Temperature-Sensitive Paint Calibration Methodology Developed at AEDC Tunnel 9

Aerodynamic heating is a critical parameter in hypersonic vehicle design. Ground-test facilities employ a variety of discrete sensors and global techniques to characterize the heating on the surfaces of a test article. AEDC Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel No. 9 has been developing a global heat-transfer measurement technique based on temperature-sensitive paints (TSP). In order to use TSP as a heat-transfer measurement tool, a unique relationship between its emission intensity and surface temperature has to be established. A TSP calibration laboratory was developed and built at Tunnel 9. The resulting calibration process has been shown to yield repeatable calibrations insensitive to setup perturbations. The calibration laboratory has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the two-color TSP system at Tunnel 9.