Measurement Of Water Film Thickness Research Articles

Laser based measurement of water film thickness for the application in exhaust after-treatment processes

In this work, an absorption based laser sensor for the investigation of dynamically changing liquid film thicknesses is developed and validated. For the wavelength selection of the single-ended, fibre-coupled, diode-laser sensor, near-infrared spectra of liquid water are measured at various thicknesses and temperatures. To reduce the influence of the film temperature, the evaluation is supported by a calibration procedure. Unknown film thicknesses of up to 440 µm could then be measured. To adapt the sensor to particular boundary conditions of different systems, the single-ended setup can be changed to a transmissive configuration. The sensor is validated in both configurations against a commercially available chromatic confocal resonance (CHR) sensor. A comparison with respect to the CHR sensor leads to an accuracy of 2.8 µm and a precision of 3.9% of the new laser based sensor.

Measuring Water Film Thickness in a Wet Gas Compressor Diffuser—Design, Calibration, and Testing of Electromagnetic Probes

The distribution of water in the diffuser of a wet gas compressor is not well understood. Measurements of water film thickness across the diffuser surface would improve the understanding of two-phase flow phenomena in wet gas compressors. Electromagnetic probes were designed in order to measure water film thickness in the diffuser of a SwRI-designed wet gas compressor. The probes consisted of two electrode foils plated on a thin insulating substrate, allowing them to be bonded in place without drilling through the diffuser. An AC signal was passed between the electrodes, and the voltage across a resistor in series with the electrodes was recorded. As the water level covering the electrodes increased, the recorded voltage increased. A method of calibrating the probes was developed and used prior to installation in the diffuser. Testing showed the probes to be effective at detecting the presence of water in the diffuser and indicating the general water level. Improvements in probe design, calibration, and installation are needed to provide more precise water film thickness data.

An experimental study on the characteristics of wind-driven surface water film flows by using a multi-transducer ultrasonic pulse-echo technique

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of surface water film flows driven by boundary layer winds over a test plate in order to elucidate the underlying physics pertinent to dynamic water runback processes over ice accreting surfaces of aircraft wings. A multi-transducer ultrasonic pulse-echo (MTUPE) technique was developed and applied to achieve non-intrusive measurements of water film thickness as a function of time and space to quantify the transient behaviors of wind-driven surface water film flows. The effects of key controlling parameters, including freestream velocity of the airflow and flow rate of the water film, on the dynamics of the surface water runback process were examined in great details based on the quantitative MTUPE measurements. While the thickness of the wind-driven surface water film was found to decrease rapidly with the increasing airflow velocity, various surface wave structures were also found to be generated at the air/water interface as the surface water runs back. The evolution of the surface wave structures, in the terms of wave shape, frequency and propagation velocity of the surface waves, and instability modes (i.e., well-organized 2-D waves vs. 3-D complex irregular waves), was found to change significantly as the airflow velocity increases. Such temporally synchronized and spatially resolved measurements are believed to be very helpful to elucidate the underlying physics for improved understanding of the dynamics of water runback process pertinent to aircraft icing phenomena.

Diode laser-based standoff absorption measurement of water film thickness in retro-reflection

A dual-wavelength diode laser-based absorption sensor for standoff point measurements of water film thickness on an opaque surface is presented. The sensor consists of a diode laser source, a foil as backscattering target, and off-axis paraboloids for collecting the fraction of the laser radiation transmitted through the liquid layer via retro-reflection. Laser wavelengths in the near infrared at 1412 and 1353 nm are used where the temperature dependence of the liquid water absorption cross section is known. The lasers are fiber coupled and the detection of the retro-reflected light was accomplished through a multimode fiber and a single photodiode using time-division multiplexing. The water film thickness at a given temperature was determined from measured transmittance ratios at the two laser wavelengths. The sensor concept was first validated with measurement using a temperature-controlled calibration cell providing liquid layers of variable and known thickness between 100 and 1000 µm. Subsequently, the sensor was demonstrated successfully during recording the time-varying thickness of evaporating water films at fixed temperatures. The film thickness was recorded as a function of time at three temperatures down to 50 µm.

Infrared film thickness measurement: comparison with cold neutron imaging

Near InfraRed FILM thickness PROfile (NIR-FILMPRO) is an optical technique for non-intrusive measurement of water film thickness. The technique is based on absorption of NIR light. A passband filter centered at 1612 nm was selected to measure isothermal gravity-driven films flowing on a vertical wall with sand blasted surface. Non-intrusive 2D mapping of the film thickness was acquired at 200 fps, with an image size of 320×256 pixels and a spatial resolution of 0.677 mm. Theoretical developments were brought to consider multiple reflections of light in the liquid film providing a more accurate model to compute the film thickness. Further improvements were made regarding the calibration procedure and the image processing. The measurements were compared against cold neutron imaging, an established technique which provides images of the time averaged thickness. An excellent correspondence between the two methods was found. The root mean square of the deviation between the two techniques taken over a region covered by a wavy film was found to be 2.3% of the measurement with film thicknesses fluctuating between approximately 100 and 500 µm. The spatial comparison with cold neutron imaging complements the previous comparisons and validates the application of the technique.

