Phase validation criteria of size measurements for the phase Doppler technique

A validation procedure of the size measurements for the phase Doppler anemometer is proposed for a two and three photodetector system and is shown experimentally to reduce erroneous measurements due to unwanted Doppler signals caused by surface reflection rather than refraction through the particles. This problem known as trajectory ambiguity is caused by the Gaussian distribution of the incident laser beams when the particle diameter is similar to the diameter of the probe volume of the anemometer. The three photodetector system is shown to improve further the sizing accuracy of a two photodetector system by rejecting measurements from signals with phase ratio values lying outside the expected value for spherical scatterers and which would otherwise have been validated by the two photodetector system.Mr. J.R. Laker designed the electronic circuit of the phase Doppler counter. This work was partially supported by the Commission of the European Communities through contract JOUF-0040-C (TT).     

Simultaneous velocity and temperature measurements in a premixed flame

Procedures which allow the correlation of velocity signals from a laser anemometer and temperature signals from a compensated, small-diameter thermocouple are described together with the error sources associated with the use of the technique in premixed flames. The digital compensation procedure includes the effect of velocity and temperature on the time constant of the thermocouple and the influence of its exposure to the solid particles required by the laser anemometer are quantified and shown to be able to cause large differences in the measured probability-density-distribution of the reaction progress variable. The technique has been used to measure the probability-density-distribution of temperatures, conditioned by the arrival of velocity signals and velocity conditioned by the temperature signal and sample results are presented to help quantify the accuracy of the measurements.     

A reliable method for determining the measurement volume size and particle mass fluxes using phase-Doppler anemometry

A reliable method for the calibration of the measurement volume cross-section has been developed, in order to correct the particle size distribution measured by a phase-Doppler anemometer (PDA) with respect to the counting bias in favour of the large particles. Furthermore, this method allows the measurement of particle concentration or mass flux with high accuracy in two-dimensional two-phase flows. A comparison of the mass flow rate obtained by the integration of the mass flux measured in a water spray by applying this method with the global mass balance showed a difference of about 5%.The basis of the present method is the detection of the amplitude of the filtered Doppler signal in connection with the particle size measured by the PDA. The detection process is performed using an electronic circuit which validates the Doppler burst and has additionally the advantage that the highest amplitude portion of the burst can be selected for digitizing, acquisition and subsequent processing. Therefore, this method has the great advantage that the processed part of the burst has the highest signal-to-noise ratio which results in high accuracies for frequency and phase estimation.     

Efficient estimation of power spectral density from laser Doppler anemometer data

 A non-biased estimator of power spectral density (PSD) is introduced for data obtained from a zeroth order interpolated laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) data set. The systematic error, sometimes referred to as the “particle-rate filter” effect, is removed using an FIR filter parameterized using the mean particle rate. Independent from this, a procedure for estimating the measurement system noise is introduced and applied to the estimated spectra. The spectral estimation is performed in the domain of the autocorrelation function and assumes no further process parameters. The new technique is illustrated using simulated and measured data, in the latter case with direct comparison to simultaneously acquired hot-wire data. Received: 9 June 1997/Accepted: 14 October 1997     

Frequency analysis of turbulent compressible flows by laser vibrometry

The objective of this work was the application of laser vibrometry as a tool for non-intrusive measurement of frequency spectra in turbulent flows. A laser vibrometer system together with a signal analyser was used to obtain frequency spectra of density fluctuations across a turbulent free jet. Since laser vibrometry is based on interferometric techniques, the derived signals are path integrals along the measurement beam. Frequency spectra recorded in the rotational symmetric flow were then treated using Abel inversion in order to derive information on local density fluctuations. Results for two different flow conditions were compared to spectral data from a constant temperature anemometer and a pitot-mounted pressure sensor. Received: 21 February 2000/Accepted: 13 December 2000     

Averaging of particle data from phase Doppler anemometry in unsteady two-phase flow: Validation by numerical simulation

A novel post-processing algorithm is proposed to correct statistical bias observed in the treatment of time series obtained by a phase Doppler anemometer (PDA) at flow locations with variable particle velocity and concentration. Extensive properties of each validated particle are weighted with their inverse measuring (validation) volume to account for the procedure of particle sampling and fluctuations in the particle concentration. To compensate for the short characteristic length of the validation volume, the properties of particles are expressed by properties of fields of particle groups, using a local averaging time. A window shift and a decorrelation scheme are applied on the fields to increase their frequency resolution. This algorithm has been tested on numerical time series, provided by an Eulerian/Lagrangian code representing a gas/solids flow past a bluff body. Moments and spectral estimates of concentration and velocity of particle groups were successfully validated by the numerical simulation using the PDA data algorithm and control volume averaging. The control volume was much larger than the PDA validation volume, but the centre positions of the two volumes were identical.     

