Plasma Sensor for High Bandwidth Mass-Flow Measurements at High Mach Numbers with RF Link

The proposal is aimed at the development of a miniature high bandwidth (1 MHz class) plasma sensor for flow measurements at high enthalpies. This device uses a plasma discharge between two encapsulated electrodes as the primary sensing element to measure various flow parameters including mass flow. The advantages of the plasma sensor are that it requires no frequency compensation up to its A.C. carrier frequency, has an amplitude-modulated output that has excellent common-mode rejection with a signal-to-noise ratio that is much better than a hot-wire, is robust with no sensor element to break, can have a small spatial volume, and is insensitive to temperature variations making calibration easier than thermal-based sensors. This sensor has applications for measurements in gas-turbine machinery, shock tubes, shock-boundary layer experiments, high-enthalpy hypersonic flows, and in plasma-laden flows such as on reentry vehicles. The output from the sensor is wirelessly transmitted and can be remotely demodulated and converted into the constituent mean and fluctuating components. The proposed effort is designed to advance and expand the capabilities of the plasma sensor for high Mach number flows.

The proposed program is designed to provide the aerospace industry with a new class of robust sensors that use plasma as the main sensing element. This technology addresses shortcomings in sensing that limits the ability to measure flow quantities in environments characterized by high enthalpy, Mach number, or aerothermal gradients, particularly in the case where high-bandwidth or small volume measurements are required. The plasma sensor provides the ability to obtain feedback in the hot sections of gas-turbines, which is critical to improving their performance and efficiency. Engine manufacturers are limited by current approaches using optical techniques such as laser Doppler velocimetry, which do not provide spatial or temporal resolution, or dynamic pressure sensors such as those manufactured by Kulite, which cannot provide high-temperature reliability. The plasma sensor can provide cheap and reliable sensing capability that can help to advance the state-of-the art in aeronautical engineering.

The proposed program is designed to add a robust sensing capability to NASA's mission of research and development in hypersonic and high-enthalpy flow environments, with particular emphasis on mass-ow measurements in a small-measurement volume. This sensor addresses NASA's need to reduce uncertainty and to improve predictive capabilities in boundary layer transition, shock boundary-layer interactions, and other flow conditions involving high enthalpies, temperature gradients, radiative heating or other forms of aerothermal stresses. This technology will support on-going research in the design of scramjet vehicles, improve rotating turbomachinery performance, and the development and validation of transition and turbulence models in both CFD and experiment. It has particular benefit as a laboratory sensor and will provide a turn-key solution to research in high-enthalpy flows.

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