The Dynamic Calibration Uncertainty of Fast Response Pressure Probes

Abstract

In this paper, error sources affecting the dynamic calibration of fast response pressure probes in shock tubes are examined. In particular, the sensors uncertainty, the uncertainty in the rising point of the pressure step and the nonideality of the step are treated. The latter refers to the presence of pressure oscillations past the shock front, which are particularly important in the case of low-pressure shock tubes, typically used for the calibration of pressure probes for turbomachinery applications. The nonideality effect is investigated using a Linear Time Invariant (LTI) second order model for the transfer function of the probe's line-cavity system and an existing analytical model for the post-shock oscillations. The effect of these uncertainty sources to the experimentally determined transfer function of a fast response probe calibrated in the von Karman Institute (VKI) shock tube are finally presented.

Uncertainty quantification for aerodynamic pressure probes, using adaptive quasi-Monte Carlo

“…The MC has been used to quantify the uncertainty for both calibration and measurement in the case of a multi-hole pneumatic probe in [17], and in [16] for both steady and unsteady probes. Recently MC combined with GEP was applied to evaluate the uncertainties arising during the transfer function determination of UPPs in shock tube testing [18]. Despite the fact that MC has been applied in a few studies for the evaluation of the measurement uncertainties for pressure probes, all the applications have been performed with a preassigned number of MC trials.…”