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     

Simultaneous velocity and scalar measurements in premixed recirculating flames

 The use of a laser-Doppler velocimeter has been extended to the analysis of turbulent heat transfer in a strongly sheared disc-stabilised propane-air flame through its combination with either laser Rayleigh scattering or digitally-compensated fine-wire thermocouples. The laser velocimeter was based on a conventional forward scattering system from the green light of a 5W Argon-Ion laser, while the Rayleigh signals used the blue line of the same laser. The procedure for the numeric compensation of the thermocouple signals included analysis of the effect of velocity and temperature on the time constant of the thermocouple and was optimised to allow combined velocity–temperature samples acquired by a purpose-built digital interference with a frequency up to 2000 Hz, without deterioration of the thermocouple by particle accretion. The maximum effective data rate for the combined Rayleigh/LDV system is shown to be around 130 Hz, which corresponds to a data rate of valid Doppler signals around 400 Hz and statistics based on more than 15 000 measurements is made possible. The results obtained with the two systems agree qualitatively, although the use of thermocouples attenuates the measured velocity-temperature correlations. The results are used to assess the extent to which turbulent mixing in flames is altered by the accompanying heat release and quantify the processes of non-gradient diffusion in a strongly recirculating premixed flame. Received: 15 November 1996/Accepted: 2 September 1997     

The pulsed-wire anemometer

The principles and practice of pulsed-wire anemometry are reviewed. Flow velocity is deduced from the time taken for the thermal wake of a thin wire, heated by a short pulse of current, to reach a sensor wire operating as a resistance thermometer. The advantage over the hot-wire anemometer is that reversed flows can be measured by adding a second sensor wire on the upstream side of the pulsed wire: the main advantages over the laser Doppler anemometer are cheapness and simplicity of use. The pulsed-wire anemometer can now be regarded as a cost-effective instrument for measurements in turbulent separated flows.     

Measurements and treatment of LDA signals, comparison with hot-wire signals

 An experimental investigation was carried out in the wind tunnel F2 of the ONERA Fauga centre for the measurement of the characteristics of a turbulent wake behind a wing. As these measurements require the calculation of time and space correlations, two different types of acquisition means are used : a pair of crossed hot wires and a one-dimensional laser-Doppler anemometer. The non-intrusive characteristics of laser anemometry allow the measurement of fluid velocity upstream of a hot wire probe without disrupting the flow. It is well known that LDA generates individual realisations of randomly sampled velocity data because the random arrival of seeding particles in the measurement volume is nonperiodic. A detailed study of this random sampling quantifies the deviations from the theoretical lows, shows the limiting factors of this sampling, and gives a characterisation of the particles arrival law. The simultaneous acquisition of the two velocity signals at very close points allows a good comparison between the signals. A statistical analysis of the two signals enables us to precisely measure the error value of the velocity estimation made by the anemometer. The spectrum analysis of the laser signal coupled with one of the hot wire signals requires resampling the signal at constant steps. Two different methods of interpolation are analysed: the sample and hold interpolation method and the linear interpolation method. The influence of these interpolation methods on the spectrum of LDA signals is studied. Different estimators are then calculated to evaluate the convection velocities and the coherence length of the turbulence. Received: 9 December 1997/Accepted: 19 March 1999     

High-accuracy particle recognition using an extended phase-Doppler anemometer

Simultaneous measurements of diameter, velocity and concentration of particles are carried out in a flow with two disperse phases in a liquid. For high-accuracy particle recognition by different light-scattering mechanisms, an extended phase-Doppler anemometer utilizing the sign of the signal phase shift is used. The possibility of distinguishing between two disperse phases is verified with water as the continuous phase, and air bubbles and glass particles as the disperse phases in a specially developed three-phase flow channel. The technique is demonstrated for three-phase flows with different loadings of bubbles and glass beads. Received: 9 May 2000/Accepted: 14 August 2000     

Comparison of turbulence length scales assessed with three measurement systems in increasingly complex turbulent flows

This paper proposes to compare turbulence length scales measured with three different experimental systems commonly used in aerodynamic measurements, namely hot wire anemometer, Laser Doppler Velocimetry and Particle Image Velocimetry, using turn-key systems from Dantec and TSI, and for three different turbulent flows: a homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow, a homogeneous shear flow and the wake of a porous disc.This study will show that Taylor macro scale assessment is not clearly dependent on the experimental system used, except for nonconstant shear, where the measurement volume size seems to be a critical parameter. On the other hand, Taylor micro-scale is highly dependent on the space or time resolution of the correlation and on the presence of random measurement noise. Among the three systems, only the hot wire anemometer seems to provide the right requirements to properly assess the Taylor micro-scale.     

