Clyde Warsop

Development of MEMS Hot-film Sensors for use in the Integrated Wing Project

As part of a large UK project called “Integrated Wing, Flight Physics, Technology Validation Programme”, BAE Systems have been further developing their hot-film sensors constructed using silicon manufacturing techniques with the ultimate aim of making them capable of being certified for flight. Primarily, this has involved looking at aspects of the sensor design, such as the robustness of the sensors to impacts and their resistance to environmental degradation. Tests done to date have shown that provided the sensors have a thin protective coating of a few microns thickness and are not installed close to the leading-edge of a wing they should be capable of being certified for flight.

Development of MEMS Hot-Film Sensors

BAE Systems have been developing hot-film sensors for the detection and monitoring of laminar/turbulent flow on a wing. The sensors are constructed using silicon manufacturing techniques, with the ultimate aim of making them capable of being certified for flight. Primarily, this has involved looking at aspects of the sensor design, such as the robustness of the sensors to raindrop impacts and their resistance to environmental degradation. Tests done to date have shown that provided the sensors have a thin protective coating of a few microns thickness and are not installed close to the leading-edge of a wing they should be capable of being certified for flight.

Development of a MEMS based Integrated Hot-film Flow Sensor

Previous research at BAE Systems has developed a MEMS based hot-film sensor that can be flush mounted into a surface with sub-surface connections. The work described in this paper covers the development of a device that integrates this MEMS sensor, with an integrated, miniaturized constant temperature anemometer circuit, and a miniaturized laminar/turbulent flow detection circuit. Attention has also been paid to addressing how this might be incorporated into an aircraft structure and systems. The ultimate aim is a flightworthy sensor that includes all the necessary components into a single package of the order of a few cm 3 , which only requires three wires - power, earth and data, and which can easily be integrated into an aircraft structure.