Fundamentals

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Pressure Sensitive Paint:

Pressure Sensitive Paint, or PSP, is essentially a luminescent dye dispersed in an oxygen permeable binder. The dye is excited by absorbing light, usually from the blue or UV portion of the spectrum, and it then returns to its ground state by emitting light, usually in the red portion of the spectrum. There is an alternate process in which the dye can return to its ground state without emitting light by interacting with an oxygen molecule. This process is known as oxygen quenching. Thus, as the pressure of the oxygen above the PSP increases, the oxygen concentration within the binder will increase, and the intensity of the emitted radiation will decrease.

Overview of PSP, its excitation and luminesence
Overview of PSP, its excitation and luminesence

How PSP is Used:

Typical PSP experimental setup
Typical PSP experimental setup [from Fundamentals]

A simple representation of a typical PSP experimental setup is shown above. The model is covered with PSP, which is excited by absorbing light from the light source that has been passed through a blue filter. The light emitted by the PSP is then passed through a red filter and measured by a camera. The camera images are typically redorded by a computer which processes the data to measure the aerodynamic pressures on the model.









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