Astigmatism Quantification for Depth Localization of Bubbles and Tracers across Curved Surfaces

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Abstract The present combined theoretical/experimental study addresses the impact of astigmatism on the two-phase flow diagnostics across the curved surfaces of liquid test-rig containments. In the present context, the target application is the two phase leakage-flow diagnostics across the annular housing gaps of oil-injected rotary positive displacement compressors (RPDC). Earlier studies by the authors identified the Defocusing Particle Tracking Velocimetry (DPTV) and Interferometric Particle Imaging (IPI) as particularly promising combination of flow measurement techniques to investigate the liquid and disperse gas phases inside the annular housing gap of RPDCs. The test-rig-specific influence of astigmatism on the resulting optical transfer function for a quantitative evaluation of the recorded defocused particle images (PI) is first compared to the theoretically derived circular PI diameter upon pure defocussing and subsequently tested for both classes of PIs, i.e DPTV and IPI. To mimic the optical configuration of optically accessible lateral surfaces of typical RPDC test rigs, a circular beaker glass (CBG) of comparable diameter is chosen for the experimental campaign. The results are discussed and future efforts for advanced PI-evaluation strategies are outlined on the grounds of the drawn conclusions.