HIGH RESOLUTION OPTICAL MULTICHANNEL TRANSDUCER ARRAY FOR WIND TUNNEL APPLICATIONS

FOR THE ACCURATE ANALYSIS OF WIND-TUNNEL MODELING, IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF THE PRESSURE PROFILES OVER THE MODEL SURFACE TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF SHORT-SCALE-LENGTH TURBULENCE. A DURABLE TRANSDUCER ARRAY CAPABLE OF SPATIALLY RESOLVED, REAL-TIME PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE INNOVATIVE FEATURES OF THE OPTICAL, MULTICHANNEL TRANSDUCER ARRAY (OMTA) ARE TWO-FOLD. FIRST, THE SIGNALS ARE BASED ON OPTICAL EFFECTS FOR FAST RESPONSE AND HIGH-RESOLUTION. SECOND, THE TRANSDUCER ARRAY WILL BE FABRICATED USING SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES AND WILL BE COATED WITH DIAMOND-LIKE FILMS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST HIGH-TEMPERATURE, CORROSIVE WIND-TUNNEL CONDITIONS. THROUGH THE USE OF SUCH ASYSTEM, HIGH TEMPORALLY AND SPATIALLY RESOLVED MEASUREMENTS MAY BE MADE IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS INNOVATION IS ITS IMPACT ON AEROSPACE RESEARCH AND IN PARTICULAR, AS A POWERFUL NEW DIAGNOSTIC FOR WIND-TUNNEL STUDIES ON SCALE MODELS. FOR THE ACCURATE ANALYSIS OF WIND-TUNNEL MODELING, IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF THE PRESSURE PROFILES OVER THE MODEL SURFACE TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF SHORT-SCALE-LENGTH TURBULENCE. A DURABLE TRANSDUCER ARRAY CAPABLE OF SPATIALLY RESOLVED, REAL-TIME PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE INNOVATIVE FEATURES OF THE OPTICAL, MULTICHANNEL TRANSDUCER ARRAY (OMTA) ARE TWO-FOLD. FIRST, THE SIGNALS ARE BASED ON OPTICAL EFFECTS FOR FAST RESPONSE AND HIGH-RESOLUTION. SECOND, THE TRANSDUCER ARRAY WILL BE FABRICATED USING SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES AND WILL BE COATED WITH DIAMOND-LIKE FILMS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST HIGH-TEMPERATURE, CORROSIVE WIND-TUNNEL CONDITIONS. THROUGH THE USE OF SUCH ASYSTEM, HIGH TEMPORALLY AND SPATIALLY RESOLVED MEASUREMENTS MAY BE MADE IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS INNOVATION IS ITS IMPACT ON AEROSPACE RESEARCH AND IN PARTICULAR, AS A POWERFUL NEW DIAGNOSTIC FOR WIND-TUNNEL STUDIES ON SCALE MODELS.