How It Works
A model surface is painted with the PSP coating with an airbrush or automotive type paint gun. The PSP consists of an oxygen sensitive probe suspended in an oxygen permeable binder. The model is then placed in a oven so the PSP layer can cure. Once cured, the model is placed in a wind tunnel or appropriate test environment. LED lamps of a specific wavelength are used to excite the pressure sensitive probe within the paint. Once excited, the pressure sensitive probe is transitioned to a higher energy state where is may either emit a photon or be quenched by local oxygen present. This competing process of emission and quenching determines the intensity response of the paint layer. The result is a dimmer fluorescence where there is higher pressure and brighter response at lower pressures. The intensity emitted from the surface is then recorded through a long-pass filter by a CCD or scientific grade camera and stored for conversion to pressure using a previously determined calibration. Images of the paint layer are recorded at three conditions. A wind-off image at a known reference condition which is typically standard atmospheric conditions with the tunnel turned off. A wind-on image at a loaded condition where the wind tunnel is running at condition. And lastly a background image where the ambient light present is captured without the illumination source. The background image is then subtracted from the wind-off reference and the wind-on condition image in data processing. Photographs of the surface can be obtained from outside the wind tunnel's test section, which means that the model need never be disturbed or touched in order to obtain the pressure distribution. Computer-aided photography can be used to produce false-color images, where the color range corresponds to the pressure variations.
Read more about this topic: Pressure-sensitive Paint
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