A comparison of three quantitative schlieren techniques

We compare the results of three quantitative schlieren techniques applied to the measurement and visualization of a two-dimensional laminar free-convection boundary layer. The techniques applied are Schardin's “calibrated” schlieren technique, in which a weak lens in the field-of-view provides a calibration of light deflection angle to facilitate quantitative measurements, “rainbow schlieren”, in which the magnitude of schlieren deflection is coded by hue in the image, and “background-oriented schlieren” (BOS), in which quantitative schlieren-like results are had from measuring the distortion of a background pattern using digital-image-correlation software. In each case computers and software are applied to process the data, thus streamlining and modernizing the quantitative application of schlieren optics. (BOS, in particular, is only possible with digital-image-correlation software.) Very good results are had with the lens-calibrated standard schlieren method in the flow tested here. BOS likewise produces good results and requires less expensive apparatus than the other methods, but lacks the simplification of parallel light that they feature. Rainbow schlieren suffers some unique drawbacks, including the production of the required rainbow cutoff filter, and provides little significant benefit over the calibrated schlieren technique.     

转镜式高速相机在爆炸实验中的某些应用

本文介绍了转镜式高速相机在爆炸实验中的应用情况。阐明了这些相机使用时配备的各种主要附加装置,并举例说明了所得到的实验结果。     

On the application of non-standard rainbow schlieren technique upon supersonic jets

A quantitative rainbow schlieren study was conducted on an over-expanded jet at nozzle pressure ratio of 2.8, based on two different schlieren set-ups: the standard z-type and a single-mirror schlieren set-up. The technique used a single, weak focal-length lens placed in the field of view of the system to provide the calibration information required for the extraction of the quantitative data. In the case of the single-mirror set-up, the calibration image required further post-processing procedures to take into account the double refraction experienced by the light. Density gradients were calculated using Abel transform and compared to validated reference data. Results indicate that the single-mirror set-up is able to improve prediction of the density gradient field as compared to the standard z-type schlieren, due to its inherent property of higher sensitivity. The study has shown that the single-mirror set-up performs on average better than the standard z-type system, yielding an overall averaged error of ± 20%, with localized values as low as ± 5% where the shock cell structure is clearly defined, with respect to the validated reference data. At the same time, both systems perform poorly in regions where the flow structure displays poor image contrast.     

纹影法测量远场焦斑实验研究

 报导了用纹影法测量远场焦斑的实验结果。远场焦斑经成像透镜放大成像后，由12bit，1 024×1 024面阵科学级CCD相机采集。将一定大小的小球放置在焦斑位置，用以遮挡光斑中心，控制CCD前的衰减可得旁瓣信息，将其与无遮挡光斑拼接，得到焦斑相对强度的完整分布。该方法扩展了焦斑光强测试的动态范围，可探测焦斑约4个量级的光能密度分布，提高了焦斑的测量精度。     

Oblique schlieren image construction from three-dimensional numerical simulations

The experimental visualisation of compressible flows has undergone significant development to the point that a large number of optical techniques exist for extracting both qualitative and quantitative information from these flow fields. However, the visualisation, and importantly, validation, of three-dimensional flows requires further attention. This work details the development of a novel validation tool for three-dimensional compressible flows. Oblique experimental imaging techniques used to visualise three-dimensional flow features in a compressible medium are computationally simulated, and corresponding images are constructed from numerical models. The construction technique can be used to generate images for optical orientations in roll, yaw, pitch and any combination of these. Both shadowgraphs and schlieren images may be obtained, with the latter used in this work. Results are presented as a comparison of constructed images with experimental images and discussed for cases in which a range of features are simultaneously present in a three-dimensional flow field, thus thoroughly examining the applicability of the technique to a flow field of significant importance in gas dynamics research.     

Laser shadowgraph and schlieren studies of gravity-related flow during solidification

Shadowgraph and schlieren techniques were used to observe gravity-related flow arising during solidification. The purpose of these studies was to elucidate the results of previous low gravity solidification experiments. Shadowgraph and schlieren techniques were selected as most suitable for operation in the anticipated experimental environment. A laser shadowgraph/schlieren system was built and flown on KC-135 low gravity simulation flights. A solution of ammonium chloride and water was cooled during the experiment, causing solidification. Growth plumes in the solution were observed and photographed using shadowgraph and schlieren techniques. Results are presented and related to previous work.     

Heterodyne schlieren system

A new heterodyne technique for the quantitative analysis of schlieren images is described. The technique is based on phase measurements of signals generated by a photodetector observing the variations in light intensity caused by a traveling grating of slits located at the knife-edge plane of a conventional schlieren system. The phase of the signal is proportional to the displacement of the slit image on the knife-edge plane as a result of the light deflection passing through a phase object. The displacement is proportional to the ray deflection angle and hence to the local gradient of the index of refraction. The technique, which is quantitatively precise and sensitive, is demonstrated by measurement of deflections caused by a lens with a focal length of f = 20 m. A displacement of 0.22 mm and a deflection of an angle of 5.2 x 10(-4) rad were detected.     

