Phase-resolved flow characteristics between two shrouded co-rotating disks

Flow characteristics in the interdisk midplane between two shrouded co-rotating disks were experimentally studied. A laser-assisted particle-laden flow-visualization method was used to identify the qualitative flow behaviors. Particle image velocimetry was employed to measure the instantaneous flow velocities. The flow visualization revealed rotating polygonal flow structures (hexagon, pentagon, quadrangle, triangle, and oval) existing in the core region of the interdisk spacing. There existed a difference between the rotating frequencies of the polygon and the disks. The rotating frequency ratio between the polygonal flow structure and the disks depended on the mode shapes of the polygonal core flow structures—0.8 for pentagon, 0.75 for quadrangle, 0.69 for triangle, and 0.6 for oval. The phase-resolved flow velocities relative to the bulk rotation speed of the polygonal core flow structure were calculated, and the streamline patterns were delineated. It was found that outside the polygonal core flow structure, there existed a cluster of vortex rings—each side of the polygon was associated with a vortex ring. The radial distributions of the time-averaged and phase-resolved ensemble-averaged circumferential and radial velocities were presented. Five characteristic regions (solid-body rotation region, hub-influenced region, buffer region, vortex region, and shroud-influenced region) were identified according to the prominent physical features of the flow velocity distributions in the interdisk midplane. In the solid-body rotation region, the fluid rotated at the angular velocity of the disks and hub. In the hub-influenced region, the circumferential flow velocity departed slightly from the disks’ angular velocity. The circumferential velocities in the hub-influenced and vortex regions varied linearly with variation of radial coordinates. The phase-resolved ensemble-averaged relative radial velocity profiles in the interdisk midplane at various phase angles exhibited grouping behaviors in three ranges of polygon phase angles (θ = 0 and α/2, 0 < θ < α/2, and α/2 < θ < α) because three-dimensional flow induced similar flow patterns to appear in the same range of polygon phase angles.     

Stereoscopic micro particle image velocimetry

A stereoscopic micro-PIV (stereo-μPIV) system for the simultaneous measurement of all three components of the velocity vector in a measurement plane (2D–3C) in a closed microchannel has been developed and first test measurements were performed on the 3D laminar flow in a T-shaped micromixer. Stereomicroscopy is used to capture PIV images of the flow in a microchannel from two different angles. Stereoscopic viewing is achieved by the use of a large diameter stereo objective lens with two off-axis beam paths. Additional floating lenses in the beam paths in the microscope body allow a magnification up to 23×. The stereo-PIV images are captured simultaneously by two CCD cameras. Due to the very small confinement, a standard calibration procedure for the stereoscopic imaging by means of a calibration target is not feasible, and therefore stereo-μPIV measurements in closed microchannels require a calibration based on the self-calibration of the tracer particle images. In order to include the effects of different refractive indices (of the fluid in the microchannel, the entrance window and the surrounding air) a three-media-model is included in the triangulation procedure of the self-calibration. Test measurement in both an aligned and a tilted channel serve as an accuracy assessment of the proposed method. This shows that the stereo-μPIV results have an RMS error of less than 10% of the expected value of the in-plane velocity component. First measurements in the mixing region of a T-shaped micromixer at Re = 120 show that 3D flow in a microchannel with dimensions of 800 × 200 μm² can be measured with a spatial resolution of 44 × 44 × 15 μm³. The stationary flow in the 200 μm deep channel was scanned in multiple planes at 22 μm separation, providing a full 3D measurement of the averaged velocity distribution in the mixing region of the T-mixer. A limitation is that this approach requires a stereo-objective that typically has a low NA (0.14–0.28) and large depth-of-focus as opposed to high NA lenses (up to 0.95 without immersion) for standard μPIV.     

Velocity distributions in a hydrocyclone separator

 The internal three-dimensional flow field in a hydrocyclone was studied using laser velocimetry. Seven axial planes were investigated for three different inlet flow rates and three independent and different rejects rates. Results at each measurement plane showed that the measured tangential velocity profile behaves like a forced vortex at the region near the air core, and like a free vortex in the outer portion of the flow. The peak nondimensional tangential velocity decreases as the distance from the inlet region increases, however, the peak dimensional tangential velocity increases as the distance from the inlet region increases. The nondimensional peak tangential velocities are approximately equal for all of the flow rates. The magnitude of the tangential velocity increased in the inner forced vortex region as the rejects rate was increased. Backflows exist in the axial velocity profile near the inlet region, but these reversed flows disappear in the exit region. The dimensional vorticity is proportional to inlet flow rate and decreases with increasing rejects flow rates. Received: 27 February 2001/Accepted: 19 June 2001     

