Simulation and visualization of the refraction effects in the thermal boundary layer near a heated horizontal down-facing disk

The simulation and optical visualization of the refraction effects in an axisymmetric temperature field was undertaken in the case of free convection from a heated horizontal down-facing disk. Temperature and related refractive index fields have been calculated using a mathematical model based on the coupled flow and heat transfer equations. To avoid the complex and time-consuming computation of ray trajectory using the differential ray equation, we developed a simple method based on the application of the standard Snell law at each surface isotherm in the medium. Using this technique, we plotted the trajectory of rays bundle traveling in the medium and calculated the deflection angle. Comparison with shadowgraph images showed a good agreement with the simulation and explained the existence of a caustic induced by the thermal boundary layer acting as a schlieren lens.     

Imaging unsteady three-dimensional transport phenomena

Careful and continuous measurements of flow, heat and mass transfer are required in quite a few contexts. Using appropriate light sources, it is possible to map velocity, temperature, and species concentration over a cross-section and as a function of time. Image formation in optical measurements may rely on scattering of radiation from particles. Alternatively, if the region of interest is transparent, refractive index would be a field variable and beam bending effects can be used to extract information about temperature and concentration of solutes dissolved in liquids. Time-lapsed images of light intensity can be used to determine fluid velocity. Though used originally for flow visualization, optical imaging has now emerged as a powerful tool for quantitative measurements. Optical methods that utilize the dependence of refractive index on concentration and temperature can be configured in many different ways. Three available routes considered are interferometry, schlieren imaging, and shadowgraph. Images recorded in these configurations can be analysed to yield time sequences of three-dimensional distributions of the transported variables. Optical methods are non-intrusive, inertia-free and can image cross-sections of the experimental apparatus. The image data can be jointly analysed with the physical laws governing transport and principles of image formation. Hence, with the experiment suitably carried out, three-dimensional physical domains with unsteady processes can be accommodated. Optical methods promise to breach the holy grail of measurements by extracting unsteady three-dimensional data in applications related to transport phenomena.     

Optical observations of unidirectional solidification and related fluid parameters in microgravity

This paper updates a previous paper in this journal on shadowgraph and schlieren studies of gravity related fluid flow during solidification. The research has now been extended to include interferometric data by the use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer on a NASA KC-135 aircraft flying a parabolic trajectory. It has thus been possible to obtain quantitative temperature and concentration profiles in an ammonium chloride metal-model material being solidified in microgravity. The results indicate that the growth interface is more stable under low-gravity conditions than in a terrestrial environment.     

ADDENDUM

Abstract

Experiments have been performed to provide basic heat transfer data for thermal convection in a horizontal concentric annulus partially filled with water. A real-time holographic interferometry was employed to map the temperature distribution and a laser shadowgraph system was used to measure local heat transfer coefficients along the heated inner cylinder. Experimental results demonstrate that a minimum average Nusselt number for the water-wetted portion of the inner cylinder occurs at the air-water interface situated flush with the top of the inner cylinder. Corresponding numerical simulations were conducted for the cases of either fully or half-filled with water and the predictions agree well with the experimental results.     

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.     

Experimental Investigation of Thermocapillary Convection in a Liquid Layer with Evaporating Interface

Thermocapillary convection coupling with the evaporation effect of evaporating liquids is studied experimentally. This study focused on an evaporation liquid layer in a rectangular cavity subjected to a horizontal temperature gradient when the top evaporating surface is open to air, while most previous works only studied pure thermocapillary convection without evaporation. Two liquids with different evaporating rates are used to study the coupling of evaporation and thermocapillary convection, and the interfacial temperature profiles for different temperature gradients are measured. The experimental results indicate evidently the influence of evaporation effect on the thermocapillary convection and interfacial temperature profiles. The steady multicellular flow and the oscillatory multicellular flow in the evaporation liquid layer are observed by using the particle-image-velocimetry method.     

