Interpretation of PIV autocorrelation mesurements in complex particle-laden flows

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure instantaneous and average particle velocity fields near the stagnation zone of a particle-laden impinging air jet. The results were compared with Lagrangian particle tracking measurements. Ensemble averages from the two methods agree well except in regions where particles have different histories, and a specific trajectory is dominant but not exclusive. The PIV autocorrelation method loses information regarding non-dominant particle trajectories. Thus, although instantaneous PIV measurements yield the dominant particle velocities correctly, the averaged measurements are biased in some regions.This work was supported by the Electric Power Research Institute under Contract RP 8034-01. We thank the 3M Corporation for their generous materials support.