| Abstract: | A liquid crystal coating is used to measure the surface friction created when a flat plate is subjected to an air flow. Surface
friction is determined from the optical response of the nematic liquid crystal coating to the flow. The proposed method does
not require precise monitoring of the thickness of the coating or the angles of illumination and observation. This makes it
possible to eventually progress to panoramic measurements of surface aerodynamic characteristics.
Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated
from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 102–109, July–August, 1998. |