水平温差对环形浅液池内Marangoni-热毛细对流的影响

双向温差驱动下的Marangoni-热毛细对流在许多工程技术领域具有重要作用, 但是, 已有的大部分研究集中于单向温差作用下的流动. 因此, 采用数值模拟的方法研究了水平温差对双向温差驱动下的环形浅液池内Marangoni-热毛细对流的影响. 在一个给定的顶部换热条件下, 确定了不同水平温差作用下流动由轴对称稳态流动向三维非稳态流动转变的临界底部热流密度. 结果表明, 水平温差使得Marangoni-热毛细对流不稳定; 随着水平温差的持续增强, 稳态流动转变为一种规律的振荡流动, 最终变得混乱; 发现两种新的状态演化过程; 确定了水平温差和垂直温差在共同驱动流体运动时各自发挥的作用; 随着水平温差的增强, 最初出现在中间区域的最高表面温度不断向热壁移动, 在此过程中, 内壁附近的流动增强, 而外壁附近的流动减弱.     

双频光栅纹影剪切干涉法对温度场的诊断

用双频光栅纹影剪切干涉法对无限热平板的自然对流温度场进行诊断。纹影系统光线从轴外入射造成的系统象散、彗差对剪切干涉图的系统误差可以通过减小入射角、增大纹影仪球反镜的曲率半径以及调节双频光栅的位置控制在给定精度范围内。     

时间序列差分干涉术研究激波流场

本文用一种新的时间序列差分干涉术研究模型在超音速风洞中产生的激波流场.实.验中用调Q序列脉冲红宝石激光器作光源,用转镜扫描高速摄影机作为记录设备,结合单Wollaston棱镜差分干涉的方法获得了激波流场的序列差分干涉图.利用图象处理技术对干涉图进行图象处理,人机交互的方式采集数据,用条纹位移转换法将差分干涉图的条纹位移量转换为绝对干涉图的条纹位移量,然后用拉普拉斯变换法计算出了密度的相对分布值.     

Deterministic and stochastic effects near the convective onset

The pure conduction state of a horizontal layer of fluid heated from below becomes unstable with respect to a convecting state when the temperature difference exceeds a critical value. We examine the question of how real, physical systems evolve from conduction to convection. Most experimental cells contain geometric or thermal inhomogeneities which render the bifurcation to convection imperfect. In that case the pure conduction state never exists and the convecting state evolves continuously and smoothly as the temperature difference is raised. When a sufficiently perfect experimental cell is constructed to eliminate this route to convection, then dynamic imperfections will usually prevail. When the temperature difference across the cell is raised, the vertical gradients in the sidewalls evolve at a rate which differs from that in the fluid. The resultingtransient horizontal thermal gradients initiate the convective flow. This phenomenon can be eliminated by providing sidewalls which have the same thermal diffusivity as that of the fluid. When that is done, the convective flow is started by random noise which exists in any experimental system. Analysis of experiments shows that the noise source is considerably stronger than thermal noise, but its origin is unclear at this time.     

Production of holograms with shearing interferometers using a wide light source

Interferograms with narrow fringes obtained with grating and polarization interferometers using a wide source allow the use of some processes of holographic interferometry and schlieren techniques for investigating a reconstructed wavefront. The reconstructed interference patterns of a sphere's supersonic flow are presented. A scheme for obtaining colour schlieren patterns is described.     

正交梯度下双扩散对流的数值模拟

本文采用有限单元法求解涡量、流函数、能量和组分控制方程,数值模拟了在温度梯度和浓度梯度正交情况下竖直环形容器内的双扩散对流结构。通过改变浮升力比N=GrS／GrT和Le数的大小,分析了溶质浮升力方向及其大小和Le数对容器内双扩散对流的影响。结果表明:当溶质浮升力改变时,壁面处的流体流动状况、边界层厚度、Nu数和Sh数都发生了变化;随着Le数的增大,竖直壁面处Nu数逐渐降低而水平壁面处的Sh数逐渐增大。     

Temperature measurement of air convection using a Schlieren system

In this work, we have developed a procedure for full-field measurement of temperature of a fluid flow by using the schlieren technique. The basic idea 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. The method is applied in the measurement of temperature fields of the air convection caused by a heated rectangular metal plate (7.3 cm×12 cm). Our tests are carried out at plate temperatures of 50 °C and 80 °C. To validate the proposed method, the schlieren temperature results are compared to those obtained by a thermocouple. Thermocouple data are obtained along two mutually perpendicular directions (one direction along the optical axis, z-direction, and other direction along the x-axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis) at points located on a 9×9 grid with a variable spacing. The thermocouple measurements were integrated along the z-axis in order to be compared with the measurements obtained by the schlieren technique. The results from the two methods show good agreement between them.     

