolve the oil-film profile at a given instant, with two such measurements separated by a short time interval giving sufficient data to determine skin-friction. Thus the ELB technique is more suitable for short-duration facilities.

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Abbreviations

Cf :

skin-friction coefficient

dP/dx :

external-flow pressure gradient in the streamwise direction

g :

gravitational acceleration

h :

oil-film height at distance x

i :

beam incidence angle

l :

length

M :

Mach number

n o :

oil refraction index

N :

interference fringe number

Q :

volumetric flow rate per unit length

r :

beam refraction angle

Re :

Reynolds number

s :

oil-film slope at a given time

t :

time

t o :

time origin

u(y):

oil-film velocity profile

V :

continuity-wave velocity

x :

streamwise distance from oil-film leading-edge

Δx :

Laser beam spacing of DLB configuration

Δx p :

pixel spacing of CCD linear array

y :

transverse coordinate normal to x

θ :

angle of inclination of the test surface

λ :

Laser wavelength

μ :

absolute oil viscosity

ν :

kinematic oil viscosity

g9 :

oil density

τ :

wall shear stress (skin-friction)

(-):

averaged value

(′):

corrected value

DLB:

dual-laser-beam

ELB:

expanded-laser-beam

MEAS:

measured value

NOM:

nominal value

d :

downstream beam

u :

upstream beam

∞:

free stream

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics and Engineering Science, University of Florida, 231 Aerospace Building, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA

    J. P. Hubner & B. F. Carroll

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  1. J. P. Hubner
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  2. B. F. Carroll
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Hubner, J.P., Carroll, B.F. Thin-oil-film interferometric skin-friction measurements in short-duration supersonic flow. Experiments in Fluids 15, 315–322 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223409

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223409

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