1

A Five - Hole Pressure Probe for Fluid Flow

Measurements in Three - Dimensions .



Dr. Khald A. Ismael Dr. Jalal M. Jalil Mr. Sattar J. Habeeb
Mech. Eng. Dept. Mech. Eng. Dept. Mech. Eng. Dept.
Technology University Military College of Eng. Technology University
Prof. Assist. Prof. Assist. Teacher


Keywords:- Flow measurement , pressure probes , calibrat ion devise .



ABSTRACT

A pressure probe which facilitates measurement of mean flow quantities in three
dimension simultaneously is described. The surface pressure is sampled at five
location : on the axis of the probe and at four equispaced point on a line encircling
this point on a line encircling this central point. This work is applied to an existing
calibration and application procedure for five- hole probe, therefor you must find the
flow angles by design transverse mechanism in 3D. The polynomial curve- fit method
fourth - order was used , a computer program was built for calibration and
calculation velocity vector ( magnitude and direction ) for wide-range of calibration
based on experimental data . The sensitivity of the probe to the Reynolds number was
examined for range of Re = 1000 9000 , also the accuracy of the pressure data
from the computer software and direct measurement data from the test section was
good with range of error of approximately 3% .

five-hole probe
:
0
, ( )
( ) 0
Re=1000-9000 ,
3% 0




2
NOMENCLATURE
C Correction factor
pitch
CP
Pitch coefficient
static
CP
Static pressure
coefficient
total
CP
Total pressure
coefficient
yaw
CP
Yaw coefficient
D
2
m / N , ) P (P1
g
Acceleration of
gravity
H Head pressure, m
d Probe diameter, m
P Pressure ,
2
m / N
P
Mean pressure,
2
m / N
R Velocity
vector, sec / m
Re Reynolds number
= / d U -

U
Magnitude of
free-stream
velocity
z y, x,
Coordinate
system
w v, u, Velocity
component in 3D.
GREEK NOMENCLATURE
Pitch angle,
degree
Yaw angle,
degree
Probe angle,
degree
Kinematics
viscosity of air ,
sec / m
2


Density
SUBSCRIPTS
s Static pressure
o Total pressure
1,2,3,4,5 Refer to tube
number of the
probe


1. Introduction :-

Although a variety of pressure
probes have been devised for
decomposing the flow velocity vector ,
the most well known and widely used
is the five-hole pressure probe .
The device is a streamlined
axisymmetric body that point into the
flow. The pressure distribution on the
surface of the probe depends on the
angle of incidence of the mean flow
vector relative to the axis of the probe.
To determine the magnitude and
orientation of the flow vector , the
surface pressure is sampled at five
location : on the axis of the probe and
at four equispaced points on a line
encircling this central point [1] .
The pressure differentials between
selected pairs of these point may be
related to the inflow velocity vector
by using an appropriate calibration to
deduce pitch and yaw direction.
Hypothetically,theoretical relationships
for the potential flow around the body
may also be used [2] .
Two commonly used shapes are the
cylindrical tube with a hemispherical
nose and a spherical ball at the end of a
slender cylinder. Central pressure tap
gives the conventional stagnation
pressure when the flow vector is
perpendicular to that point on the
surface.
Yaw and pitch angles in clinations of
the flow vector with the axis of the
probe result in a imbalance of
pressures on pairs of holes. In this case
the spherical probe is used, This
arrangement is sketched in fig.1.
The theory yields a format for
interpreting the differential pressures
between pairs of holes as function of
angles of pitch and yaw.
For calibration, the probe may be
installed in a water or wind tunnel and
aligned with the known flow direction.


3
Pressure differentials are then
measured for selected angles of yaw
and pitch placed on the probe relative
to the flow direction.

The purpose of this paper is to
present a simplified calibration and
polynomial curve fitting forth - order
method of using five-hole probe for
three dimension flow measurements
and built a software computer
Program for well range of calibration
of five - hole probe based on
experimental data .



2. Probe Geometry :-

In the current work , five-hole
probe was constructed by from five
stainless steel tubes of (1.0 mm)
outside diameter by (0.6 mm) inside
diameter, soldered together into a
(514 mm) of (5 mm) outside diameter
stainless steel tube as shown in fig.2 .