Real-time coloured visualization of phase flows by the schlieren method

A coloured real-time visualizer of optical inhomogeneities comprising a bichromatic schlieren system, video camera and colour monitor has been developed. The schlieren system represents a function Foucault-Hilbert transformation provided with an amplitude spatial frequency filter, or a quadrant Foucault knife edge. Two colour-coded complementary Toepler-grams are obtained in the exit plane of this schlieren system. Their summed image is then recorded by the video camera and displayed on the screen of the colour monitor. The schlieren photograph of internal gravity waves, generated by the cylindrical body motion in the reservoir filled with the stratified liquid, is presented.     

Effect of Airy disk on schlieren diffraction interferometer

Schlieren is among the oldest and widely used optical techniques for detection of change in refractive index in transparent media. Present work demonstrates the effect of the position of schlieren element in the Airy pattern on the schlieren interferogram. It has been shown that the amplitude of the diffracted wave, starting from schlieren element and serving as an inbuilt reference beam for the schlieren diffraction interferometer, becomes maximum when schlieren element diffracts light from the Airy disk. Effect of F-number of the optical system on schlieren pattern is also demonstrated via observations on the amplitude of diffracted light.     

Flow visualization and pressure measurement in micronozzles

Micro devices have been widely used in aerospace engineering for years. Engineers are interested in applications of micro devices such as microjets, micro actuators, and micronozzles. The small size nozzles can be used for attitude adjustment and propulsion of micro-satellites or mini-spacecraft. In this paper, convergent-divergent micronozzles have been investigated at supersonic speed with various total pressures and Reynolds numbers. The throat of the micronozzle is 250 micron wide and the nozzle is designed as de Laval type. For the measurements, the Reynolds number at the throat varies from 1200 to 11000 and total pressure varies from 6 psia to 55 psia. Experimental results are obtained with pressure-sensitive paint for pressure measurement and schlieren imaging for flow visualization. Flow visualization is a challenge for conventional techniques due to the small length scales and small depth of the density gradient. A modified schlieren technique is used to increase the sensitivity by taking the ratio of wind-on and wind-off images. Pressure-sensitive paint is also used to obtain global pressure measurement of the flow field and to compare with the schlieren results.     

Imaging of a convective field in a rectangular cavity using interferometry, schlieren and shadowgraph

The present study is concerned with the quantitative imaging of buoyancy-driven convection in a fluid medium that is confined in a horizontal differentially heated rectangular cavity. The horizontal surfaces of the cavity provide a temperature difference, for initiating convection in the fluid. The vertical side walls are thermally insulated. Three imaging techniques, namely laser interferometry, schlieren, and shadowgraph have been utilized. Experiments have been conducted in a cavity of length 447 mm and 32 mm vertical height. The cavity is square in cross-section, and the imaging direction is parallel to its longer side. Convection in air and water have been investigated. Temperature differences in the range of 5–50 K for air and 3–10 K for water have been employed in the experiments. Quantities of interest are the temperature profiles in unsteadiness in the thermal field. At lower temperature differences across the fluid region, temperatures as recorded by interferometry and schlieren are in good agreement with each other. Further, they match the numerical predictions, as well as correlations available in the literature. Imaging based on shadowgraph is not as satisfactory at lower temperature differences. At larger cavity temperature differences, the shadowgraph images become clear enough for quantitative analysis, but the flow becomes time-dependent. The three techniques reveal similar trends in terms of the spatial distribution of temperature gradients and the time scales of unsteadiness. The schlieren and shadowgraph are more suitable for high gradients and interferometry is suitable for low gradients and all these three techniques are not flow visualization tools alone but are appropriate for quantitative imaging of thermal field.     

Density and temperature reconstruction of a flame-induced distorted flow field based on background-oriented schlieren(BOS) technique

An experimental system based on the background-oriented schlieren(BOS) technique is built to reconstruct the density and temperature distribution of a flame-induced distorted flow field which has a density gradient. The cross-correlation algorithm with sub-pixel accuracy is introduced and used to calculate the background-element displacement of a disturbed image and a fourth-order difference scheme is also developed to solve the Poisson equation. An experiment for a disturbed flow field caused by a burning candle is performed to validate the built BOS system and the results indicate that density and temperature distribution of the disturbed flow field can be reconstructed accurately. A notable conclusion is that in order to make the reconstructed results have a satisfactory accuracy, the inquiry step length should be less than the size of the interrogation window.     

基于背景纹影波前传感技术的气动光学波前重构与校正

背景纹影波前传感(backgroud oriented schlieren based wavefront sensing, BOS-WS) 是利用背景纹影技术测量光学波前二维分布的新型实验手段, 可定量测量光线通过干扰场后产生的光学畸变并给出光程差. 为了利用BOS-WS技术获得光线因气动光学效应产生的畸变信息, 并通过已知畸变信息还原原始图像, 进而探索一种新型的超声速成像制导方法, 本文通过理论分析, 验证了利用背景纹影技术测量光学波前的方法, 探索了利用已知波前信息预测畸变位移场以及利用已知位移场进行波前重构的计算方法. 通过数值模拟比较了一阶梯形积分算法和Southwell方法在波前重构上的误差大小和结果合理性, 并通过误差分析证明了Southwell方法更加精确合理. 通过蜡烛火焰上方流场畸变实验和透镜对波前的扰动实验, 创造性地探索了利用已知光学光程差还原畸变位移场及用其校正畸变图像的方法, 并通过验证性实验证明了校正方法的有效性.     

