Colour-coding schlieren techniques for the optical study of heat and fluid flow

This survey presents a unified view of the history, rationale, applications, and current status of colour-coding schlieren optical techniques, based on an extensive literature review. The characteristics and advantages of this unique flow visualization tool are discussed in terms of one- and two-dimensional colour-coding, qualitative and quantitative visualisations, and system sensitivity, range and resolution. In particular, the use of matched spatial filters to tailor the schlieren optics for specific applications is stressed. A wide range of past applications in fluid flow and heat transfer is surveyed. Connections are drawn among these applications and some new applications are discussed.     

Assessment and application of quantitative schlieren methods: Calibrated color schlieren and background oriented schlieren

Two quantitative schlieren methods are assessed and compared: calibrated color schlieren (CCS) and background oriented schlieren (BOS). Both methods are capable of measuring the light deflection angle in two spatial directions, and hence the projected density gradient vector field. Spatial integration using the conjugate gradient method returns the projected density field. To assess the performance of CCS and BOS, density measurements of a two-dimensional benchmark flow (a Prandtl-Meyer expansion fan) are compared with the theoretical density field and with the density inferred from PIV velocity measurements. The methods performance is also evaluated a priori from an experiment ray-tracing simulation. The density measurements show good agreement with theory. Moreover, CCS and BOS return comparable results with respect to each other and with respect to the PIV measurements. BOS proves to be very sensitive to displacements of the wind tunnel during the experiment and requires a correction for it, making it necessary to apply extra boundary conditions in the integration procedure. Furthermore, spatial resolution can be a limiting factor for accurate measurements using BOS. CCS suffers from relatively high noise in the density gradient measurement due to camera noise and has a smaller dynamic range when compared to BOS. Finally the application of the two schlieren methods to a separated wake flow is demonstrated. Flow features such as shear layers and expansion and recompression waves are measured with both methods.     

Highly spatially resolved velocity measurements of a turbulent channel flow by a fiber-optic heterodyne laser-Doppler velocity-profile sensor

Velocity measurements with a high spatial resolution are important in turbulent flow research. In this paper, we report on the development of a new fiber-optic laser-Doppler velocity-profile sensor exhibiting a spatial resolution of up to 5 μm and its application to turbulent boundary layers. The sensor developed in the present work employs a frequency-division-multiplexing technique in order to separate two measurement signals from the two fringe systems. Velocity measurements close to zero at the solid wall were realized using heterodyne technique. The use of fiber optics improved a robustness of the sensor. The measurement accuracy of the sensor was experimentally investigated with respect to the spatial resolution and velocity. Universal velocity profile of a turbulent flow was obtained in a fully developed channel flow. Mean and fluctuating velocity are presented with a high spatial resolution.     

Application of rainbow schlieren deflectometry for concentration measurements in an axisymmetric helium jet

 The rainbow schlieren deflectometry technique was used to measure oxygen concentrations in a laminar, isothermal helium jet discharged vertically into ambient air. The concentration distributions were inferred from the color schlieren image by taking into consideration the sampling interval and noise in measurements, especially near the jet center. Excellent quantitative agreement was reached between measurements from schlieren and a continuous sampling probe. This work demonstrates the capability of the schlieren technique for providing accurate, spatially-resolved, nonintrusive, full-field of view measurements of species concentration in an isothermal binary system. Because the basic quantity measured is the refractive index, the present schlieren technique can be extended for quantitative measurements of other scalar flow properties related to the refractive index. Received: 21 April 1997 / Accepted: 14 November 1997     

Surface oil flow technique and liquid crystal thermography for flow visualization in impulse,wind tunnels

This paper describes flow visualization techniques employing surface oil flow and liquid crystal thermography suitable for use in impulse wind tunnels. High spatial resolution photographs of oil flow patterns and liquid crystal thermograms have been obtained within test times ranging from 7 to 500 ms and have been shown to be very useful for revealing the detailed features of 3-D separated flow. The results from oil flow patterns, liquid crystal thermograms, schlieren photographs and heat flux measurements are shown to be in good agreement.     