Usage of Road Weather Sensors for Automatic Traffic Control on Motorways

Within section control systems on motorways drivers get information about adequate speed limits during adverse weather situations. Therefore road weather data are necessary. To detect the danger of aqua-planning measurements of precipitation intensity and waterfilm thickness as well as the status of the road surface are needed. To detect these atmospheric data different weather sensors are located near the motorway. There are two different sensor systems available which detect these measurements at the moment. For the detection of the status of the road surface, like dry, moist or wet, the sensor is imbedded directly in the road surface in most cases. The other sensor system is non-invasive which can be installed next to or over the road. Nowadays more and more open-pored asphalt is used because of its advantage to be less noisy and its property to drain off water better than normal asphalt. But this kind of asphalt cannot be cut to install a road sensor therefore the usage of non-invasive sensors will be increase in the future. This may also lead to different thresholds in automatic traffic control during adverse weather situations.The measurements of waterfilm thickness, road surface and road temperature are very important for automatic traffic control algorithms [2] as a speed limit caused by rain is derived and shown on variable message signs. In the German Technical Bulletin [2] a matrix with the two measurements precipitation intensity and water film thickness define which wetness-level is detected. There are 5 wetness-levels which cause different speed limits. For the first supply thresholds are given based on the experiences with road sensors. For the newer non-invasive sensors other thresholds may be necessary. This paper will show some possible thresholds for the precipitation/waterfilm thickness matrix and their effects on the speed limits shown on the variable massage signs.Within the German Test Site for Road Weather Stations [1] various road sensors as well as various non-invasive sensors are installed. The data for both detection technologies has been collected for the last 2 years and allows a statistically valid comparison of them. In this paper the advantage and disadvantage of the two sensor technologies will be shown for the measurements waterfilm thickness, road surface and road temperature. In order to describe the behavior of the sensors, the available data will be analyzed concerning the availability of valid datasets and the accuracy. Additionally the performance of the sensors is examined during periods of different clusters of traffic volumes.

Measurements of water film thickness on a wing surface in simulated heavy rain

This paper primarily discusses the measurements water film thickness on a three-dimensional wing with a NACA 23015 section in simulated heavy rain conditions. The two-way momentum coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian two-phase flow approach in our previous work is adopted. The modeled aerodynamic coefficients are generally in good agreement with wind-tunnel experimental data. The impact of the interphase coupling on the aerodynamic performance of the wing is revealed and analyzed. The effects of liquid water content, angle of attack and three-dimensional span on the distribution of the surface water film are also discussed. This paper comprehensively studies the thickness of water film on a three-dimensional wing in heavy rain conditions and should be of some reference value in practical engineering.

Measurement of Water Film Thickness Due to Sipe Edges of Studless Tires

ABSTRACT Water on an icy surface is wiped by the rubber sipe edges of studless tires. However, it has been proposed that water on an icy surface forms a thin film rather than being removed completely. Nonetheless, there have been relatively few studies on the contact conditions of rubber sipe edges and the formation of a water film due to wiping. In this study, the frictional properties and contact areas of model sipes of studless tires were measured. In addition, the thickness of the water film formed on the tread surface was estimated by optical interferometry. Three types of styrene butadiene rubber with different levels of hardness were used as rubber specimens. The experiment was conducted by varying both the number of rubber edges and the slope angle between the rubber specimens and the vertical direction of a glass disk. The coefficient of friction tended to decrease with increasing sliding speed at all slope angles, and the value of the coefficient of friction was decreased as the slope angle became large. Moreover, the contact area between the rubber edges and a glass disk with a slope angle of 0° tended to increase as the sliding speed increased. The thickness of the water film formed after wiping ranged from 0.98 to 1.70 μm, and it increased as the slope angle increased.

Tunable diode laser absorption sensor for the simultaneous measurement of water film thickness, liquid- and vapor-phase temperature

A four-wavelength near-infrared (NIR) tunable diode laser sensor has been developed for the simultaneous measurement of liquid water film thickness, liquid-phase temperature and vapor-phase temperature above the film. This work is an important improvement of a three-wavelength concept previously introduced by Yang et al. (Appl. Phys. B 99:385, 2010), which measured the film thickness in environments with known temperature only. In the new sensor, an optimized combination of four wavelengths is chosen based on a sensitivity analysis with regard to the temperature dependence of the liquid water absorption cross section around 1.4 μm. The temperature of liquid water and the film thickness are calculated from absorbance ratios taken at three wavelength positions assessing the broad-band spectral signature of liquid water. The vapor-phase temperature is determined from the absorbance ratio of two lasers rapidly tuned across two narrow-band gas-phase water absorption transitions. The performance of the sensor was demonstrated in a calibration cell providing liquid layers of variable thickness and temperature with uncertainties smaller than 5% for thickness measurements and 1.5% for liquid-phase temperatures, respectively. Experiments are also presented for time-resolved thickness and temperature measurements of evaporating water films on a quartz plate.

Measurement of water film thickness by laser-induced fluorescence and Raman imaging

We present two non-intrusive, laser-based imaging techniques for the quantitative measurement of water fluid film thickness. The diagnostics methods are based on laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of the organic tracer ethyl acetoacetate added to the liquid in sub-percent (by mass) concentration levels, and on spontaneous Raman scattering of liquid water, respectively, both with excitation at 266 nm. Signal intensities were calibrated with measurements on liquid layers of known thickness in a range between 0 and 500 μm. Detection via an image doubler and appropriate filtering in both light paths enabled the simultaneous detection of two-dimensional liquid film thickness information from both methods. The thickness of water films on transparent quartz glass plates was determined with an accuracy of 9% for the tracer LIF and 15% for the Raman scattering technique, respectively. The combined LIF/Raman measurements also revealed a preferential evaporation of the current tracer during the time-resolved recording of film evaporation.