Flight-Testing of a MEMS Wall Shear Stress Thermal Sensor on a Microlight Aircraft

This paper reports the realization of thermal MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) sensors designed for wall shear stress measurement during real flight on a microlight aircraft. Based on constant temperature anemometry and calorimetric principle, the micro-sensors measure the viscous shear stress occurring at the wall of a structure interacting with a fluid flow and detect the flow direction. A proper packaging was realized for ensuring a flush but robust integration of the devices on a pod fixed on a microlight aircraft. Real flight-testing demonstrated the ability of the micro-sensors to realize aerodynamic measurements up to 250 km/h on the microlight aircraft.