Performance characteristics of flush angle-of-attack measurement system integrated on a pitot tube

J. Masud, I. Afgan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper the performance characteristics of a pressure based flush angle-of-attack measurement system, integrated on a Pitot-Static tube, is presented. The non-dimensional pressure difference between two static pressure ports located on the upper and lower surface of the conical interface, with half-cone-angle of 20°, of the Pitot tube shows linear behavior (desirable) with angle-of-attack in the subsonic regime while in the supersonic regime it has non-linear behavior (undesirable). This non-linear behavior is attributed to shockwave induced flow separation just upstream of the conical interface. The undesirable non-linear trend can be eliminated by reducing the half-cone-angle of the conical interface from 20° to 12°. The reduction in half-cone-angle eliminates the upstream shockwave induced flow separation in the supersonic regime thereby restoring the linear behavior between non-dimensional pressure difference and angle-of-attack. However, reducing the conical interface half-cone-angle also reduces the sensitivity of the angle-of-attack measurement system in the subsonic regime by 18%. Computational Fluid Dynamics tools have been used in the analysis and refinement of flush angle-of-attack measurement system. The complete Mach number regime (Mach<2) has been computationally analyzed for the two conical interfaces. The results presented in this study have been validated by subsequent wind tunnel tests.

Original languageBritish English
Title of host publication47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition
StatePublished - 2009
Event47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition - Orlando, FL, United States
Duration: 5 Jan 20098 Jan 2009

Publication series

Name47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

Conference

Conference47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityOrlando, FL
Period5/01/098/01/09

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