摘要
Micro devices have been widely used in aerospace engineering for years. Engineers are interested in applications of micro devices such as microjets, micro actuators, and micronozzles. The small size nozzles can be used for attitude adjustment and propulsion of micro-satellites or mini-spacecraft. In this paper, convergent-divergent micronozzles have been investigated at supersonic speed with various total pressures and Reynolds numbers. The throat of the micronozzle is 250 micron wide and the nozzle is designed as de Laval type. For the measurements, the Reynolds number at the throat varies from 1200 to 11000 and total pressure varies from 6 psia to 55 psia. Experimental results are obtained with pressure-sensitive paint for pressure measurement and schlieren imaging for flow visualization. Flow visualization is a challenge for conventional techniques due to the small length scales and small depth of the density gradient. A modified schlieren technique is used to increase the sensitivity by taking the ratio of wind-on and wind-off images. Pressure-sensitive paint is also used to obtain global pressure measurement of the flow field and to compare with the schlieren results. © 2007 The Visualization Society of Japan.