A quantitative study of the flow around an impulsively started circular cylinder

The detailed flow structure behind an impulsively started circular cylinder has been investigated experimentally. The Reynolds number based on the steady state velocity and the diameter of the cylinder was 500 to 3,000. This work is unique in that unsteady spatial velocities were measured simultaneously by a quantitative visualization technique — Laser Induced Photochemical Anemometry (LIPA). The surface vorticity at g/q = π/2 and vorticity distribution behind the cylinder in the Lagrangian coordinates (i.e. coordinates fixed on the cylinder) were calculated from the measured velocities. The surface vorticity shows in the early stage of flow development a close agreement with the previous results obtained by analytical and numerical approaches. The large-field velocity and vorticity information provides an insight into the formation process of the vortices downstream of the cylinder. In addition to the quantitative information, the results of visualized flow pattern obtained by LIPA technique are also presented. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Turbulence, University of Missouri-Rolla, Sept. 24–26, 1990     

Ionic strontium fluorescence as a method for flow tagging velocimetry

A flow tagging technique based upon ionic fluorescence in strontium is investigated for applications to velocity measurements in gas flows. The method is based upon a combination of two laser based spectroscopic techniques, i.e. resonantly-enhanced ionisation and laser-induced ionic fluorescence. Strontium is first ionised and then planar laser-induced fluorescence is utilised to give 2D `bright images' of the ionised region of the flow at a given time delay. The results show that this method can be used for velocity measurements. The velocities were measured in two types of air–acetylene flames – a slot burner and a circular burner yielding velocities of 5.1 ± 0.1 m/s and 9.3 ± 0.2 m/s, respectively. The feasibility of the method for the determination of velocities in faster flows than those investigated here is discussed. Received: 5 November 1998/Accepted: 19 January 2000     

Acoustic Doppler velocimeter-induced acoustic streaming and its implications for measurement

The acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) is widely used for the characterization of fluid flow. Secondary flows (“acoustic streaming”) generated by the ADV’s acoustic pulses may affect the accuracy of measurements in experiments with small velocities. We assessed the impact of acoustic streaming on flow measurement using particle image velocimetry. The probes of two different ADVs were successively mounted in a tank of quiescent water. The probes’ ultrasound emitters were aligned with a laser light sheet. Observed flow was primarily in the axial direction, accelerating from the ultrasound emitter and peaking within centimeters of the velocimeter sampling volume before dropping off. We measured the dependence of acoustic streaming velocity on ADV configuration, finding that different settings induce streaming ranging from negligible to more than 2.0 cm s⁻¹. From these results, we describe cases where acoustic streaming affects velocity measurements and also cases where ADVs accurately measure their own acoustic streaming.     

Direct interferometric measurement of streaming birefringence

The two refractive indices in the flow of a colloidal birefringent liquid are measured separately by means of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. For a quantitative evaluation of the resulting interferograms it is not necessary to linearize the respective equations relating the refractive index distribution to the deformation velocity in the flow. Therefore it becomes possible to perform velocity measurements in the non-Newtonian flow range. An additional measurement of the mean flow rate enables one to determine the velocity field without the need of a calibration of the observed interference fringes.     

Solid transport measurements through image processing

The paper describes a novel technique which enables evaluation of sediment fluxes on the upper layer of a granular bed by means of separate measurements of concentration and velocity of the moving particles. Specific elaboration techniques based on digital image processing were applied to films of the solid fluxes, allowing for automatic measurement. Sediment concentration was measured via a technique based on image subtraction and following proper filtering procedures, while grain velocity was measured by Particle Image Velocimetry. The method was applied in laboratory experiments of one dimensional bed load; the solid discharges measured by the proposed image processing technique were compared to those obtained by manual count of the grains passing over a fixed plate used as a sight. After calibration of the automatic technique, dimensionless solid discharges ranging from 1.0 × 10⁻³ to 1.2 × 10⁻¹ were measured with a maximum error as large as 25%. The technique proposed also enables measurement of the time variation of the quantities and the two dimensional direction of sediment motion, for a complete characterization of grain kinematics in solid transport processes.     

