Three-dimensional imaging of a turbulent jet using shearing interferometry and optical tomography

The 3-D density field of a round, neutrally buoyant turbulent jet is obtained using a finite-fringe, shearing interferometer. A He–Ne laser beam (λ=632.8 nm) is subdivided into six beams of equal intensity, which intersect a helium–argon jet flowing from a vertical nozzle. Two-dimensional projection data of the jet are captured simultaneously from six viewing directions distributed over 140°. The desired phase is removed from the spatial carrier using the Fourier transform method. A tomographic reconstruction technique, using a truncated Fourier–Bessel expansion is performed to obtain the complete 3-D density field. The Reynolds number, based on the exit mean velocity and the nozzle diameter, is 5890. Received: 22 December 1999/Accepted: 20 January 2000