OPTICALLY SMART SURFACES FOR WIND TUNNEL MEASUREMENTS

THIS IS A PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A NEW DIAGNOSTICS TOOL FOR WIND TUNNELS CALLED AN OPTICALLY SMART SURFACE. OPTICALLY SMART SURFACES ARE SURFACES WHICH HAVE BEEN PREPARED WITH SPECIALLY CHOSEN DIFFRACTION PROPERTIES WHICH ALLOW THEM TO AUGMENT THE MEASUREMENT OF PROPERTIES OF THE SURFACE OR OF THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE SURFACE. AN OPTICALLY SMART SURFACE IS DESIGNED TO RECEIVE A BEAM OF LIGHT FROM A TRANSMITTER, TO IMPRESS IUFORMATION OF INTEREST UPON THE LIGHT BEAM, AND THEN TO RETURN IT TO A RECEIVER WHICH EXTRACTS THE INFORMATION. POSSIBLE MEASUREMENTS INCLUDE VELOCITY OF GAS OVER THE SURFACE, TEMPERATURE, MODEL DETECTION, PRESSURE, FLOW PROPERTIES, SKIN FRICTION, AND OTHERS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH HAS THREE MAJOR DIVISIONS. THE FIRST SHOWS HOW THE DIFFRACTION PROPERTIES OF WIND TUNNEL WALLS OR MODELS CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF INTEREST IN WIND TUNNELS. THE SECOND SHOWS HOW THE SURFACE CAN BE ADDRESSED BY AN ILLUMINATING BEAM AND TRANSFER DESIRED INFORMATION AND CARRY IT TO A RECEIVER. THE THIRD WILL DETERMINE HOW TO PHYSICALLY PRODUCE THE DESIRED SURFACES ON WIND TUNNEL OR MODEL SURFACES TO SURVIVE THE TESTS. THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES OF BINARY AND HOLOGRAPHIC OPTICS MAKE OPTICALLY SMART SURFACES POSSIBLE. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS RESEARCH WILL LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR A NEW CLASS OF INSTRUMENTATION FOR WIND TUNNEL TESTING.