Conception of Aerodynamic flow control instrumentation devices: Thermo-Acoustics Nanostructures based micro-Actuators associated with thermal micro-Sensors – CATANAS

The CATANAS project will bring a breakthrough in the field of aerodynamic flow control by exploring new technological paths for the development of innovative instrumentation systems with micro-actuators based on thermo-acoustic properties of nanomaterials and nanostructures associated with miniaturized thermal micro-sensors.
Flow control is one way to reduce the environmental footprint of transportation systems. This field presents a need for actuator technologies allowing to act locally in the boundary layer of the aerodynamic flow and micro-sensors allowing the metrology of the turbulent flow in order to adapt the control in a reactive way.
In this context, the CATANAS project aims to bring innovation on the two sides:
1) Micro-actuators side: The project will explore the use of thermoacoustic nanomaterials and nanostructures in order to design new micro-actuator systems intended to locally perturb the boundary layer of the aerodynamic flow. Two uses of these nanomaterials, with two different integrations and fabrications, will be studied experimentally in wind tunnels.
2) Micro-sensors side: The project will aim at developing metrological means more resolute than the existing means, both spatially and temporally (bandwidth widening), through the miniaturization of thermal micro-sensors measuring the parietal friction. In order to achieve a complete instrumentation device, a work of integration of the micro-sensors with the thermo-acoustic micro-actuators will also be carried out in the project.
The final objective of the CATANAS project is to achieve the proof of concept of a thermo-acoustic instrumentation device for the control of aerodynamic flows, integrating the functions of actuation and sensing.