Thin Flexible Sensor Characterizes High-Speed Airflows on Curved Surfaces

Inefficient fluid machinery used in the energy and transportation sector is responsible for significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. To improve efficiency, it is necessary to characterize and reduce flow separation on curved surfaces. To this end, researchers have developed a flexible, thin film micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based airflow sensor that can be utilized to measure complex, three-dimensional flow separation in curved walls for high-speed airflows.