Combined Stereo Digital Image Correlation and Infrared Measurements of a Notional High-Speed Aircraft Panel in the NASA 8 Foot High Temperature Tunnel

An experimental study of combined high-speed stereo digital image correlation and infrared measurements by the Structural Sciences Center of the United States Air Force Research Labs is presented. The implementation of the combined measurement was novel in that it was successfully incorporated into a fluid-thermal-structure interaction study in the NASA Langley 8 Foot High Temperature Tunnel. The three measurement cameras were required to be inside the pressurized test chamber directly above the tunnel flow jet creating an extreme thermal and pressure environment. Further complications arose from the 8 Foot tunnels tendency to produce excessive amounts of condensation in the flow obstructing the view of the specimen from above. Finally the specimen was subjected up to 922K surface temperatures and flow speeds of Mach 5 pushing the limits of the required optical measurement surface preparation. The digital image correlation was successfully completed for the first time in the 8 Foot tunnel however, combining the two optical measurements proved elusive.