Kiel Probes for Stagnation Pressure Measurement in Rotating Detonation Combustors

Kiel probes have the potential to be a versatile tool for determining stagnation pressure gain in rotating detonation combustors (RDCs), accompanying the commonly used equivalent available pressure method. Although average pressure gain values determined with Kiel probes are comparable to those from thrust stand experiments, one can expect several sources of measurement error from the unsteady trans-and supersonic environment. This work investigates the response of a Kiel probe in highly unsteady flow, similar to what would be encountered in an RDC. The probe is subjected to an underexpanded starting jet behind an incident shock with Mach numbers of 1.6–2.7, emanating from a shock tube with a reservoir ratio of about 394. The incidence angle of the probe is varied between 0 and 90 deg, as is the probe’s axial location with respect to the tube’s exit plane. High-speed schlieren images reveal the Mach number of the moving shock wave and the structure of the detached bow shock at the Kiel head, which is similar to that of a bluff body. It is shown that the measured stagnation pressure signal is independent of inflow angle over a range of 45 deg, and that signal attenuation is caused by gas processing through the bow shock and viscous losses in the probe’s capillary. The frequency response of the Kiel probe to sinusoidal, small-amplitude pressure fluctuations is determined in an acoustic calibration facility up to 5500 Hz, confirming linear behavior and that no unwanted resonance is present in the probe. A Berg–Tijdeman representation delivers amplitude ratio and phase lag of comparable magnitude. An assessment of representative boundary conditions reveals that the average stagnation pressure measurement error is of the order of 1%.