Development of single sensor fast response pressure probes

Multi-sensor fast response pressure probes are often used in turbomachinery investigations. However, the size of multi-sensor probes are often larger than is ideal. This paper describes the development of a single sensor pressure probe that has sufficient sensitivity for the measurements of unsteady 3D flow fields in turbomachines. Because there is only one sensor, the probe can be made much smaller than previous designs. Several types of probe were designed and tested using largescale models in a wind tunnel. Both the steady state and the dynamic response have been investigated. The relationship between the shape of the probe and its yaw and pitch sensitivity has been investigated through measurements of the pressure distribution on the large-scale models and through visualizations of the flow. Dambach and Hodson [3] proposed a new method of data reduction for a single sensor pressure probe. In that work, a single sensor pressure probe with the shape of a triangular prism was fabricated and tested with success in a radial flow turbine where the flow field was mainly 2D. The probe was shown to have only yaw sensitivity while pitch sensitivity is also important in the survey of three dimensional turbomachinery flows. In this paper, the model probes were used to assess the pitch sensitivity of single sensor pressure probes. All the probes have the sensing face at the end of a radially mounted stem so that they can be used for inter bladerow measurements. Through the steady state measurements, the dependency of pitch sensitivity on (1) the shape of the probe stem (e.g., Square, Circular, and Triangular) and (2) the angle of the slanted sensing face at the tip of the probe were investigated. Having assessed all the designs based on the steady state experiments, the dynamic behaviour of selected designs was investigated. The results indicate that a slanted face and appropriate probe tip design can be used to increase the pitch sensitivity of the single sensor probe to acceptable levels.