Capteurs de pression piézorésistifs pour mesures aérodynamiques : essais en soufflerie et en vol

Aerodynamics has a key impact on aircrafts performance and safety. Lift and drag forces are of course of primary interest for both operational performance and environmental considerations. In addition to aerodynamic force balances, precise measurement of surface pressure is essential for optimizing aircraft design. This involves diagnosing steady and unsteady pressure distribution around the aircraft.

The goal is to better understand the in-flight behavior but also to assess correlated physical phenomena such as acoustics (aerodynamic noise). Engineers also focus on identifying and controlling induced flow structures and base their analysis on pressure measurements. Initial developments typically occur in wind tunnels with controlled flow conditions, but full-scale validation in operating conditions is necessary. Piezoresistive pressure sensors with wide broadband frequency response are a key instrumentation for such studies and are fitted for both wind-tunnel and in-flight testing”.

Carmine Salzano, Directeur international Aérospatiale et défense et secteur des essais, PCB Piezotronics