Simultaneous imaging techniques for temperature and velocity fields in thermal fluid flows

In this paper, non-intrusive imaging techniques for simultaneously measuring temperature and velocity fields of thermal liquid flows are described. The experimental methods for temperature imaging considered here are the thermo-sensitive liquid crystal tracers and the laser-induced fluorescence, which are combined with particle image velocimetry (PIV) to measure simultaneously the corresponding 2D and 3D velocity fields. The features of these experimental methods and characteristics are examined, covering the measurable temperature range, uncertainty of measurement, time response and so on. The successful examples of simultaneous measurement of temperature and velocity fields are described for turbulent Rayleigh-Bérnard convection of a horizontal fluid layer and turbulent buoyant plume issuing from a circular nozzle, and their physical mechanisms of transport phenomena are explained.     

Preliminary study of two immiscible liquid layers subjected to a horizontal temperature gradient

Marangoni convection, driven by interfacial instability due to a surface tension gradient, presents a significant problem in the crystal growth process. To achieve better materials processing, it is necessary to suppress and control this convection, especially in crystal growth using Liquid Encapsulated Czochralski techniques in which the melt is encapsulated in an immiscible medium. Marangoni convection can occur at the liquid-liquid interface and at the gas-liquid free surface. Buoyancy driven convection can also affect and complicate the flow. The present report studied Marangoni convection in a two-liquid layer system in an open and enclosed cavity. Flow in the cavity was subjected to a horizontal temperature gradient. Interactive flow near the liquid-liquid interface was measured by the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. The measured flow field is in good agreement with numerical predictions.     

A Fast Interferometer Using a Nitrogen Laser for Dense Plasmas

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer utilizing a short pulse (5 ns FWHM) nitrogen laser has been built and successfully operated. This system is capable of measuring plasma electron densities higher than 1020 cm-3 and is simple as well as inexpensive. The same system can be used for schlieren and shadow photography. Examples of an interferogram and a shadowgraph of a high density plasma are presented.     

Instabilities of thermocapillary-buoyancy convection in open rectangular liquid layers

This article presents the experimental investigation on instabilities of thermocapillary-buoyancy convection in the transition process in an open rectangular liquid layer subject to a horizontal temperature gradient. In the experimental run,an infrared thermal imaging system was constructed to observe and record the surface wave of the rectangular liquid layer. It was found that there are distinct convection longitudinal rolls in the flow field in the thermocapillary-buoyancy convection transition process. There are different wave characterizations for liquid layers with different thicknesses. For sufficiently thin layers, oblique hydrothermal waves are observed, which was predicted by the linear-stability analysis of Smith Davis in 1983. For thicker layers, the surface flow is distinct and intensified, which is because the buoyancy convection plays a dominant role and bulk fluid flow from hot wall to cold wall in the free surface of liquid layers. In addition, the spatiotemporal evolution analysis has been carried out to conclude the rule of the temperature field destabilization in the transition process.     

Transitions in convection driven by a horizontal temperature gradient

We report the first detailed experimental study of transitions in the convection of a low Prandtl number fluid driven by a horizontal temperature gradient. The observed states, from time independent to one frequency with noise, to pure noise, to two frequencies with noise, can be related to the two secondary flows predicted for a cavity with large lateral extent, transverse stationary and longitudinal oscillatory rolls. Measured wavelengths and frequencies for the longitudinal rolls are in agreement with theoretical values, while the critical Grashof number is much higher than expected. Our results call for a new theoretical approach which takes both instability mechanisms into account.     

Heat transfer and fluid flow of benard-cell convection in rectangular container with free surface sensed by infrared thermography

The natural convection flow phenomena that occur inside an enclosed space are very interesting examples of complex fluid systems that may yield to analytical, empirical and numerical solutions, and many reports have looked into this basic problem. In the present study, heat transfer and fluid flow for natural convection in a horizontal rectangular container with a free surface are investigated using infrared thermography. The temperature field was measured and visualized at a gas-liquid (air — silicon oil) interface using infrared thermography. The heat transfer phenomena were also investigated by statistically analyzing the temperature data. The applicability of the infrared thermography to quantitative heat transfer measurement at the gas-liquid interface was evaluated. It is revealed that infrared thermography is effective not only in visualization of a gas-liquid interface but also in heat transfer measurement. A new heat transfer correlation is proposed for the gas-liquid interface of this flow system. The coefficient of heat transfer can be summarized by a specific heat transfer correlation formula regardless of several conditions, including container aspect ratio, fluid viscosity and fluid layer depth.