Background rejection in schlieren visualization

It was recently suggested that an image orthicon could be used as a two-dimensional array of lock-in amplifiers. This technique enables rejection of extraneous optical signals from images of periodic phenomena, and the suitability of the method to improve schlieren images of ultrasonic beams is verified by experimental results.     

超高速激光纹影技术测量脉冲功率驱动的磁重联现象

用超高速激光纹影技术测量了Z箍缩等离子体磁重联现象。实验采用超高速光电分幅相机,配合激光纹影技术,测量了XP-1装置上两根金属丝产生的等离子体分布,论证了超高速激光纹影技术研究Z箍缩磁重联现象的可行性。双钨丝实验结果表明,电流加载约10ns后金属丝已有明显膨胀,线性拟合得到平均膨胀速度约8km/s,金属丝内外两侧出现了规则的极有可能是垂直磁场的电热不稳定性扰动,并沿角向高度关联。铝丝负载的实验结果表明,早期的不稳定性波长为0.4mm,电流峰值之后金属丝初始位置仍有大量等离子体,后期的不稳定性波长约1.5mm。这些现象揭示了不稳定性发展的一个主要特征:短波模式受抑制,长波模式将占主导。     

Wide range instantaneous temperature measurements of convective fluid flows by using a schlieren system based in color images

In the schlieren method, the deflection of light by the presence of an inhomogeneous medium is proportional to the gradient of its refractive index. Such deflection, in a schlieren system, is represented by light intensity variations on the observation plane. Then, for a digital camera, the intensity level registered by each pixel depends mainly on the variation of the medium refractive index and the status of the digital camera settings. Therefore, in this study, we regulate the intensity value of each pixel by controlling the camera settings such as exposure time, gamma and gain values in order to calibrate the image obtained to the actual temperature values of a particular medium. In our approach, we use a color digital camera. The images obtained with a color digital camera can be separated on three different color-channels. Each channel corresponds to red, green, and blue color, moreover, each one has its own sensitivity. The differences in sensitivity allow us to obtain a range of temperature values for each color channel. Thus, high, medium and low sensitivity correspond to green, blue, and red color channel respectively. Therefore, by adding up the temperature contribution of each color channel we obtain a wide range of temperature values. Hence, the basic idea in our approach to measure temperature, using a schlieren system, is to relate the intensity level of each pixel in a schlieren image to the corresponding knife-edge position measured at the exit focal plane of the system. Our approach was applied to the measurement of instantaneous temperature fields of the air convection caused by a heated rectangular metal plate and a candle flame. We found that for the metal plate temperature measurements only the green and blue color-channels were required to sense the entire phenomena. On the other hand, for the candle case, the three color-channels were needed to obtain a complete measurement of temperature. In our study, the candle temperature was took as reference and it was found that the maximum temperature value obtained for green, blue and red color-channel was ∼275.6, ∼412.9, and ∼501.3 °C, respectively.     

Interference and diffraction effects in folding mirror schlieren diffraction interferometer

Experimental investigations on interference and diffraction phenomenon occurring in a folding mirror schlieren diffraction interferometer have been presented. It is shown that the well-known Lloyd mirror interferometer can easily be converted into a folding mirror schlieren diffraction interferometer. Various intermediate stages occur as the basic two-beam interference pattern in Lloyd mirror interferometer is transformed into a schlieren diffraction pattern. Study of these intermediate stages gives a good insight in understanding the transition behaviour between the fundamental phenomenon of interference and diffraction taking place as the mirror-edge approaches the Airy disk.     

Combination of schlieren and pulsed TV holography in the study of a high-speed flame jet

This paper presents studies of the propagation of a high-speed turbulent flame jet of an air/hydrogen gas mixture. The experimental results are recorded with the schlieren and the pulsed TV holography method. These methods are compared and combined to benefit from the advantages of each of them. Abel inversion has been used to achieve three-dimensional information i.e. refractive index distributions. Evaluation, calibration and Abel inversion algorithms are described together with experimental results. The results obtained from the different techniques show remarkable similarities concerning both qualitative and quantitative aspects.     

使用莫尔条纹法测量气流密度

把莫尔条纹应用于对称的和非对称的流场，测出了从喷嘴喷出的不完全膨胀气流的密度分布。气流的内部密度分布通过使用数字表示的转化方法转变成了莫尔条纹图像数据，这些莫尔条纹图像数据表明了同种光在穿过气流时将会发生折射。这一现象可以通过改变气体喷口的压力比来完成并观察到。实验表明：不同形状的喷嘴喷出的气流密度分布各不相同，而且复杂程度也不同，但沿着喷嘴气流轴的气流密度变化大致相似。