Simultaneous Velocimetry, Thermometry, and Chemical Species Measurements for High-Enthalpy Flows

NASA SBIR 2024 Phase I Solicitation A2.08 called for spatially and temporally resolved diagnostics for NASA high-speed wind tunnel flows (supersonic, hypersonic), both with and without combustion. Improved measurement capabilities are needed for velocity, temperature, density, and/or species concentrations in harsh wind tunnel environments, from short-duration (~msec) to long-duration (~min) flow facilities. Accurate inflow characterization is essential for interpreting ground test data and ensuring meaningful comparisons with simulations. Conventional methods for characterizing ground test facilities rely on intrusive probes, such as thermocouple and pressure transducer rakes, which offer limited spatial resolution, are unsuitable for the highest-enthalpy conditions, and cannot capture data during active test runs. Spectral Energies, in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University proposes to build a large-scale absorption tomography sensor capable of measuring 2D distributions of velocity, temperature, species, and pressure in high-speed reacting and non-reacting flows. The system design is capable of recording multi-beam (tomographic) measurements of unsteady flows and has a flexible, modular design, ensuring compatibility with multiple test environments. The proposed research effort will provide new instrumentation capabilities and methodologies, together with a convenient and user-friendly software package for the high-speed flow thermometry, concentration and velocimetry measurement. Potential NASA users include scientists and engineers from several large ground test facilities at various NASA research centers, including the 8-ft high-temperature tunnel, 31” Mach 10 tunnel, National Transonic Wind Tunnel, 0.3-m TCT, Unitary Wind Tunnel, HYMETS Arc-jet, and Hypersonic Scramjet.

The proposed research effort will provide new instrumentation capabilities and methodologies, together with a convenient and user-friendly software package for the high-speed flow thermometry, concentration and velocimetry measurement. Potential NASA users include scientists and engineers from several large ground test facilities at various NASA research centers, including the 8-ft high-temperature tunnel, the Direct-Connect High-Enthalpy Supersonic Combustion Research Facility , 31” Mach 10 tunnel, National Transonic Wind Tunnel, 0.3-m TCT, Unitary Wind Tunnel, HYMETS Arc-jet, and Hypersonic Scramjet. Outside of research interest from NASA ground test facilities, the system could also be applied in various large test facilities in many universities, research institutes, and aviation companies for accurate flow measurements in many R&D areas, such as gas turbine engines, hypersonic scramjets, hypersonic vehicles, aerospace capsules, and unmanned flights. All of these areas are important to national security and defense. The potential customers could be from research facilities in DoD, DARPA, DOE and other Government agencies. The other potential market includes industrial aeronautical companies, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, GE, Pratt–Whitney, Raytheon, and other industrial aerospace interests.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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