Producing small scale temperature fluctuations in an airstream

Abstract

A 4.5-microm ''hot'' wire is used to heat a low-speed airstream at frequencies from dc to 400 Hz. For dc excitation the thermal noise spectrum produced was white to a frequency of 2 kHz. ac heating of the wire up to a frequency of 400 Hz (800 Hz thermal fluctuation of the airstream) yielded a good thermal signal as far as 2 cm from the hot wire. Calculation shows excellent heat transfer between the wire and airstream. The technique is very useful for calibrating the frequency response of temperature sensors and for investigating turbulent heat transfer for various flow configurations.