The tube number (2) in the center is
filed perpendicular to its axis and the
other four tubes surrounding tube
number (2) are filed at probe angle
(

45 = ). The ends of the tubes are

cleaned out with a (0.6 mm) drill to
remove burrs. Each tube was coated
with (5 mm) of load solder tube in
order to bend it smoothly by using
tube bender [3] .
An example , consider in fig. 3
the vector decomposition of the flow
velocity (R) which is incident on the
five pressure taps (5,2,4,1,3) of a
spherical probe. The center of the
coordinate axes coincides with the
center of the probe.
The holes (5,2,4) lie on a circle in the
xy-plane, (1,2,3) lie on a circle in the
xz-plane. The angles between holes in
their respective planes all (probe angle

45 = ). velocity vector (R) has a

component
xy
R in the xy- plane at an
yaw angle with the x-axis, and a
component
xz
R in the xz-plane at an
pitch angle with x-axis [4] .


3. Experimental Set-Up
:-

Experiments were conducted
In low-speed open test section, with a
height 0.3m * 0.3m width * 0.3m
length as shown as fig.4 .
The longitudinal freestream turbulence
intensity was no greater than 0.6%
over the speed range of the
experiments ( Re = 1000 to 9000).
The five-hole probe was mounted in a
variable-angle calibrator in the center
of the test section . The probe are
connected to the selection box
( Furness controls LTD.,type FCO9-6),
it has six pairs of channels with two
rotary switches allow individual call
up of any of the twelve solenoids in the
box.
A micro- manometer ( Furness controls
LTD. , type FCO12) , was used to
measure the pressure and the pressure
differentials. The manometer has 1.%
accuracy , and measure
max
P A up
to O mmH 19.9
2
. This allows
the measurement of the
differential pressure between any two
holes on a five-hole probe , plus the
comparison
of any hole with a static source.


3.1 The Traversing Mechanism :-

To traverse the pressure probe , a
standard traversing mechanism which
has a three-dimensional movability,
was designed , The mechanism was
composed of two sliders, two rulers
were fixed to the guides for measuring
the distance traveled by the sliders in
both vertical and horizontal directions
4
in test models as shown as fig.5. The
special instrument designed to
perform the calibration runs ,
consisting of vertical and horizontal
protractor with sockets that fixed in
the traverse mechanism, to enable the
probe to yaw ( angular deviation in
the plane ) and pitch ( angular
deviations about the axis of the plane).
The two protractors control the yaw
and pitch angles as shown in fig.5.


3.2 Pressure Probes:-

3.2.1 Static-Pitot Tube:-
A standard ellipsoidal nosed
Static - pitot tube was used to
measure the tunnel reference
velocity . It had an external
diameter ( 7.98mm d= ),a stem of
(458 mm) long , a total pressure
hole of (1.32 mm ) diameter and
seven static holes distance equals
( 8.02d ) .
The correcting of the reading of
the tube was determined according
to the British standard [5] , as
followsin :-
2
R C
air
0.5
static
P
total
P g
water
) (H P - - - = = - =

where the above equation called
eq.(1), and
C C + + =


C =correction factore.

C =stem - static hole distance term.

= viscosity term.
=distance of the tube from wall term
for this work

C =0.9975 , =0.0 , may be

determined from ref.[4].


3.2.2 Five-hole probe:-

This device is a spherical ball
at the end of a slender cylinder as
shown in fig.1. , used to determine and
direction of the flow velocity vector R.
This probe was also used for static
pressure measurement [6].For the five-
hole probe the calibration coefficients
are defined as :-

D ) P (P2 CP
D ) P P ( CP
D P4) (P5 CP
D P1) (P3 CP
total
S static
yaw
pitch

=
=
=
=
(2)

where
P - P2 D
4 / P4) P3 P2 (P5 P
=
+ + + =
..(3)

The preceding sets of calibration
coefficients were found to be the most
convenient and to have high
sensitivities.
Characteristic of the steady term CP
with respect to the pitch and yaw
angles must be determined
experimentally because they deviate
gradually from the theoretical
characteristics when the angle between
the velocity vector and the radial line
through the pressure hole becomes
large [6].


