A comparative study of constant-voltage and constant-temperature hot-wire anemometers Part I: The static response

Abstract

The static response of the constant-voltage anemometer (CVA) was investigated analytically for both subsonic and supersonic flow, and a corroborative experiment was performed at Mach 3.5 using both CVA and CTA systems. This experiment allowed a direct comparison of the static sensitivities of the two systems by utilizing the identical flow conditions and the same wire sensors. The subsonic analysis of the CVA indicates that the anemometer has primary sensitivity to velocity fluctuations at high overheat ratios and to temperature fluctuations at low overheat ratios. The theoretical and empirical relative static sensitivity of the CVA system to mass-flux and total-temperature variations appears very similar to that of the CTA and CCA systems over a wide range of overheat ratio.