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