Quantification of dispersed phase concentration using light sheet imaging methods

With the prevalence of particle image velocimetry (PIV) as a quantitative tool for fluid mechanics diagnostics, its application for analyzing complicated multiphase flows has been steadily increasing over the last several decades. While the primary issue in using PIV for multiphase flows is in separating the information of the phases for independent analysis with a minimum of spurious “cross-talk,” an equally crucial but often overlooked point is in the accurate quantitative measurement of the dispersed phase concentration. Accurate concentration measurement is important due to the fact that the dispersed phase is often heterogeneously distributed in both space and time, either due to a non-uniformity of the source of particulates (such as a spray nozzle or sediment boundary) or due to inertial migration of the particles even from originally homogeneous spatial distributions. In the current work, we examine the effects of light sheet profile distortion and attenuation by tracer seeding particles, as well as reflected light from local wall boundaries on the effective light sheet thickness. The effective thickness is critical for concentration measurements, as it dictates the dispersed phase detection volume. A direct calibration method is demonstrated to measure the effective light sheet thickness in a water/glass bead system, which shows that systematic bias errors on the order of 30% can result if the reflective bed condition is not accounted for, and the errors can be as high as 50% or more if a single-point measure of the sheet width is used.     

The accuracy of tomographic particle image velocimetry for measurements of a turbulent boundary layer

To investigate the accuracy of tomographic particle image velocimetry (Tomo-PIV) for turbulent boundary layer measurements, a series of synthetic image-based simulations and practical experiments are performed on a high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer at Re_θ = 7,800. Two different approaches to Tomo-PIV are examined using a full-volume slab measurement and a thin-volume “fat” light sheet approach. Tomographic reconstruction is performed using both the standard MART technique and the more efficient MLOS-SMART approach, showing a 10-time increase in processing speed. Random and bias errors are quantified under the influence of the near-wall velocity gradient, reconstruction method, ghost particles, seeding density and volume thickness, using synthetic images. Experimental Tomo-PIV results are compared with hot-wire measurements and errors are examined in terms of the measured mean and fluctuating profiles, probability density functions of the fluctuations, distributions of fluctuating divergence through the volume and velocity power spectra. Velocity gradients have a large effect on errors near the wall and also increase the errors associated with ghost particles, which convect at mean velocities through the volume thickness. Tomo-PIV provides accurate experimental measurements at low wave numbers; however, reconstruction introduces high noise levels that reduces the effective spatial resolution. A thinner volume is shown to provide a higher measurement accuracy at the expense of the measurement domain, albeit still at a lower effective spatial resolution than planar and Stereo-PIV.     

Measurement of laminar,transitional and turbulent pipe flow using Stereoscopic-PIV

Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) is applied to measure the instantaneous three component velocity field of pipe flow over the full circular cross-section of the pipe. The light sheet is oriented perpendicular to the main flow direction, and therefore the flow structures are advected through the measurement plane by the mean flow. Applying Taylor’s hypothesis, the 3D flow field is reconstructed from the sequence of recorded vector fields. The large out-of-plane motion in this configuration puts a strong constraint on the recorded particle displacements, which limits the measurement accuracy. The light sheet thickness becomes an important parameter that determines the balance between the spatial resolution and signal to noise ratio. It is further demonstrated that so-called registration errors, which result from a small misalignment between the laser light sheet and the calibration target, easily become the predominant error in SPIV measurements. Measurements in laminar and turbulent pipe flow are compared to well established direct numerical simulations, and the accuracy of the instantaneous velocity vectors is found to be better than 1% of the mean axial velocity. This is sufficient to resolve the secondary flow patterns in transitional pipe flow, which are an order of magnitude smaller than the mean flow.     

Particle imaging velocimetry of a wet aqueous foam with an underlying liquid film

 We investigate the utility of particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) for performing kinematic measurements in wet aqueous foam with a liquid film beneath it. The flow velocities are measured near the walls of a square cross-section horizontal duct. The flow velocities are useful for validating the rheological models. We show that there is a discrepancy between the velocity profiles in the wet foam and the Bingham plastic model of flow. The velocity measurements reveal a more complex flow pattern, which may be analysed following three different regimes: a plug flow, a shear flow in a vertical plane and a three-dimensional shear flow. The transition between the plug flow and the shear flows may be explained by a shear-induced migration of bubbles. Received: 25 April 2000 / Accepted: 26 February 2001     

