NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
A shear sensitive monomer-polymer liquid crystal system for wind tunnel applicationsCharacteristics of a liquid crystal system, comprised of a shear-sensitive cholesteric-monomer liquid crystal thin-film coated on a liquid-crystal polymer substrate, are described. The system provides stable Grandjean texture, a desirable feature for shear-stress measurements using selective reflection from the monomer liquid-crystal helix structure. Impingement of gas or air flow on the monomer liquid-crystal free surface changes the wavelength of the selective reflection for an incident white light from red toward blue with increase in the rate of gas flow. The contrast of the selectively reflected light improves considerably by providing a thin black coating of about 5 microns at the monomer-polymer interface. The coating thickness is such that the steric interactions are still sufficiently strong to maintain Grandjean texture. For a small angle of incidence of a monochromatic light, the measurement of the reflected light intensity normal to the monomer-polymer liquid-crystal interface enables the determination of the wavelength for selective reflection as a function of the gas-flow differential pressure applied in the plane of the interface. The variation of the wavelength with the pressure is linear with a slope of about 2 nm/mmHg. Furthermore, the shear-stress effects are reversible unlike for monomer liquid crystal-metal systems used for flow visualization on wind-tunnel model surfaces. The present system offers a suitable method for direct on-line measurement of shear stress field from measurements of the wavelength for selective reflection for an incident white light.
Document ID
19920038619
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Parmar, D. S.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Singh, Jag J.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Eftekhari, Abe
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Review of Scientific Instruments
Volume: 63
ISSN: 0034-6748
Subject Category
Instrumentation And Photography
Accession Number
92A21243
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available