Thermocouple Positioning for the of the Non-Integer System Identification Approach to HIFiRE-5 Fins

Abstract

The German Aerospace Center developed a ceramic fin experiment (FinEx) for HIFiRE flight 5 in order to test the performance of new structure designs during hypersonic flight. Aero-thermal analysis is provided by 8 thermocouple data channels for all four symmetrically arranged fins. In this paper the analysis of the geometry and thermophysical characteristics of the fins to optimize thermocouple positioning is discussed. The main goal is to gather as much information as possible from these few temperature sensors in these three dimensional structures. Not only is the absolute temperature value of interest but also the reason of the temperature rise. A thorough calculation of the temperature gradients in the fin structure is used to define an optimal positioning layout, where particular focus lies on the localization of the heat fluxes at the surface from the in-depth thermocouple measurement. In conclusion, two fins are equipped with 3 thermocouples each and two are equipped with only 1 thermocouple. The paper closes with some first results based on the calibration data of the fins and the nominal trajectory values.