Natural-background-oriented schlieren imaging

The background-oriented schlieren (BOS) flow visualization method has the potential for large-scale flow imaging outside the laboratory by using natural backgrounds instead of the artificial patterns normally used indoors. The natural surroundings of an outdoor test site can sometimes be used as such a background, subject to criteria of fine scale, randomness and contrast that are developed here. Some natural backgrounds are more appropriate than others for a given application. Backgrounds used here to visualize both high- and low-speed schlieren disturbances include a sunlit cornfield and a backlit grove of trees. A range of image post-processing methods is considered for qualitative BOS. It is found that high sensitivity and a broad measuring range are in conflict here, much as they are in traditional schlieren instruments. Applications of natural-BOS include explosive characterization, firearms and artillery testing, chemical and natural-gas leak detection, and related phenomena.     

The background oriented schlieren technique: sensitivity, accuracy, resolution and application to a three-dimensional density field

Three-dimensional density information of a double free air jet was acquired using optical tomography. The projections of the density field were measured using the background oriented schlieren method (BOS). Preceding the free jet measurements, the sensitivity, accuracy and resolution of the BOS method were investigated. The sensitivity depends mostly on the focal length of the lens used, the relative position of the object between camera and background and the smallest detectable shift in the image plane. The accuracy was found to be sufficiently high to apply a tomographic reconstruction process. The resolution is determined by the transfer function of the BOS-method. It is not constant and depends on the size of the interrogation windows used for the cross-correlation-algorithm. The reconstruction of the free jet was computed, using filtered back projection. The reconstructed 3D density field shows with good resolution the typical diamond structure of the density distribution in under-expanded free jets.     

Investigation of the wake of a hypersonic sphere in air by means of an open microwave resonator

The use of an open microwave resonator with plane-parallel mirrors for plasma diagnostics was first proposed in [1]. A resonator with spherical mirrors, which provides better spatial resolution in addition to high sensitivity, was used later [2, 3] to investigate the wake flow of models moving through air at hypersonic velocities. The presence of free electrons in the flow field is caused by ionization processes behind the bow shock and in the model boundary layer in this case. However, only the results of measurements of the density of electrons are presented in [2, 3], and no information is given on another important plasma parameter: the effective collision frequency of electrons with heavy particles. In the present study we use a microwave (8-mm range) resonator for an experimental study of the flow of gas in the wake of a polymer (Kaprolon) sphere traveling through air at hypersonic velocity. The flow is visualized by the schlieren technique. The electron densities and effective collision frequency of electrons with heavy particles are determined as a function of the distance behind the sphere.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 156–160, July–August, 1978.     

调频光谱分析在集成光学陀螺性能优化中的应用

根据调频光谱原理,在双频率调制、闭环谐振式光学陀螺中,核心敏感元件——无源环形谐振腔的谐振特性对陀螺灵敏度具有决定性作用;通过结构与功能对比可知,谐振式光学陀螺相当于将对具有洛伦兹型吸收谱的无源环形谐振腔进行微分吸收谱测量的光谱仪。调频、外差、相干检测和闭环控制等技术的综合应用,使得通过跟踪、锁定因萨格拉克效应导致的吸收峰偏移,实现对转动角速度高灵敏度和大动态范围测量成为可能;通过调制频率、腔长和耦合比的适当选择,可以优化陀螺实际实现的灵敏度。     

Identification of vortex motions in turbulent mixing of choked jets

A specially adapted schlieren system is used to generate fluctuating signals which respond strongly to large scale coherent components of a turbulent mixing jet flow and which have a relatively reduced response to random disturbances. The schlieren signals also provide a direct indication of the presence of vortex-like structures in the turbulent mixing layers by virtue of the phase relationship of the schlieren signals to the pressure field. This system gives a clear resolution of the fluctuating periodic effects associated with vortex structures in the flow from a choked convergent nozzle. It has thus been possible to determine that vortex-like eddies are associated with the feedback screech mechanism, and also generate periodic disturbances due to their passage through the diamond shaped wave structure in the flow. The regular disturbances in the flow move at 0.77 of the fully expanded flow velocity. Phase spectral observations demonstrate clearly the vortex like structure of coherent disturbances in the flow by virtue of the quadrature phase relation between the schlieren and microphone signals. Movement of the sensing microphone in the pressure field external to the flow shows disturbance propagation at the acoustic velocity, and also shows that disturbances at Strouhal numbers above 0.7 emanating from the inner mixing zone can be identified by an additional time delay to reach the microphone and only influence the microphone when it is located downstream of the flow sensing schlieren system due to confinement of pressure disturbances within Mach cones of the flow.     

