MEMS sensor system development at NASA Langley Research Center for wind tunnel applications

Review of MEMS Techniques and Applications in Aerodynamics Research

“…The devices were fabricated on a silicon substrate with a platinum sensor element 5 microns wide, 1000-Å thick and of varying length and showed excellent performance with good frequency response. A thermal type shear stress sensors were tested by NASA Langley Research Center in its 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel and the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel(TDT) and they worked well [5] .…”

“…However, small size and low cost is still attractive to wind tunnel test applications. Two different types of MEMS accelerometers, capacitive type sensing element and micromachined silicon proof mass, were developed at NASA Langley Research Center(LaRC) for the measurement of model attitude [5] . Laboratory calibration shows that the accuracy is about +/-0.04 degree with a 95% confidence interval(+/-1.96 sigma) over a range of +/-30 degree inclination, which is lower than that of servo accelerometers, +/-0.01 degree over a range of +/-20 degree [6] .…”

“…MEMS sensors can also play a role to measure pressure, temperature [5] and velocity [16] . Dynamic simulation techniques use MEMS sensor technology to measure a model's motion and obtain reliable flight dynamics information in developing low cost dynamic wind tunnel facility [17] .…”