The technique developed relies on the difference between the recovery temperature of the boundary layer and the surface temperature to provide the driving temperature for heat transfer. Both the test surface and the air in the reservoir will start at ambient temperature but there will be heat transfer from the test surface to the freestream because of the lower recovery temperature. Work on this project is being continued by Sam Chiu and Vincent Wheatley. Sample results for an intersecting shock wave boundary layer interaction generated by opposing 8 o wedges in a Mach 3 flow are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Raw, instantaneous image of a flat plate coated with narrow-band thermochromic liquid crystals for an intersecting shock wave boundary layer interaction.
Flow is from left to right.
8 o wedges can be seen at the top and bottom of the figure. A rapid-response thermocouple can be seen running along the test plate towards the top of the figure. Figure 2 . Contours of Stanton number to the surface of the flat plate of Figure 1 for an intersecting shock wave boundary layer interaction. The distribution of Stanton number was determined processing about ten images such as that shown in Figure 1.