Calibration and use of a MEMS surface fence for wall shear stress measurements in turbulent flows

• Published in: Experiments in fluids Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 489 - 498
• Main Authors: Savelsberg, Ralph, Schiffer, Michael, Obermeier, Ernst, Castro, Ian P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.08.2012; Springer
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Calibration; Electronics; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Engineering Thermodynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Fences; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fluid- and Aerodynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Heat and Mass Transfer; Instrumentation for fluid dynamics; Micro- and nanoelectromechanical devices (mems/nems); Microelectromechanical systems; Physics; Research Article; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Sensors; Turbulence; Turbulent flow; Wall Shear Stress; Laser Doppler Anemometry; Surface Shear Stress; Viscous Sublayer; Particle Image Velocimetry; Test facilities; Turbulent flow; Cylindrical cavity; Measurement sensor; Shear stress; Calibration; Experimental study; Microelectromechanical device
• ISSN: 0723-4864; 1432-1114
• DOI: 10.1007/s00348-012-1304-6

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors are increasingly used for measurements in fluid dynamics since, because of their inherently compact size, they allow access to the information that was previously unavailable. In this paper we describe further testing of a MEMS sensor used to measure surface shear stress. It is a wall-mounted fence that bends under the influence of the pressure difference resulting from the velocity shear at the wall. The fences have been successfully calibrated in a wind tunnel and, as an example of their application, used to determine mean and fluctuating shear stress (along with spectra) in a cylindrical cavity flow.