A turbulence indicator utilizing the diffusion of heat

Abstract

This report describes a method of determining the turbulence in wind tunnels. The effect of turbulence upon the diffusion of heat from a small electrically heated wire in an air stream was investigated. The turbulence of the stream was introduced by a series of geometrically similar screens placed one at a time across the upstream section of the tunnel. With the wire set at various distances from the screens, curves of temperature distribution were obtained by traversing the heated wake at a distance of 2 inches behind the wire with a small thermocouple.