Optical probe for static pressure measurements in vitiated flows for ground test facilities

The ultimate goal of the project is development of an in-situ static pressure probe for flow field characterization. The technology will leverage the latest developments in measurement techniques to directly characterize static pressure in high-speed, high temperature flows, and will be specifically optimized for use at the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU) at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC). Sensors built with this technology will be immediately useful for free stream characterization in high-temperature high speed flows at ground-test facilities to help precisely characterize test conditions. In addition, we will lay the groundwork for a subset of the proposed system to be miniaturized and integrated into vehicles for in-flight diagnostics. Furthermore, the proposed technology has value beyond the scope of this project and will be marketed for combustion diagnostics in a variety of commercial and military applications. In Phase I we will perform a theoretical investigation and proof-of-concept demonstration of the major aspects of the setup. Both modeling and hardware testing will be conducted to down-select specific options to produce a static pressure probe design that best meets the needs for APTU applications. The work will culminate in Phase II with a complete in-situ static pressure probe built and optimized for use at ground-test facilities along with a path for implementation of a versions of the technology into flight vehicles.Ā