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Using Temperature Sensitive Paint TechnologyNew facilities and test techniques afford research aerodynamicists many opportunities to investigate complex aerodynamic phenomena. For example, NASA Langley Research Center's National Transonic Facility (NTF) can hold Mach number, Reynolds number, dynamic pressure, stagnation temperature and stagnation pressure constant during testing. This is important because the wing twist associated with model construction may mask important Reynolds number effects associated with the flight vehicle. Beyond this, the NTF's ability to vary Reynolds number allows for important research into the study of boundary layer transition. The capabilities of facilities such as the NTF coupled with test techniques such as temperature sensitive paint yield data that can be applied not only to vehicle design but also to validation of computational methods. Development of Luminescent Paint Technology for acquiring pressure and temperature measurements began in the mid-1980s. While pressure sensitive luminescent paints (PSP) were being developed to acquire data for aerodynamic performance and loads, temperature sensitive luminescent paints (TSP) have been used for a much broader range of applications. For example, TSP has been used to acquire surface temperature data to determine the heating due to rotating parts in various types of mechanical systems. It has been used to determine the heating pattern(s) on circuit boards. And, it has been used in boundary layer analysis and applied to the validation of full-scale flight performance predictions. That is, data acquired on the same model can be used to develop trends from off design to full scale flight Reynolds number, e.g. to show the progression of boundary layer transition. A discussion of issues related to successfully setting-up TSP tests and using TSP systems for boundary layer studies is included in this paper, as well as results from a variety of TSP tests. TSP images included in this paper are all grey-scale so that similar to pictures from sublimating chemical tests areas of laminar flow appear "lighter," or white, and areas of turbulent flow appear "darker."
Document ID
20030003800
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Other
Authors
Hamner, M. P. (LeaTech, LLC Baltimore, MD United States)
Popernack, T. G., Jr. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA United States)
Owens, L. R. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA United States)
Wahls, R. A. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Nonmetallic Materials
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 2002-0742
Meeting Information
Meeting: 40th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit
Location: Reno, NV
Country: United States
Start Date: January 14, 2002
End Date: January 17, 2002
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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