Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2023 - 32

Test & Measurement
Calculation of Unsteady Aerodynamic Loads Using
Fast-Response Pressure-Sensitive Paint
The technique enables time-resolved measurements of unsteady pressure fluctuations
within a dense grid of spatial points representing the wind tunnel model.
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
M
any important physical problems in
aero-sciences involve unsteady, separated
flows. The ability to measure and
compute these flows has been a persistent
challenge. Unsteady aerodynamics leads
to unsteady loads which ultimately decrease
system performance and shortens
the system lifetime. Currently, dynamic
pressure transducers are used to study unsteady
flow in wind tunnel tests, which are
expensive and do not provide accurate integrated
unsteady loads on a wind tunnel
model.
NASA Ames has developed a new stateof-the-art
method for measuring fluctuating
aerodynamic-induced pressures on
wind tunnel models using unsteady Pressure
Sensitive Paint (uPSP). The technology
couples recent advances in high-speed
cameras, high-powered energy sources,
and fast response pressure-sensitive paint.
The unsteady pressure-sensitive paint
(uPSP) technique has emerged as a
powerful tool to measure flow, enabling
time-resolved measurements of unsteady
pressure fluctuations within a dense grid
of spatial points on a wind tunnel model.
The invention includes details surrounding
uPSP processing.
Raw camera view from uPSP high-speed camera. (Image: NASA)
This technique enables time-resolved
measurements of unsteady pressure fluctuations
within a dense grid of spatial
points representing the wind tunnel model.
Since uPSP is applied by a spray gun,
it is continuously distributed. With this
approach, if the model geometry can be
painted, viewed from a camera, and excited
by a lamp source, uPSP data can be collected.
Unsteady PSP (uPSP) has the ability
to determine more accurate integrated
unsteady loads.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information,
visit https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
TOP2-293.
New Technology Offers Better Diagnosis of Dizziness
The vibrating device uses bone-conducted sounds to achieve better results.
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
P
atients with dizziness problems can now
get better diagnosis in a simple and
painless way. A new type of bone conduction
speaker, easily attached behind the
ear, can make the diagnosis more efficient
and safer - especially for patients who also
suffer from hearing problems. The technology
has been developed by researchers
at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden,
and is now ready for manufacturing.
Hearing and balance are closely related.
For patients with dizziness, this
32
relationship is used for diagnosis. Commonly,
a VEMP test (Vestibular Evoked
Myogenic Potentials) is performed. A
VEMP test uses loud sounds to evoke a
muscle reflex contraction in the neck
and eye muscles, triggered by the vestibular
system - the system responsible for
balance. Instead, the Chalmers University
researchers are using bone-conducted
sounds to achieve better results.
" We have developed a new type of vibrating
device called B250 that is placed
www.techbriefs.com
behind the ear of the patient during the
test, " said Bo Håkansson, Professor in the
research group Biomedical Signals and
Systems at Chalmers. " The vibrating device
is small and compact in size and optimized
to provide an adequate sound level
for triggering the reflex at frequencies as
low as 250 Hz, which we have found to be
optimal for VEMP stimulation. Previously,
no vibrating device has been available that
was directly adapted for this type of test of
the balance system. "
Tech Briefs, October 2023
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/TOP2-293 http://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2023

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