Princeton Instruments - PSP Imaging

[arunraje]

Pressure-Sensitive Paint (PSP)

Although most aircraft and automobiles are currently designed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), wind tunnel testing is still necessary to validate CFD models. In the past, pressure measurements were limited to a few key locations on the model where mechanical pressure transducers could be placed.

Now optical measurements of pressure can be taken using pressure-sensitive paint (PSP). A wind tunnel model is covered with a paint formulation that fluoresces under short-wavelength excitation. As pressure is increased, collisions between oxygen and fluorescing paint quench the fluorescence. The change in fluorescence intensity can be used to calculate a pressure map of the surface.

Both steady-state as well as lifetime (time-resolved) imaging techniques are used in wind tunnels around the world.


http://www.piacton.com/imaging/pressurepaint.aspx