Research Projects

Manned mission crew modules, reusable launch vehicles, and intercontinental ballistic missiles re-enter the atmosphere at hypersonic conditions, where there is a huge amount of skin friction leading to significant aerodynamic heating. Current methods employ thermoacouples, heat flux sensors, and infrared cameras. The first two methods provide only point measurements and are intrusive. The last method suffers from low spatial resolution and requires special windows (for example, Vanadium windows). Spatially resolved, accurate experimental heat flux measurement thus helps an efficient heat shield design. We propose to use our in-house developed temperature-sensitive paint, TSP (first of its kind in the nation), for the determination of the heat flux. Heat flux and laminar-to-turbulent transition measurements at low subsonic speeds are demonstrated in various geometries. As a next step, we propose to employ our TSP first to supersonic flows, followed by hypersonic conditions. The paint requires several improvements, such as controlled thin coating thickness, improved temperature sensitivity, etc. The present project aims to develop the paint and test it in super and hypersonic wind tunnels. A total budget of Rs. 88,34,688.00 over a span of three years is estimated for the project execution.