Three-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry Research Articles

Three-dimensional particle image velocimetry experimental study of transient motion characteristics of different scale vortices in gasoline engine

The paper adopted three-dimensional (3D) Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) combined with high-speed measurement technology to study the transient motion characteristics of tumble flow induced by small and medium-sized vortices on an optical gasoline engine. Meanwhile, the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method was introduced to analyze the evolution of transient vortices, revealing the three-dimensional motion principle of vortices with different spatial scales within the cylinder. The results showed that increasing the engine speed can cause boosted in-plane and out-of-plane velocity, especially for the in-plane velocity. However, the average velocity in the plane was higher than that out of the plane with the difference generally within an order of magnitude. The strong intake jet was the main reason for bringing turbulent kinetic energy in the cylinder. The average kinetic energy and turbulent kinetic energy in the cylinder are both significantly improved at high engine speed. From the results of this experiment, it was revealed that there exists isotropic turbulent pulsation characteristics. Overall, the corresponding flow characteristics of different decomposed modes were different. The first mode section had the lowest average velocity ratio, while the other two had the highest. Due to the dissipation of large vortices into small vortices or the shear action between flow layers, new vortices were generated, leading to the intermittent phenomenon of the motion path of the vortex cluster in the target plane. The average vortex size and velocity circularity corresponding to two varied engine speeds presented a downward trend. The average vortex size was smaller at high engine speed, while the vortex intensity was higher. In addition, increasing the engine speed would decrease the vortex scale but increase the vortex strength. This work provided new fundamental insights into analyzing the characteristics of micro-scaled vortices in turbulent flow, as well as the organization of intake in the gasoline engine.

Three-dimensional particle image velocimetry measurement through three-dimensional U-Net neural network

This paper proposes a light field (LF) three-dimensional (3D) particle image velocimetry (PIV) method based on a digital refocused algorithm and 3D U-Net neural network for 3D three-component (3D-3C) velocity measurement. A digital refocused algorithm is used to generate a stack of LF-refocused images of tracer particles for establishing the 3D U-Net. The 3D U-Net is then used for the 3D particle field reconstruction. Based on a pair of 3D particle fields, the 3D-3C velocity field is obtained through a 3D cross correlation algorithm. Numerical simulations and experiments are conducted to analyze the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. The simulation results show that the elongation along the depth direction and the efficiency of the 3D particle field reconstruction are improved by the 3D U-Net. The 3D U-Net also provides a better correlation coefficient. The experimental results show that the reconstruction time of the proposed method is ∼220 s which is 10 times faster than the LF tomographic PIV. This further demonstrates that the proposed method improves the reconstruction efficiency without affecting the accuracy of velocity measurement.

Effect of turbulent coherent motion on the onset of particle transport using synchronized 3D PIV and PTV

A series of laboratory experiments was conducted to understand the role of unsteady coherent motions of turbulent flow in the onset of particle motion. Turbulent eddies having coherent structures constantly interact with sediment particles within the bottom boundary layer. Therefore, a 3D turbulent flow field and grain trajectories were obtained by the simultaneous operation of three-dimensional (3D) particle image velocimetry and particle tracking velocimetry. Characteristics of the grain motions were investigated with the various particles in the various flow conditions. Based on the Stokes number of sediments, the spectral density of flow field revealed that turbulent eddies in the production subrange initiate grain motion. The proper orthogonal decomposition extracted the flow fields in the production subrange and the quadrant analysis was used to define dominant turbulent event initiating particle motions in the different flow conditions. The events of outward interaction and sweep initiated particle motion under low-velocity conditions, whereas those of sweep and ejection frequently occurred at the onset of particle motion under high-velocity conditions. Based on the results of the quadrant analysis, we proposed a transition curve that determines the dominant turbulent event depending on the flow condition on the conventional Shields diagram

Analysis of the information overlap between the PIV and [formula omitted] chemiluminescence signals in turbulent flames using a sparse sensing framework

The purpose of this study is to quantify the information overlap between the OH* chemiluminescence signal and the three-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) signal for a set of bluff-body stabilized, swirling and non-swirling turbulent methane/air flames issued from the Cambridge/Sandia Stratified Swirl Burner. The time-resolved velocity data was collected using high-speed stereoscopic PIV operated at 3 kHz. This sampling rate was sufficiently high to enable accurate tracking of the large-scale spatial and temporal features of the flow. To investigate flame-flow interactions, high-speed (8 kHz) OH* chemiluminescence imaging was applied on the same set of flames. The two datasets are first independently analyzed using multi-scale Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (mPOD) for the purpose of detecting the relevant flow and heat release rate structures. The resulting modes are qualitatively compared to assess if it is possible to identify the same flow structures from the two datasets. Finally, the information overlap is quantified by predicting the velocity field from the chemiluminescence signal using a sparse sensing framework. Sparse sensing is a mathematical technique that leverages the low-dimensional representation of a physical phenomenon to predict the entire state of the system using few measurements. The results show that the velocity and chemiluminescence mPOD modes display broadly similar features, from which is possible to retrieve the same flow instabilities in the corresponding frequency range. Moreover, the prediction of the velocity field obtained using chemiluminescence as input of the sparse sensing model achieves a good level of accuracy, pointing to an important degree of information overlap between the two signals.

