Fluid Sensor Recess Design for Drag Reduction and Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid flow sensors often suffer from damage during maintenance and generate drag, and they lack redundancy and resolution in measuring fluid pressure characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A fluid sensor design featuring a recess on a surface with multiple recess sensor ports and ambient sensor ports, which reduces the need for a projecting component, enhances redundancy, and improves signal quality by creating high-pressure areas within the recess, allowing for more accurate fluid pressure profile determination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a projecting component is used to measure fluid pressure, then measurement capability is provided, but the sensor is prone to damage during maintenance and generates drag
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of projecting a component into the fluid flow to measure pressure, the invention inverts the approach by creating a recess in the surface. The recessed sensor ports are protected by the surrounding surface structure, eliminating the vulnerability of projecting components while maintaining pressure measurement capability through the modified fluid dynamics in the recess area.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing function is extracted from a projecting component and integrated into the surface structure itself. The recess creates a protected cavity where sensor ports are located, separating the measurement function from the exposed external surface and thereby protecting the sensor from damage during maintenance operations.
2Measurement precision
If a projecting component is used to measure fluid pressure, then measurement capability is provided, but drag is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional approach by instead of adding a projecting component that creates drag, it creates a recess in the surface. This recessed configuration minimizes the disturbance to fluid flow while still providing pressure measurement capability, thereby reducing or eliminating the drag that would otherwise be generated by a projecting sensor structure.
3Device complexity
If only one sensor port is used, then device complexity is reduced, but redundancy and measurement resolution are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing function is segmented into multiple sensor ports located at different positions within the recess. This segmentation provides redundancy in case one port becomes blocked or malfunctioning, and also enables measurement of pressure gradients that improve the resolution of fluid flow characteristics without significantly increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sensor ports are positioned at different locations within the recess to measure pressure at different points. This local differentiation of measurement positions provides both redundancy and enhanced resolution of fluid pressure distribution, allowing for more comprehensive characterization of fluid flow conditions.
4Measurement precision
If the recess is designed to create high pressure areas, then signal quality improves, but flow separation may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The recess is designed with specific geometric characteristics that create localized high pressure areas at strategic positions within the recess where sensor ports are located. This localized pressure enhancement improves signal quality for pressure measurements while the overall recess geometry is designed to minimize disruption to the broader flow pattern and prevent flow separation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design minimizes sensor damage, reduces drag, and provides redundant and high-resolution fluid pressure measurements, enabling better inference of fluid velocity and characteristics without flow separation issues.
Implementation Method 1
a recess formed at the surface, the recess being configured to affect the pressure of the fluid flowing at the recess
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3a~3b
Figure 4~5
AI summary
There is disclosed a fluid sensor for measuring the pressure of a fluid, the fluid sensor comprising: a surface; a recess formed at the surface, the recess being configured to affect the pressure of the fluid flowing at the recess, at least one ambient sensor port for measuring ambient fluid pressure at the surface, and at least one recess sensor port for measuring the fluid pressure at the recess.