4. Calibration Procedure
:-

The probe was calibrated in a
small test section, in the free stream of
inlet region the spatial variation of
velocity was 0.5% and the
turbulence level 0.6% . A velocity
range (
2
/sec m 16.87 1.87 ) were
used for the calibration, the probe was
held on a joint- tracked guide rod
through out the calibration and
remained fixed in that rod during use,
the rod was held in a traversing
mechanism which allowed translation
5
of the probe along, and rotation
about its axis.
A protractor permanently attached to
the traverse mechanism was used to
determine rotation (yaw angle ).
The mechanism was mounted on an
arm which could be rotated an axis
normal to the probe axis and the test
section axis. The arm rotated about the
probe tip, then the pitch angle could
be altered without moving the probe
tip.
Point calibration were carred out at all
combination of pitch and yaw angles

10 in 20 to 20 + increments , at
each orientation the four pressure
coefficients
total static pitch yaw
CP , CP , CP , CP ,
and the air velocity were recorded.

The four pressure coefficients were
calculation with the relationships :

) , f( CP
) , f( CP
) , f( CP
) , f( CP
total
static
yaw
pitch
| o
| o
| o
| o
=
=
=
=
(4)

Were then determined at regular
intervals in and .

5. Calibration Results :-

The calibration coefficient at
an air velocity of ( 15 m/sec ) are
presented in fig.6 and 7. , they are
presented in the following forms:-

i.
yaw pitch
CP vs. CP at various and .
ii.
yaw static
CP vs. CP at various and .
iii. vs. CP
total
at various .

A computer program based on above
algorithm was wrote in visual basic
langouge to meet the requirements of
the problem see fig.9. The calibration
process is very sensitive to the probe
alignment, probe support, and any
blockage so the procedure is repeated
more times that get smoothing curves
where the polynomial curve- fit method
fourth-order was used. The accuracy of
the processed data shown in table.1.
was good with a range of errors of
approximately 3% .



5. Measurement
Procedure for flow
field:-

Before starting the reading,
two tests are made to check the
Instrumentation . The first test is to
ensure that the pressure reading in
micro - manometer is zero before
running. After running, the second test
is to make sure of there is no leaking in
the pressure lines. In this case the five-
hole probe is fitted with a cap, which
makes sure that the tubes of the probe
connected to each others, and hence
register the same pressure.
Then, if there is any significant
difference between the two reading for
any of the pressure , there is a leak in
one of the pressure lines. The relevant
connection between the probe , and the
pressure can then be checked [7,8] .

5.1 Flow Angle Calculation :-

The computer program reads
the data

P , P P5, P4, P3, P2, P1,

S
while
the coefficient of the calibration curves
already are stored in the program. The
first step for the computer program is
to calculate the drift of the datum
pressure readings. It is assumed to drift
linearly with the number of reading
taken . The pressures coefficient
total static pitch yaw
CP , CP , CP , CP are
calculated for each measuring point.
The computer program is then used to
carry out two tests to check that and
are within the calibration range. The
6
first test to check pitch angle by
comparing the values of the pressure
coefficient
pitch
CP to the maximum
values of the calibration curves in
fig.6. If is in the calibration curve ,
the second test is carried out ,otherwise
the program moves to the next
measurnning point .
The second test to check in two
stages, the first stage is to look at the
values of P4) (P2 P5), (P2 if these
value are both less than zero then is
out of the calibration range, then the
program moves to the next
measurnning point .
In the second stage the values of the
pressure coefficient
yaw
CP are
compared with the maximum and
minimum values of the calibration
curves in fig.6. If is out of
calibration range, the program again
moves to the next measurning point ,
if is within the calibration range, the
calculation procedure continues .
Then we check from fig.7 by
using the same value of and
total static
CP , CP
to find , must be the same value
of from fig.6 . Further iteration on
the fitting curves in fig.6 and 7. ,
until and do not vary
significantly ( the error in and
is less then 0.5% degrees) with
furthe computation.


5.2 Velocity Calculation :-

After obtaining the values of
and , they are used with fitting
curves in fig.7 according to the values
of and the values of
total static
CP , CP calculated and from
these values we get

P , P
S
. Then from
eq.1. we get velocity vector R
after determine the air density
from the atmospheric pressure and
temperature at the time of the
experiment .
The value of yaw angle modified
by adding the probe angle (

45 = )
( measured between the nose of the
probe and the perpendicular to the
measurement plane , see fig.2 ).
The component of the relative velocity
can be determined :-

) cos( ) cos( R u
) sin( ) cos( R w
) sin( R v

c
c
c
- - =
- - =
- =
+ =
o
o
..(5)


6. Reynolds Number Sensitivity :-

Since a calibration is typically
performed at a single velocity, where
measurements are often acquired in
flows of spatially varying velocity .The
sensitivity of the probe to the Reynolds
number was examined as shown in
fig.9.Pitot-static probes and directional
pressure probes typically exhibit a
sensitivity at low flow velocity. For
Re < 1000-3000 [6].
So the investigation was focused on
flows with velocities lower than the
calibration velocity .