High speed rotor wake total temperature measurements using a hot-film anemometer

 To develop a quantitative understanding of unsteady and interacting turbomachine flow fields, it is necessary to quantify the instantaneous efficiency of high speed turbomachines. This requires the measurement of both the unsteady velocity and total temperature variation in the exit flow of a high speed rotor. In this paper, techniques to utilize a single slant-film anemometer to measure unsteady total temperature are developed and evaluated. Then a series of preliminary experiments are performed in a high speed axial fan facility to quantify the instantaneous rotor efficiency. This is accomplished by utilizing these single slant-film methods to measure the total temperature in the rotor wakes. Results show that measurements at multiple overheats and several probe orientations are required. The simplest method proves to be useful for determining parameters used in other methods. An analysis based on King’s law gives good results even when measurements are outside the calibration range. Within the calibration range, a polynomial representation of the wire response to mass flux and total temperature yields good total temperature fluctuation results. A model analysis technique is also assessed. Received: 13 November 1997/Accepted: 16 February 1998     

Experimental comparison of two laser-based velocimeters for flows with alluvial sand

 Nonintrusive measurements in a sediment-laden flow using two laser-based techniques, Discriminator Laser-Doppler Velocimetry (DLDV) and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV), are compared. DLDV was previously developed at the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, while PTV was specially configured for this application. Mean and fluctuating velocity components for both flow fractions were simultaneously measured in a laboratory-scale, submerged water jet loaded with alluvial sand. This information cannot be obtained using existing measurement techniques. The jet Reynolds number was 6120, and the sediment sieve diameter ranged from 0.5 to 0.6 mm. Small mass loadings of sand with inertial time constant τ _p of 0.6 ms were examined. The configuration, operation, and results obtained using the DLDV and PTV are presented. For each technique, means to precisely distinguish between the light scattered by suspended sand and that originating from seed-particles following the water were implemented. The agreement in measurement for the two methods validates one another since they are based on completely different principles of operation. The capabilities of DLDV and PTV to reliably measure sand and water velocities in sediment-laden flows are further indicated by the agreement of the present findings with those obtained previously in similar studies. The comparison suggests that PTV, due to its whole field nature, could become a powerful tool for flow and particle-related diagnostics, yielding fundamental information in an area with a long history of conflicting experimental evidence. Received: 27 August 1996 / Accepted: 25 June 1997     

A-priori testing of an eddy viscosity model for the density-weighted subgrid scale stress tensor in turbulent premixed flames

In this study, we report on the direct measurement of the density-weighted subgrid scale (SGS) stress tensor in turbulent premixed flames. In large-eddy simulations (LES), this unresolved tensor is typically modelled using eddy viscosity approaches. Additionally to the direct measurement, we provide a pure experimentally based a-priori test of the commonly used eddy viscosity model suggested by Smagorinsky. For two turbulent premixed V-shaped methane–air flames, a statistical analysis is presented where the correlation between the directly measured SGS stress tensor and the eddy viscosity model following Smagorinsky is tested. The measurement strategy is based on the application of a dual-plane stereo-PIV technique which enables the measurement of the 3D flow field in two parallel planes. This allows the determination of velocities as well as velocity gradients in all three directions. Here, a vector resolution of 118 μm was achieved. For a priori testing, the data are subjected to a spatial filtering procedure that reproduces the application of the filter function in LES. The calculation of velocity gradients is performed after the application of this spatial averaging. Additionally to the velocity field, the flame front position is deduced from the clearly observable step in the tracer particle number density between burnt and unburnt regions of the flame. This facilitates the direct single-shot-based evaluation of all components of the density-weighted SGS stress tensor. Additionally, the model expressions related to these terms can be determined, which is done in this first study for the static Smagorinsky model. With that, the instantaneous local comparison between directly measured stress terms and modelled terms is possible, based on the instantaneous local evaluation procedure. The measurement procedure is described, and first results are presented and discussed. They show a rather poor performance of the static form of the Smagorinsky model (with fixed Smagorinsky constant). Our future aims are to use the directly measured SGS data for the a-priori comparison with more advanced models.     

