A thin film sensor for the measurement of unsteady pressure

Reliable measurements of unsteady pressure on the surface of thin aerodynam ic bodies in low subsonic, unsteady flows were made using small piezoelectr ic transducers. The hand-made transducers, calibrated against a B&K microph one for use in experiments, were used in two sets of low speed experiments. The first set involved a stationary aerofoil encountering a rotating, peri odic gust as would be present in a rotor-stator interaction. The second set involved an instrumented propeller operating behind a stationary cyclic di stortion as would be present behind stators or guide vanes. In both sets of experiments, reliable measurements of the small unsteady pressures on the body surfaces were made despite difficult experimental environments.