Numerical processing of thin-film thermometer data for determining transient heat fluxes

The proposed finite element method can tackle the single- and the double-layer sensor, temperature dependent properties of the sensor and, more importantly, it can be applied when the semi-infinite assumption is no longer feasible; it proved successful in processing prototype signals for Mach numbers in the range 0.02-6. The analytical calculation of the accuracy of all the methods is also new and it prompts a guideline that is useful to design a priori an experiment on rational basis.