Shear Sensitive Paint for High-Resolution 2-Dimensional Shear Stress Measurements Over Dynamic Surfaces
Introduction The friction created by air or water moving across an aircraft, vehicle, or boat can have a large impact on efficiency and performance. Extensive design work in air or water tunnels is typically carried out to minimize these frictional losses. The ability to measure friction or shear forces across large, curved surfaces opens up new possibilities for the wind tunnel testing of aircraft components and vehicles and the water tunnel testing of new boat designs. Technology description The inventors have developed a novel combination of coating, imaging, and analysis technologies that enable the measurement and visualization of shear forces on both flat and curved surfaces. Business opportunity This technology will enable the development of new test coatings and an integrated test system that will be installed in wind and water tunnel facilities. This technology overcomes the limitation of other shear coating technologies, which do not work on curved surfaces. This coating based approach allows the whole surface to be analyzed, versus the isolated information that is gathered with electronic sensors. This technology presents an opportunity to generate both capital equipment(system) and ongoing material (coating) sales revenue. Stage of development Both the magnitude and direction (vector) of the shear stress caused by a controlled air flow have been measured across a coated surface. Intellectual property position The UW is currently evaluating this technology for patent protection.
Type of Offer: Licensing
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