Temperature Compensated Sol-Gel Derived Pressure Sensitive Coating

Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new pressure sensitive luminescent pain, based on fluorescence sol-gel (FluoroSol coatings, for surface aerodynamic flow field mapping in windtunnel tests. This proposal addresses the problem of accurately mapping aerodynamic flow fields on aerodynamic surfaces, with high resolution, fast response time, low photodegradation, large stokes shifts, and temperature compensation. Specifically in the Phase I program, POC will investigate the oxygen quenching properties of a variety of target fluorescence indicators in a unique sol-gel matrix with the goal of obtaining one or more candidates that will exhibit the desired engineering specifications for pressure sensitive paints. POC will also investigate a variety of temperature sensitive colorimetric indicators that can be combined in the same matrix with the pressure indicators to produce a temperture compensated flow field measurement. At the end of the Phase I pro-gram, POC will demonstrate a FluoroSol coating, applied on a metal surface, that will exhibit a pressure sensitivity in the range of 200 to 2000 psf with a 1% accuracy in the presence of 20F temperature variations.