Development and testing of a pressure probe for centerline static pressure measurement in supersonic nozzles and ejectors

This work describes the development and testing of a system for measuring static pressure along the axis of supersonic flow devices such as convergent–divergent nozzles or ejectors. The pressure probe consists of a capillary tube positioned at the ejector centerline. A hole is perforated perpendicularly on the wall of the thin tube to capture and deport the static pressure measurement to a piezoelectric sensor located at one extremity of the tube outside the ejector. The measurements obtained are compared with numerical results from computational fluid dynamics simulations and wall pressure measurements. The first tests demonstrate the good capability of the pressure probe to detect shocks occurring in the flow and to provide continuous axial distributions of the static pressure.