MEMS Based Flow Sensors and Their Application on Flow Imaging

We report characterization and application of recently developed, MEMS based, out-of-plane hot-wire anemometer (HWA) sensor and bio-inspired artificial hair cell (AHC) sensor. Sensitivities of 0.2mm/s for HWA and 0.1mm/s for AHC have been achieved in water flows, comparing with 1mm/s of a conventional HWA. In contrast to its high sensitivity, the AHC sensor can survive 55\r{ } bending of its hair, making it very robust. After calibration, both HWA and AHC sensors were employed for dipole field and wake measurements. The dipole field was generated by a vibrating sphere in a large water tank; the measurement results match very well with the analytical model. The wake was created by a circular cylinder in a water channel; the RMS velocity distributions replicate the main features of a typical wake accurately. The two types of sensors were also applied in array format to mimic a fish lateral line for imaging hydrodynamic events. Multi-modal sensors capable of simultaneous measurement of flow velocity, shear stress, pressure and temperature are under development.