7. Conclusions :-

Experiments were conducted
in a low-speed test section with a
spherical five-hole pressure probe , to
examine the calibration persuader
using polynomial curve fitting method
fourth - order. A general computer
program was built for calibration
five hole probe based on experimental
data. The sensitivity of the probe to
the Reynolds number was also studied.
The result was very suitable with
measurement data.

7




8. References :-

(1) I . C. Shepherd , A Four - Hole
Pressure Probe of Fluid Flow
Measurements in Three Dimensions
. ; ASME , Journal of Fluids
Engineering ,December 1981,vol.103 ,
pp.590-594.

(2) Schlichting , Boundary Layer
Theory . ; McGraw-Hill , New York,
2000 .

(3) N. Sitaram , A.L. Treaster , A
Simplified Method of using Four-
Hole Probes to Measure Three-
Dimensional Flow Fields . ; Journal
of Fluids Engineering ,March 1985
,vol.107 , pp.31-35 .

(4) Richard J. Goldstein , Fluid
Mechanics Measurements . ; Berlin
,1983 .

(5) Britsh-Standaed 1042 , part :2.1 .










(6) D. Sumner , Calibration Method
for a Seven-Hole Pressure Probe . ;
Dep. of Mechanical Engineering ,
University of Saskatchewen , Canada ,
internet paper , 2000 .

(7) R . K. Jain , Mechanical
and Industrial Measurment . ;
seventh edition , 1988 .

(8) Robert P. Benedict Fundamentals
of Temperature , Pressure , and Flow
Measurement . ; third edition ,1984 .














Pitch Angle
in (deg.)

Yaw Angle
in (deg.)

Velocity Vector R
in (m/sec )

Actual Measu
-red
Error
%
Actual Measu
-red
Error
%
Actual Measu
-red
Error
%
-20 -19.8 1 -20 -20.4 1.9 15.6 15.9 1.8
-20 -19.7 1.5 0 -0.5 1 15.9 16.1 1.2
-20 -19.9 0.5 20 20.5 2.4 15 14.8 1.3
0 0. 0. 20 19.4 3 15.7 16.1 2.4
0 -0.1 1 0 -0.3 1 15.1 14.9 1.3
0 0. 0. -20 -20.6 2.9 15.8 16 1.2
+20 19.7 1.5 -20 -20.4 1.9 15.9 16.3 2.4
+20 19.9 0.5 0 -0.4 1 15 14.7 2
+20 19.6 2 20 19.5 2.5 15.1 15.4 1.9
8

Table(1). Probe Measurement Error.









































Fig. 1.b. Five-hole probe geometry.
514
42
|5
|8
|8
1
2
3
4 5
All dimensions in mm Front view
Fig. 1.a. 3D presentation of traversing mechanism.
9







































R
xy

R
R
xz

o
|
x
z
y
x
z
y
R
3
2
c
c
4
5
1
Fig. 3. Vector decomposition of hole geometry and flow direction
for a 5-hole pitot tube.
P
3

P
5

P
2

P
1

P
4

Spherical Ti p
c=45
Reference
Line
R
xy

R
xz

R
Yaw
Plane
Pitch
Plane
Flow
Direction
|
o
x
y
z
(b)
1
2
3
5
45
15mm
1
2
5
3
5
2
3
4
5mm
42mm
3
4 5
1 ID 0. 6mm
OD 1mm
Fig. 2. Five-hole probe construction.
(a)
11

























8.8.8.8
2
Interface
Cart
Computer
Main 6V
Main 220V
1
3
Off
On
Pressure Static
1 2 3 4 5
Pressure
Pressure
1 2 3 4 5 S
8
S
1
2
3
4
5
4
5
6
Air
7
11
10
12
9
1. Selection box (FC091-Furness) 5. Fi ve-hol e probe 9. Thermometer
2. Micro-manometer (FC92-Furness) 6. Traversing mechanism 10. Test section
3. Power supply 7. Fan 11. Inl et flow region
4. Ruler 8. P.V.C. tubes (1mmID, 3mmOD) 12. Exit flow region
Fig. 4. Schematic arrangement of experimental rig.
11

