DEVELOPMENT OF A SINGLE-INPUT LAMINAR FLOW AMPLIFIER

CONVENTIONAL LAMINAR PROPORTIONAL AMPLIFIERS (LPAS) ARE GEOMETRICALLY SYMMETRICAL AND ACCEPT INPUTS ON ONE SIDE OR ANOTHER BUT THE GAIN IS DEGRADED BY CROSS-TALK FROM THE IMPEDANCE OF THE OPPOSITE CONTROL, PARTICULARLY AT HIGH FREQUENCIES. OFTEN, AS IN PHOTO-ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCTION OR SEECH AMPLIFICATION, IT IS DESIROUS TO OPTIMIZE THE GAIN AT FREQUENCIES RANGING FROM 100 TO BEYOND 10,000 HZ. DR DRZEWIECKI IS THE INVENTOR OF TWO, SINGLE-INPUT LAMINAR DEVICES. THE FIRST, A SET-POINT SENSOR, PRODUCES A DIFFERENTIAL OUTPUT SIGNAL PROPORTIONAL TO CHANGES IN PRESSURE ABOUT SOME ABSOLUTE LEVEL. THE SECOND DEPENDS ON THE DEFLECTION OF A LAMINAR STREAM FROM A CONTROL PORT ON ONE SIDE WHEN THE OPPOSITE SIDE IS IN A FREE FIELD. BOTH AMPLIFIERS ARE GEOMETRICALLY ASYMMETRICAL AND SIGNIFICANTLY DEVIATE FROM CONVENTIONAL AMPLIFIER DESIGN. WHILE CONCEPTUALLY, AND ON A LIMITED EXPERIMENTAL BASIS, THESE AMPLIFIERS HAVE DEMONSTRATED PERFORMANCE INCREASES, IT STILL REMAINS TO ADEQUATELY ANALYZE, CHARACTERIZE, AND DEMONSTRATE ENGINEERING FEASIBILITY OF THESE DEVICES. IT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH TO PROVIDE THE GOVERNMENT WITH THE BASIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH DEVICES.