Visualization of the shock wave/boundary layer interaction using polarization imaging

Abstract

The flow visualization of a shock wave/boundary layer interaction (SWBLI) has been performed using polarization imaging. This technique used the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) for flow visualization instead of the intensity information which is used in traditional imaging methods. The experimental results show that the instantaneous structures of SWBLI captured by the polarization imaging are the same as when the intensity information is used, verifying the feasibility of polarization imaging. The image fusion of the DOLP results and the intensity information will further improve the flow visualization effect. Through statistical analysis, it can be shown that polarization imaging would weaken the influence of incident light on imaging, when the intensity of the incident light is not uniform or fluctuates with time.