A Numerical Investigation of Total Temperature Probes Measurement Performance

Measuring total temperature of airflow accurately is a very important requirement in the development phases of many industrial products. Thermocouples are very practical devices to measure temperature. However, the temperature of thermocouple junction may deviate considerably from the real flow total temperature for high-speed and high-temperature flows. To avoid errors in total temperature measurement, special probe designs are used. In this study, an experimentally characterized total temperature probe geometry was selected from literature as a validation case to develop a conjugate heat transfer (CHT) analysis methodology. Validated CHT methodology was used to study flow structures around the probe and solid temperature distribution. Then, effects of different operating conditions were investigated parametrically to understand the response of probe geometry to varying flow conditions. The outcomes of this study are intended to guide probe designs for any specific application.