A micro-floating element wall shear stress sensor with backside connections has been developed for accurate measurements of wall shear stress under the turbulent boundary layer. The micro-sensor was designed and fabricated on a 10.16 cm SOI (Silicon on Insulator) wafer by MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) processing technology. Then, it was calibrated by a wind tunnel setup over a range of 0 Pa to 65 Pa. The measurements of wall shear stress on a smooth plate were carried out in a 0.6 m × 0.6 m transonic wind tunnel. Flow speed ranges from 0.4 Ma to 0.8 Ma, with a corresponding Reynold number of 1.05 × 10⁶~1.55 × 10⁶ at the micro-sensor location. Wall shear stress measured by the micro-sensor has a range of about 34 Pa to 93 Pa, which is consistent with theoretical values. For comparisons, a Preston tube was also used to measure wall shear stress at the same time. The results show that wall shear stress obtained by three methods (the micro-sensor, a Preston tube, and theoretical results) are well agreed with each other.
Keywords: MEMS; floating element; smooth plate; turbulent boundary layer; wall shear stress.