Aerothermodynamics of EXPERT Control Surfaces

In the frame of the ESA flight experiment EXPERT the major aerothermodynamic phenomena around two control surfaces and their cavities have been investigated with experimental and numerical methods. The flow upstream of the flap is characterized by Payload 7 of CIRA using heat flux sensors. The instrumentation of the C/SiC flap and cavity will allow measuring the surface temperature, pressure and the heat flux rate using high temperature sensors (Payload 6 of DLR). The rear surface temperature distribution of one of the flaps will be measured with an infrared (IR) camera (Payload 8 of RUAG). This data will be used to compute the front surface heat flux distribution using an inverse method analysis. Characterization tests in the SCIROCCO facility will allow calibrating the complete measurement system and data reduction software, since in contrast to the flight the front surface temperature of the flap will be measured with an additional IR camera of the facility.