SBIR/STTR
Self-Nulling Schlieren Imaging for Aircraft in Flight, Phase I
Project Introduction
Schlieren imaging is an especially useful tool for studying shock waves created by aircraft, because shock waves create strong refractive index gradients that can be visualized. Until recently, the large and delicate instrumentation required for schlieren photography mostly restricted the technique's use to ground test facilities. Previous work has shown that full-scale schlieren images of an aircraft in flight can be synthesized by analyzing high-speed video of the aircraft flying across the sun. The solar schlieren method is especially useful for air-to-air schlieren photography, because an airborne observation platform provides a unique perspective view of the second aircraft. We propose to advance this technique via a new self-nulling schlieren imaging method which has the potential to substantially increase the sensitivity of the technique. This technology could be also used to study large-scale aerodynamic problems where conventional laboratory schlieren imaging is impossible.
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Anticipated Benefits
Potential NASA Commercial Applications: Flight tests are often used as a final critical validation of aerodynamic designs developed by computational and wind tunnel methods because the information obtainable in wind tunnels is subject to interference. Outdoor schlieren systems using the sun and moon as background edges make it possible to visualize shock waves, intense noise features, jet plumes, and other phenomena from full-sized aircraft in flight. The proposed software makes it possible to obtain schlieren images using relatively simple camera hardware that may be deployed aboard research aircraft. Applications exist in all forms of research and development associated with turbulent flow fields including aero optics, flow control, drag, boundary layer transition, and flow separation. A possible future application is characterizing wingtip vortices from aircraft. The proposed development of schlieren imaging software will be extremely important in flight tests, where few aero-optical instruments can visualize airflows around full-sized aircraft in a flight environment.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Armstrong Flight Research Center
(AFRC)
|
Lead Organization | NASA Center | Edwards, CA |
| Spectabit Optics, LLC | Supporting Organization | Industry | Laguna Hills, CA |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
California
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Center / Facility:
- Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Responsible Program:
- SBIR/STTR
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- Benjamin D Buckner
Project Duration
Start: Jun 2015
End: Dec 2015
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 3 |
| Current: | 3 |
| Estimated End: | 3 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TA 8 Science Instruments, Observatories, and Sensor Systems
- TA 8.3 In-Situ Instruments and Sensors
- TA 8.3.3 In-Situ (other)
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