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Metal Rubber Sensor Appliqu‚s for Rotor Blade Air

Award Information
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Branch: N/A
Contract: NNX09CF12P
Agency Tracking Number: 085395
Amount: $100,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: A2.09
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2008
Award Year: 2009
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2009-01-22
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2009-07-22
Small Business Information
1485 South Main Street
Blacksburg, VA 24060-5556
United States
DUNS: 008963758
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Richard Claus
 Principal Investigator
 (540) 953-1785
 roclaus@nanosonic.com
Business Contact
 Lisa Lawson
Title: Contracts Administrator
Phone: (540) 953-1785
Email: llawson@nanosonic.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

The objective of this NASA SBIR program is to develop conformal Metal RubberTM sensor skins for the distributed measurement of wall shear or skin friction on rotorcraft rotor blades. The sensor skin arrays would allow the direct two-dimensional mapping of both orthogonal components of tangential skin friction on rotor blade surfaces without requiring large recessed cavities within the blade structure. Metal RubberTM skin friction sensor element prototypes have been demonstrated on small laboratory flow test articles. Wall shear measurement data are important to 1) establishing boundary conditions for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of air vehicle boundary layer flow and turbulence, and 2) active flight control of air platforms. During Phase I, NanoSonic would design, fabricate and test new, large-area Metal RubberTM sensor skin materials and arrays capable of surviving the thermal, mechanical, UV and chemical environment of operational aircraft, and work with NASA and industrial partners to transition the use of such sensor skins to use on rotor blade wind tunnel models. The new high performance Metal RubberTM materials, sensor skin arrays, and data acquisition and signal processing electronics would be evaluated using multiple air and water flow systems at NanoSonic and in wind tunnel facilities at a partner institution.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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