Capture of instantaneous temperature in oscillating flows: Use of constant-voltage anemometry to correct the thermal lag of cold wires operated by constant-current anemometry

A new procedure for the instantaneous correction of the thermal inertia of cold wires operated by a constant-current anemometer is proposed for oscillating flows. The thermal inertia of cold wires depends both on the wire properties and on the instantaneous incident flow velocity. Its correction is challenging in oscillating flows because no relationship between flow velocity and heat transfer around the wire is available near flow reversal. The present correction procedure requires neither calibration data for velocity nor thermophysical or geometrical properties of the wires. The method relies on the splitting of the time lag of cold wires into two factors, which are obtained using a constant-voltage anemometer in the heated mode. The first factor, which is intrinsic to the wire, is deduced from time-constant measurements performed in a low-turbulence flow. The second factor, which depends on the instantaneous flow velocity, is acquired in situ. In oscillating flows, data acquisition can be synchronized with a reference signal so that the same wire is alternatively operated in the cold mode by a constant-current anemometer and in the heated mode by a constant-voltage anemometer. Validation experiments are conducted in an acoustic standing-wave resonator, for which the fluctuating temperature field along the resonator axis is known independently from acoustic pressure measurements, so that comparisons can be made with cold-wire measurements. It is shown that despite the fact that the wire experiences flow reversal, the new procedure recovers accurately the instantaneous temperature of the flow.