Flow Motion and Dust Tracking Software for PIV and Dust PTV

Abstract

Dust resuspension and mobilization in case of loss of vacuum accidents and loss of coolant accidents is an important safety issue for Tokamaks. The Quantum Electronics and Plasma Physics Research Group of the University of Rome Tor Vergata has produced an experimental facility, STARDUST-Upgrade, able to replicate these accidents and to obtain fluid dynamic characterization and dust mobilization information in order to validate CFD models. The authors decided to implement two non-intrusive optical methods, particle image velocimetry (PIV) and shadowgraph technique. Two software programs have been developed to compute numerical values from PIV and Shadowgraph frames, namely Flow Motion and Dust Tracking Software. Flow Motion Software has the capability to extract flow velocity field analyzing consecutive frames. Dust Tracking Software follows the path of single objects (i.e., dust particles) tracing their velocity, direction, and position over time. Two experiments have been realized for each software program in order to validate them: cigarette smoke and burning paper plume have been used for flow motion software, while tungsten dust and flour mobilization have been used for dust tracking software.