High resolution, high sensitivity moire method

Based on geometric moire method, moire interferometry and microscopic moire interferometry, a high spatial resolution and high sensitivity geometric microscopic moire method is presented. Geometric micron-moire patterns are produced by the superposition of two high frequency gratings through a microscope system. Compared with other grating-based photo-mechanics methods, microscopic moire method could provide whole-field moire patterns of both high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. The frequency of specimen and reference gratings used in this method can be from 1 line/mm to 10000 lines/mm. Additionally, a 4F optical filter system is used to enhance the contrast of microscopic moire patterns effectively. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Background-oriented schlieren diagnostics for large-scale explosive testing

Experimental measurements of shock wave propagation from explosions of C4 are presented. Each test is recorded with a high-speed digital video camera and the shock wave is visualized using background-oriented schlieren (BOS). Two different processing techniques for BOS analysis are presented: image subtraction and image correlation. The image subtraction technique is found to provide higher resolution for identifying the location of a shock wave propagating into still air. The image correlation technique is more appropriate for identifying shock reflections and multiple shock impacts in a region with complex flow patterns. The optical shock propagation measurements are used to predict the peak overpressure and overpressure duration at different locations and are compared to experimental pressure gage measurements. The overpressure predictions agree well with the pressure gage measurements and the overpressure duration prediction is within an order of magnitude of the experimental measurements. The BOS technique is shown to be an important tool for explosive research which can be simply incorporated into typical large-scale outdoor tests.     

Surface profiling using sequential sampling and inverse methods. Part II: Implementation and experimental results

Sequential sampling with inverse calculation is demonstrated to provide a practical and reliable method for profiling surfaces, independent of rigid-body motions. Examples are given where various arrangements of displacement sensors can provide single-sided, double-sided, and parallel profilling. Double-sided measurements also give specimen thickness, and parallel measurements give surface twist. In common with other inverse calculation methods, there is a tradeoff between achievable spatial resolution and sensitivity to measurement noise. Such sensitivity, which typically doubles the measurement noise in the computed profiles, can be minimized by appropriate choice of sensor configuration, measurement method, and use of regularization. Practical guidelines for all these features are given, together with example experimental results for four typical sensor configurations.     

Experimental study of simultaneous measurement of velocity and surface topography: in the wake of a circular cylinder at low Reynolds number

A technique to provide simultaneous measurement on both free surface topography and the velocity vector field of free surface flows is further developed and validated. Testing was performed on the topography measurement by imaging static plastic wave samples over a wide range of amplitudes. Analysis on the accuracy of the topography reconstruction, the sensitivity to noise and the dependence on spatial resolution are presented. The displacement of the free surface is insensitive to noisy input and the sensitivity shows a linear dependence with the sample spacing. Simultaneous measurements of the free surface and associated velocity field in the wake of a circular cylinder are presented for Reynolds numbers between 55 and 100.     

Role of Buoyancy on Instabilities and Structure of Transitional Gas Jet Diffusion Flames

Transitional jet diffusion flames provide the link between dynamics of laminar and turbulent flames. In this study, instabilities and their interaction with the flow structure are explored in a transitional jet diffusion flame, with focus on isolating buoyancy effects. Experiments are conducted in hydrogen flames with fuel jet Reynolds number of up to 2,200 and average jet velocity of up to 54 m/s. Since the fuel jet is laminar at the injector exit, the transition from laminar to turbulent flame occurs by the hydrodynamic instabilities in the shear layer of fuel jet. The instabilities and the flow structures are visualized and quantified by the rainbow schlieren deflectometry technique coupled with a high-speed imaging system. The schlieren images acquired at 2,000 frames per second allowed exposure time of 23 μs with spatial resolution of 0.4 mm. Results identify a hitherto unknown secondary instability in the flame surface, provide explanation for the observed intermittency in the breakpoint length, show coherent vortical structures downstream of the flame breakpoint, and illustrate gradual breakdown of coherent structures into small-scale random structures in the far field turbulent region.     