Moving velocities of precursor soliton generation in two-layer flow

Based on the AfKdV equation of Xu et al.^[1], a theory on the velocities of the precursor soliton generation in two-layer flow over topography is presented in the present paper. Moving velocities of precursor solitons, of the first zero-crossing of the tailing wavetrain and of the flow behind the topography are found theoretically. It is shown that for a given topography, when its moving velocities are at the resonant points, we have the following rules: the ratio of the moving velocity of the precursor solitons to that of the first zero-crossing of the tailing wavetrain equals −4/3. At the same time, the ratio of the width of generating region of the precursor solitons to that of the depressed water region equals also −4/3. The theoretical results are examined by means of numerical calculation. The comparison between the theoretical and numerical results are found in good agreement. For different stratified parameters of two-layer flow, the velocities of the precursor soliton generation are also predicted in terms of the present theoretical results. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Grant No. 49776284     

Discriminator laser Doppler velocimetry for measurement of liquid and particle velocities in sediment-laden flows

An accurate non-intrusive method of measurement of liquid and sediment velocities, called Discriminator Laser Doppler Velocimetry (DLDV) is described. The DLDV arrangement consists of a LDV, and a discriminator system that utilizes near on-axis diffraction from sediment particles passing through or grazing the LDV measurement volume to result in strong voltage signals. For liquid velocity statistics, velocity measurements associated with a discriminator voltage above a threshold are discarded; the discriminator signal is used to validate that only particle velocities are recorded during particle velocity measurement. Possible error sources in the use of DLDV are discussed. Measurements using DLDV in an open-channel alluvial sand-laden flow indicate differences between liquid and particle velocities even for dilute sand concentrations.The initial financial support of the project was provided by NSF, under grant CTS-9021149. Financial support from the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research in gratefully acknowledged.     

A film-based wall shear stress sensor for wall-bounded turbulent flows

In wall-bounded turbulent flows, determination of wall shear stress is an important task. The main objective of the present work is to develop a sensor which is capable of measuring surface shear stress over an extended region applicable to wall-bounded turbulent flows. This sensor, as a direct method for measuring wall shear stress, consists of mounting a thin flexible film on the solid surface. The sensor is made of a homogeneous, isotropic, and incompressible material. The geometry and mechanical properties of the film are measured, and particles with the nominal size of 11 μm in diameter are embedded on the film’s surface to act as markers. An optical technique is used to measure the film deformation caused by the flow. The film has typically deflection of less than 2% of the material thickness under maximum loading. The sensor sensitivity can be adjusted by changing the thickness of the layer or the shear modulus of the film’s material. The paper reports the sensor fabrication, static and dynamic calibration procedure, and its application to a fully developed turbulent channel flow at Reynolds numbers in the range of 90,000–130,000 based on the bulk velocity and channel full height. The results are compared to alternative wall shear stress measurement methods.     

LDA/PDA measurements of instantaneous characteristics in high pressure fuel injection and swirl spray

 Transient dynamics of two injection flows, upstream and downstream a swirl injector, are investigated. Capillary n-heptane pipe flow is measured using laser Doppler anemometer to obtain instantaneous time series of centerline velocity and to reconstruct series of instantaneous and integrated flow rates and pressure gradient. A collimated laser sheet and a high-speed video camera visualize injected spray flow. Finally, the phase Doppler anemometer measurements are introduced to analyze instantaneous patterns of droplets velocity-size and number density into fuel spray. All measurements are employed at similar temporal resolution close to 30 μs. Results indicate that both flows are strongly time-dependent and well correlated in time-phases. Initial transitions are completed by 100 μs. Opening or closing of the injector valve affects both flows as strong delta oscillation causes spray penetration dynamics and a post injection effect. A combination of intrusive laser-based techniques allows indication of the basic injection and spraying characteristics need to optimize high-pressure fuel injectors and combustion late injection mode at a high speed. Received: 19 December 1998/Accepted: 13 August 1998     

A carbon nanotube sensor for wall shear stress measurement

A novel carbon nanotube (CNT) sensor is being developed to measure the mean and fluctuating wall shear stress (WSS) in a turbulent boundary layer. The CNT WSS sensor is based on the thermal principle and featured by high spatial and temporal resolutions (in the order of nm and kHz, respectively), low power consumption (in the order of μW), and a compact fabrication process compared with traditional WSS measurement sensors. The CNT WSS-sensing element was characterized in detail before its calibration. The CNT sensor was operated under a constant temperature (CT) operation mode and an overheat ratio range of −0.15 to −0.19 and calibrated in a fully developed turbulent channel flow. It has been observed for the first time in a macroscopic flow that the sensor output power is approximately proportional to the 1/3 powered WSS, as expected for a thermal-principle-based WSS sensor, and the wall shear stress measurement is demonstrated for a low Reynolds number flow.