To accurately evaluate the metrological performance of airborne sensors under the prolonged, gradual, and cumulative influence of the natural environment, this study examines key technical aspects of the testing process — including preliminary preparations, test design, execution, result analysis, and reporting — based on the characteristics of both airborne sensors and natural environments. This exploration has resulted in the development of a relatively universal methodology for conducting natural environmental tests. These tests generate fundamental data on the changes in sensor metrological indicators, providing essential support for subsequent research on the performance degradation and the calibration cycle of airborne sensors.

Accurate heat flux measurement is essential for developing hypersonic vehicles and their thermal protection systems. The intense aerodynamic heating generated during high⁃speed flight of aerospace vehicles is primarily dominated by convective heat transfer. However, existing heat flux gauges struggle to accurately measure surface thermal loads under extreme high-temperature and high⁃speed conditions, resulting in low measurement accuracy and significantly constraining the performance evaluation of thermal protection systems and material development. To address the lack of reliable calibration methods for heat flux sensors under high⁃temperature and high⁃speed conditions, this study introduces a dual⁃plate transient calibration method. This method adopts a highly accurate thin⁃film platinum resistance sensor as a reference, installs a Gardon gauge to be calibrated with the sensor together on a displacement ejection mechanism, and simulates the high⁃speed flight scenario of the aircraft in the wind tunnel to achieve the calibration to the Gardon heat flux gauge under airflow conditions. Calibration experiments were conducted at a flight Mach number of 0.3 and temperatures from 100 °C to 300 °C for the developed convective heat flux measurement device. The results demonstrate that the relative expanded uncertainty is 4.2% (k = 2), and this method can effectively obtain the convective heat flux sensitivity coefficient of the Gardon heat flux meter. The dual plate transient calibration method proposed in this paper provides new ideas and approaches for high⁃temperature and high⁃speed convective heat flux calibration, significantly improving the reliability of convective heat flux measurement data and providing strong technical support for the development of hypersonic aircraft and accurate measurement of thermal loads in thermal protection systems.

Traditional test equipment struggles to meet the high⁃precision and efficient static temperature testing requirements of thin⁃film thermocouples in high⁃temperature environments. To address this issue, a chamber furnace with large⁃space and precise temperature control functions has been developed. The furnace body adopts a split⁃type multi⁃layer structure design. Its side thermal insulation components can be flexibly disassembled to eliminate installation obstructions, satisfying the testing needs of thin⁃film thermocouples with different shapes. High⁃efficiency heating is achieved using three⁃section molybdenum disilicide heating elements, combined with a water⁃cooling system to realize precise temperature control and generate a stable and reliable temperature field. A three⁃dimensional thermodynamic model was established and simulated using ANSYS Workbench 2019R3 software. The simulation results show that the temperature field at the measuring end and the temperature at the reference end of the sample meet the design expectations. Practical tests conducted with the developed box⁃type furnace indicate that the temperature fluctuation in the furnace's test coordinate system is 0.47 ℃ / 6 min, and the temperature field uniformity is better than 3 ℃ / 50 mm, which complies with the testing requirements for thin⁃film thermocouples. Tests on Au⁃Pt thin⁃film thermocouples were conducted using this box⁃type furnace, further verifying its application effectiveness. It provides important technical support for the static temperature characteristic detection of thin⁃film thermocouples.