Thermal expansion measurement of composites with optical heterodyne interferometry

A dilatometer based on an optical heterodyne laser interferometer for high-precision measurements of thermal expansion coefficient (α) has been developed. The instrument is mainly intended for measuring low-expansion composites at room temperature. Compared with already existing instruments, the proposed system is characterized by a higher thermal expansion resolution (30 nm/m). In the case of low-expansion composites, intervals of uncertainty of α lower than 0.1 μm/mK have been obtained.     

Associated disturbances around a vortex ring in a stratified fluid

A motion of a vortex ring in a stratified fluid is accompanied by associated disturbances which, in the schlieren visualization in the field of a horizontal density gradient, have the shape of a symmetric four-petal configuration. The criterion of the existence of the disturbances is the Froude number Fr based on the motion velocity and the vertical vortex size. On the range Fr > 1, the disturbances are stable with respect to the variation of themotion regime and the distortion of the vortex shape. For Fr < 1 the disturbances disappear. Computer processing of the schlieren photographs showed that the experimental spatial dependences of the disturbance amplitude are close to the functions describing the distribution of the vertical velocity component in the inviscid flow past a sphere.     

MOIRÉ INTERFEROMETRY WITH ENHANCED RESOLUTION

The implementation of this method is relatively simple. It does not require any modification to interferometric systems already in use. It can be used in the analysis of large as well as very small fields, including measurements under a microscope.
A fringe pattern with a carrier is recorded in a single exposure, just as in the standard procedure. As a consequence, any possible instability of the interferometer does not affect the accuracy of the measurements. Further, the spatial resolution of the measurements is not compromised.
Since only one exposure is needed for a given displacement component this method can be applied to dynamic as well as static measurements.
It should be emphasized that even though the number of electronically generated fringes can be arbitrary, the sensitivity is the same as in ordinary moire interferometry as long as the data are taken at the lines of minimum intensity. The improvement is in the increase of the number of data points taken at the locations of maximum resolution. In other words, all the data are taken at the maximum resolution.
This method applies not only to moire interferometry but to any experimental technique based on two-beam interference, as long as the fringe pattern has good contrast.     

Nano-moire method

Nano-moiré method presented in this paper is an experimental technique which allows direct measurement of nanoscopic mechanical parameters, such as displacement, strain and dislocation distribution. The basic idea is the formation of moiré fringes when a HREM (high resolution electron microscopy) image of crystal material is superimposed with a unidirectional grating. Fourier filtering technique is used to increase the contrast of fringes and to multiple the fringes. This method has atom-size sensitivity and spatial resolution, and relatively large range. It provides a new experimental technique with very high sensitivity and spatial resolution for nanomechanics. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Application of PIV in a Mach 7 double-ramp flow

The flow over a two-dimensional double compression ramp configuration is investigated by means of schlieren visualization, quantitative infrared thermography and particle image velocimetry (PIV) in a short-duration facility producing a free-stream flow at Mach 7. The study focuses upon the accuracy assessment of PIV in the hypersonic flow regime including flow facility effects such as repeatability of test conditions. The solid tracer particles are characterized by means of electron microscopy as well as by measuring the dynamic response across a planar oblique shock wave with PIV. The experiments display a strong variation in the light scattering intensity of the seeded flow over the flow field, due to the large flow compressibility. The mean velocity spatial distribution allows to clearly identify the shock pattern and the main features of the flow downstream of the shocks. However, the spatial resolution is insufficient to determine the wall flow properties. Furthermore the velocity data obtained with the PIV technique allow the determination of the spatial distribution of the Mach number under the hypothesis of adiabatic flow. The double ramp configuration with a variable second compression angle exhibits shock–shock interactions of Edney type VI or V for the lowest and highest ramp angle, respectively. A single heat transfer peak is detected with infrared thermography on the second ramp in case of a type VI interaction while for the type V shock interaction a double heat transfer peak is found. Shock wave angles measured with PIV are in good agreement with theory and the overall flow topology is consistent with schlieren visualization. Also in this respect the results are in agreement with compressible flow theory.