Numerical And Experimental Study Of The Behaviour Of A Single-Axis Fluidic Thermal Gyroscope

A single-axis, gas thermal gyroscope without proof mass designed, manufactured and then numerically and experimentally characterised is presented in this paper. The working principle of the device is based on deflection of a laminar gas jet generated by the Coriolis effect. A hot gas jet, produced using a micro-pump, passes via a micro-fluidic channel and enters a cavity. Two micro-thermocouples are positioned symmetrically in relation to the jet axis and their differential temperature is measured. The measurement value depends on the rotational velocity applied to the system. A behavioral study of the operation of the gyroscope is carried out experimentally. For that, a system of visualisation is set up using a smoke jet allowing the observation of the deflection of the flow. The influence of the gas (N-2) flow velocity on characteristics (sensitivity and measuring range) has been studied and compared with a numerical model. The numerical model developed is in agreement with the experimental results showing that there is an optimal gas flow velocity of 4 m s(-1) in order to achieve a compromise between high sensitivity and large measuring range.