13












































Vertical protector
(Pitch angle o)
Ball & socket joint
Wind tunnel test section
Flow direction
Vertical guide
Vertical slider
5-Hole probe
Ruler
Horizontal guide
Horizontal slider
Model test section
b. Standard traversing mechanism
a. Calibration traversing mechanism
Fig. 5. Traversing mechanism for calibration and models tests.
Horizontal protector
(Yaw angle |)

14











































-3.00 -1.00 1.00
-4.00 -2.00 0.00 2.00
Cp pitch
-1
1
3
-2.00
0.00
2.00
4.00
C
p

y
a
w
Alfa ( Pitch Angle ) = -20,-10,0,10,20
B
e
t
a

(

Y
a
w

A
n
g
l
e

)

=
2
0
,
1
0
,
0
,
-
1
0
,
-
2
0
-10.00 10.00
-20.00 0.00 20.00
Alfa ( Pitch Angle )
-0.5
0.5
-1
0
1
C
p

t
o
t
a
l
C
p

s
t
a
t
i
c
Yaw angle = 20
Yaw angle = 10
Yaw angle = 0
Yaw angle = -10
Yaw angle = -20
Fig. 6. Calibration curves for CPyaw respect to CPpitch
Fig. 7. Calibration curves for CPtotal and
CPstatic respect to pitch angles
15











































2.5E+3 7.5E+3
0.0E+0 5.0E+3 1.0E+4
Reynolds Number
-1.00
1.00
-2.00
0.00
2.00
C
p

p
i
t
c
h
Yaw and Pitch angles = 20
Yaw and Pitch angles = 10
Yaw and Pitch angles = 0
Yaw and Pitch angles = -10
Yaw and Pitch angles = -20
2.50E+3 7.50E+3
0.00E+0 5.00E+3 1.00E+4
Reynolds Number
0.05
0.15
0.00
0.10
0.20
C
p

y
a
w
2.50E+3 7.50E+3
0.00E+0 5.00E+3 1.00E+4
Reynolds Number
0.20
0.60
0.00
0.40
0.80
C
p

s
t
a
t
i
c
2.50E+3 7.50E+3
0.00E+0 5.00E+3 1.00E+4
Reynolds Number
-0.25
0.25
-0.50
0.00
0.50
C
p

t
o
t
a
l
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 8. Reynolds number effect on calibration curves.
16











































Start
Input No. of measuring
point = N , I = 1
I = I + 1, |(i)
old
= 0,
o(i)
old
= 0
Read P
1
, P
2
, P
3
, P
4
, P
5
, P
S
, P
t

Read all the coefficients of calibration curves. Fig. 6 and Fig. 7
Calculate , CPyaw(i), CPpitch(i), CPstatic(i), CPtotal(i)
IF CPpitch(i) < CPpitch
max

AND
IF CPpitch(i) > CPpitch
min

from Fig. 6
IF (P
2
- P
3
) AND (P
2
- P
1
)
A
Yes No
IF CPyaw(i) < CPyaw
max

AND
IF CPyaw(i) > CPyaw
min

from Fig. 6
A
<0
A
No
Calculate o(i), |(i) from Fig. 6 at CPyaw(i), CPpitch(i)
Yes
1
Fig. 9. Block diagram for the interactive computer program to get yaw and
pitch angles and velocity vector in 3D that was written in Visual Basic
language ver. 6.
A
0<
17











































End
o(i)
old
= o(i)
|(i)
old
= |(i)
IF abs[ |(i) - |(i)
old
]
AND
IF abs[ o(i) - o(i)
old
]
IF (P
2
P
4
) AND (P
2
P
5
)
B
Accuracy = < < Accuracy
0<
1
B
A
<0
Calculate |(i) from Fig. 7
At o(i) and CPstatic
calculate |(i)
|
2
= |(i)
At o(i) and CPtotal
calculate |(i)
|
1
= |(i)
IF |
1
= |
2
= |(i) A
No
Yes
Calculate CPstatic, CPtotal(i) from Fig. 7 at o(i), |(i)
Calculate P
S
, P
t
from eq. 2
Calculate R from eq. 1
Calculate |c, u, v, w from eq. 4
IF I = N
A
No
Yes
Fig. 9 Conti nued...