Numerical simulation of transient response of heat transfer from a hot-wire anemometer transducer

Both the steady state and transient response of the Nusselt number to variations in Reynolds number over the range 1 to 40 are given by the analysis of a time dependent numerical simulation of a hot-wire anemometer transducer described here. Transducer response can be modelled suitably by considering the system to consist of a phase independent non-linearity followed by a non-linear differential equation whose coefficient (approximate time constant) is Nusselt number dependent. Errors associated with slip flow and free convection constrain the minimum size of a hot-wire which may be used in calibration anemometry while the wire thermal inertia and, to a lesser extent, the response of the Nusselt number to Reynolds number limits the use of large diameter wires. Thus, although the tendency has been to use finer and finer wires, the basic fluid mechanics suggests that a compromise in the choice of the wire diameter is appropriate. Thus development of even more sophisticated hot-wire anemometer control systems as well as accurate calibration techniques for measurement in flows containing large amplitude high frequency turbulence is required     

Experimental testing of Taylor's hypothesis by L.D.A. in highly turbulent flow

A new configuration for the transmitting optics of a laser Doppler anemometer has been developed in order to measure the velocity at two different points at the same time. From the simultaneous measurements at two points along the mean flow direction it is possible to evaluate the spatial correlations and to compare them with the temporal correlation to verify the validity limits of Taylor's hypothesis also known as the frozen turbulence hypothesis. The transfer function between the velocity signals at two different points has been introduced to better explain the differences between Taylor's hypothesis and non frozen flow. The analysis is carried out in a flow with high turbulence levels.     

An improved sample-and-hold reconstruction procedure for estimation of power spectra from LDA data

Techniques for deriving the auto or power spectrum (PSD) of turbulence from laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) measurements are reviewed briefly. The low pass filter and step noise errors associated with the sample-and-hold process are considered and a discrete version of the low pass filter for the resampled signal is derived. This is then used to develop a procedure by which the PSD estimates obtained from sample and hold measurements can be corrected. The application of the procedures is examined using simulated data and the results show that the frequency range of the analysis can be extended beyond the Nyquist frequency based on the mean sample rate. The results are shown to be comparable to those obtained using the method of Nobach et al. (1998) but the new procedures are more straightforward to implement. The technique is then used to determine the PSD of real LDA data and the results are compared with those from a hot wire anemometer.     

A high-resolution laser Doppler anemometer: design, qualification, and uncertainty

A new high-resolution laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) has been developed with a working distance of 350 mm, allowing operation in lab-scale wind tunnels. The measurement volume size is 35 μm in diameter by 60 μm in length, allowing resolution of the smallest turbulence scales even at fairly high Reynolds numbers. The controversial question of velocity and validation bias in LDA data is resolved with an experimental method for measuring and removing those effects. Uncertainty estimates are also derived for all the mean and Reynolds stress measurements. Received: 27 June 1999/Accepted: 30 August 2000     

Measurement of multiple gas-bubble velocities in gas–liquid flows using hot-film anemometry

A dual-probe hot-film anemometry technique has been developed to measure multiple gas-bubble velocities corresponding to different gas-bubble size groups in air–water flows. A data reduction scheme using wavelet analysis combined with a phase-detection technique is used to discriminate the hot-film anemometer output signals into signals corresponding to different bubble size groups. The phase and bubble size discrimination is based on the magnitude and time derivative of the signal, and the streamwise length of the gas bubbles. A cross-correlation between the discriminated signals from the two probes yields an average time difference of arrival of the gas bubbles at the two sensor locations. The velocities are estimated from the distance between the sensors and the time difference of arrival. The mean bubble size is estimated from the chord length distribution. Measurements performed in vertical-up air–water slug flow show the technique to be a viable method for obtaining bubble velocity and size information. The velocity measurements from the hot-film anemometry are corroborated using a high-speed quantitative flow visualization system. Received: 22 December 1999/Accepted: 8 May 2001     

Measurement accuracy of semiconductor LDA systems

A laser Doppler anemometer with a laser diode as the light source, has several advantages: i.e., low power consumption, compactness, and low cost. In order to be fully benefitted by these favorable characteristics, the measurement uncertainty, associated with wavefront distortion in the measuring volume, should be minimized. Furthermore, proper attention should be given to system misalignment caused by external perturbations, such as thermal expansion of the diode-collimator assembly. These considerations lead to a computational procedure for optimizing the layout of the semiconductor LDA system. Calculations are based on a generalized relation for fringe non-uniformity combined with a simulation model for the anemometry system. For this purpose, the optical field of a laser diode is described satisfactorily as a product of a Gaussian and a truncated Lorentzian distribution. The influence of various design parameters is examined by means of an extensive computational study as well as experimental evaluation involving precise scanning of the measuring volume. The performance is improved by employing a small focal length collimator and a large focal length front lens. For measurement of turbulence intensities smaller than 1%, it may become necessary to collect the signals in the side scatter and to use a frequency-domain signal processor. For such an application, temperature control may also be necessary, but it should be applied to the entire diode-collimator assembly and not just to the laser diode as suggested in previous publications.     

VALIDATION OF A NAVIER–STOKES SOLUTION ALGORITHM WITH EXPERIMENTAL VALUES IN A SUPERSONIC WAKE

This paper describes the validation of a finite element solver for an axisymmetric compressible flow with experimental values, especially velocities measured with a laser Doppler anemometer in the near wake of a circular cylinder. The equations under consideration are the Navier-Stokes equations with turbulent terms. A time-stepping scheme for the solution of these equations can be produced by applying a forward-time Taylor series expansion including time derivatives of second order. These time derivatives are evaluated in terms of space derivatives in the Lax–Wendroff fashion. The method is based on unstructured triangular grids with a high resolution in the radial direction. In order to predict the measured turbulent intensites more exactly, a modification of the Baldwin–Lomax model is necessary.