Dual-plane ensemble correlation for pixelwise 2D-3C velocity field measurements using a single camera

Abstract

As an extension of single-pixel particle image velocimetry (SP-PIV), a novel method to determine both the out-of-plane and in-plane velocity fields with single-pixel resolution is presented. With this approach, called dual-plane SP-PIV, mean velocity vector fields with three components (3C) can be measured with single-pixel resolution using a single-color camera and two differently colored laser sheets. The method computes the ensemble correlation across two planes illuminated simultaneously by the two laser sheets. The method is demonstrated via an experiment in which a rotating flow is induced by an impeller. The method is validated by comparing its results with those of conventional PIV. The results show good accordance in terms of the magnitudes and spatial distributions of the out-of-plane velocities and provide a new approach to 3C velocity field measurements with high spatial resolution.