To continue the development of the Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS), a constant voltage hot-wire anemometer (CVA) is implemented into the BLDS for flight-testing. The hot-wire anemometer was chosen as an alternative to the traditional pressure probe because of the ability to measure both average velocity and fluctuating velocity within the boundary layer. Previous work done on the benchtop has led to the design of miniaturization, flight-capable hardware for the BLDS. The next step in the development of the BLDS – CVA calls for quantifying the accuracy of the boundary layer measurements measured by the CVA system. To do this, numerous turbulent boundary layer velocity and fluctuating velocity profiles were taken on a flat-plate at various speeds within the Cal Poly 2x2 wind tunnel with both the traditional pressure probe and the CVA. These test resulted showed agreement between the hot-wire and pressure probe data. Once this was completed the new CVA hardware was tested along with the new software that was written for the BLDS – CVA. In addition, due to the limited memory space onboard the BLDS – CVA, an approximation had to be developed to convert the average voltage data from the BLDS – CVA to the average velocity data due to the non-linear calibration function. The approximation developed was able to match the exact values from a traditional calibration. Lastly, due to the inability to perform a laboratory calibration of the hot-wire at altitude, where the conditions differ significantly from the ground conditions, a new procedure for hot-wire calibration was developed. The method developed was validated through wind tunnel testing and a computer thermal/electric model. With the completion of this work, the BLDS – CVA is ready for flight-testing.

The development of the constant voltage anemometer (CVA) for the boundary layer data system (BLDS) has been motivated by a need for the explicit autonomous measurement of velocity fluctuations in the boundary layer. The frequency response of a sensor operated by CVA has been studied analytically and experimentally. The thermal lag of the sensor is quantified by a time constant, MCVA. When the time constant is decreased, the half-amplitude cut-off frequency, fCVA, is increased, thereby decreasing the amount of attenuation during measurements. In this thesis, three main approaches have been outlined in theory and tested experimentally to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing them with CVA to limit attenuation: operation at higher Vw, implementation of software compensation, and utilization of smaller diameter sensors. Operation of CVA at higher voltage results in little improvement in frequency response but is accompanied by increased danger of wire burnout. However, sensors do need to be operated at high wire voltages to be more sensitive to velocity fluctuations and less sensitive to temperature fluctuations, without reaching a temperature high enough for wire burnout. Software compensation of the CVA output has been shown not to be useful for measurements with BLDS. The electrical noise present in the CVA measurement system is amplified by the correction algorithm and creates measurements that are not representative of the fluctuations being measured. Decreasing sensor diameter leads to a significant decrease of MCVA and therefore increase of fCVA. Under similar operating conditions, a 2.5 micron diameter sensor showed less roll off in the frequency spectra (measured higher turbulence intensities) than a 3.8 micron diameter sensor for tests in both a turbulent jet and in a turbulent boundary layer. Smaller sensors are more fragile and have been shown to have a decrease in sensitivity as compared to larger sensors; however, for some applications, the increase in frequency response may be worth the trade-off with fragility and sensitivity.

Traditionally, the measurement of turbulence has been conducted using hot-wire anemometry. This thesis presents the implementation of a constant voltage hot-wire anemometer for use with the Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS). A hot-wire calibration apparatus has been developed that is capable of operation inside a vacuum chamber and flow speeds up to 50 m/s. Hot-wires operated with a constant-voltage anemometer (CVA) were calibrated at absolute static pressures down to 26 kPa. A thermal/electrical model for a hot-wire and the CVA circuit successfully predicted the measured CVA output voltage trend at reduced pressure environments; however, better results were obtained when the Nusselt number was increased. A calibration approach that required only one measured flow speed was developed to allow autonomous calibrations of a CVA hot-wire. The single-point calibration approach was evaluated through comparison with the experimental data from the vacuum chamber over a range of 14-50 m/s and at pressures from 26 to 100 kPa. The thermal-electrical model was used to make predictions of CVA output voltage and the corresponding flow speed for conditions that could not be replicated within a laboratory. The first set of predictions were made for conditions from 7.5 to 100 kPa, at a constant temperature of 25⁰C, within a flight speed range of 40 to 150 m/s. Single-point calibrations were developed from these predictions. Additionally, the thermal-electrical model was used to predict hot-wire response for a change in temperature of 25⁰C at 26 kPa and the single-point calibration developed for the pressure range 7.5 to 100 kPa was tested for its ability to adjust. The temperature variation at a single pressure of 26 kPa proved that the single-point function was capable of adapting to off-standard temperatures with the largest deviations of +/- 7% in the mid-range velocities. With a temperature drop, the deviations were below 5%. The second set of thermal-electrical predictions involved conditions for altitude from 0 to 18 km at flow speeds from 40 to 150 m/s. A single-point calibration was developed for altitude conditions. Furthermore, to test the single-point calibration the thermal-electrical model was used to predict hot-re response for a temperature variation of 25⁰C at 18 km. The single-point calibration developed for altitude proved that it was capable of adjusting to a temperature variation of 25⁰C with maximum deviations of about 5% at mid-range velocities. It is proposed that the single-point calibration approach could be employed for CVA measurements with the Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS) to allow hot-wire data to be acquired autonomously during flight tests.