Application of piezoelectric foils in experimental aerodynamics

The authors outline basic aspects of the use of piezo foils and multisensor piezo arrays in flow experiments. They survey some piezo foil applications in the field of experimental aerodynamics, including wind tunnel and free flight tests of airfoils, and they conduct a more general investigation of unsteady surface forces on flow around bodies. It is concluded that the piezo foil technique is useful for flow experiments aiming at characterizing airfoil flows by means of sensing unsteady surface forces. Preliminary results of the application of array, raster, and matrix sensors for monitoring flow instabilities are very encouraging. >