Revisiting RANS turbulence modelling used in built-environment CFD simulations

The strong commitment of European Union (EU) to energy efficiency and the increasing energy prices will put pressure on the building sector to find solutions that are simultaneously very low-level or nearly zero energy-consuming, efficient, thermally comfortable and disease free. In the pursuit of such solutions, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used, with great success, in predicting and optimizing built-environment flows. Nonetheless, it is known that the choice of the turbulence model and the way in which it treats the near wall region, influences the quality of the yielded results. A set of experimental three-dimensional particle image velocimetry (3D PIV) data is used to assess the predictive ability of six turbulence models, commonly used in built-environment simulations, together with two new variants of the turbulence model k−ε−v‾2−f. The phenomena variables, inside a 1:30 lab-scale room, with an emulated occupant were computed for two different ventilation strategies, displacement and mixing. Only the k-ε RNG VisEff and the original ‘code-friendly’ variant of the k−ε−v‾2−f (LKM) coherently described the two simulated flows. Furthermore, it was not unequivocal that obeying the dimensionless wall distance (Y+) less than 1 rule, for the first grid node, guaranteed the enhancement of the computed results. The integration of the Standard Wall Functions (SWF) with the k−ε−v‾2−f (LKM) turbulence model proved to yield more accurate and less grid-dependent results than the stand-alone k−ε−v‾2−f (LKM) model, showing, simultaneously, a predictive ability similar to that of the k-ε RNG VisEff model, despite the lower computational complexity of the latter.

Three-dimensional color particle image velocimetry based on a cross-correlation and optical flow method

Rainbow particle image velocimetry (PIV) can restore the three-dimensional velocity field of particles with a single camera; however, it requires a relatively long time to complete the reconstruction. This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm that combines the fast Fourier transform (FFT) based co-correlation algorithm and the Horn–Schunck (HS) optical flow pyramid iterative algorithm to increase the reconstruction speed. The Rankine vortex simulation experiment was performed, in which the particle velocity field was reconstructed using the proposed algorithm and the rainbow PIV method. The average endpoint error and average angular error of the proposed algorithm were roughly the same as those of the rainbow PIV algorithm; nevertheless, the reconstruction time was 20% shorter. Furthermore, the effect of velocity magnitude and particle density on the reconstruction results was analyzed. In the end, the performance of the proposed algorithm was verified using real experimental single-vortex and double-vortex datasets, from which a similar particle velocity field was obtained compared with the rainbow PIV algorithm. The results show that the reconstruction speed of the proposed hybrid algorithm is approximately 25% faster than that of the rainbow PIV algorithm.

Experimental Study of Flow Hydrodynamics Around Circular Cylinder Arrangements Using Particle Image Velocimetry

Abstract This study investigates the turbulent flow properties experimentally in the vicinity of two side-by-side circular cylinders, along with the influence of the third cylinder of the same dimension placed in the upstream and successively in the downstream forming an equilateral triangle. Three-dimensional stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to collect the instantaneous velocity data around the arrangements. The study highlights the prime parameters of turbulence such as the mean velocities, Reynolds stresses, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), quadrant analysis, and Q-criteria for vortices, which are responsible for the development of various problems such as scour-hole around the cylindrical pier arrangements, disturbance around industrial and marine structures. The spectral analysis was performed to examine the energy distributions, vortex-shedding frequencies with corresponding Strouhal numbers. Dominant vorticity locations were identified from the contours of Q-criteria. The magnitude of turbulence characteristics was reduced by 15–20% (turbulence intensity reduced by 20% and TKE by 15%) when the third cylinder was placed the upstream of side-by-side cylinder group. Streamlines are also studied to visualize the flow patterns for a better understanding of physics in the presence of the third cylinder. The maximum energy of vortices obtained from the spectrum analysis showed that the vortices generated were less when the third cylinder is placed upstream.

3D velocity field reconstruction of gas-liquid two-phase flow based on space-time multi-scale binocular-PIV technology.

for particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique, the two-dimensional (2D) PIV by one camera can only obtain 2D velocity field, while three-dimensional (3D) PIV based on tomography by three or four cameras is always complex and expensive. In this work, a binocular-PIV technology based on two cameras was proposed to reconstruct the 3D velocity field of gas-liquid two-phase flow, which is a combination of the binocular stereo vision and cross-correlation based on fast Fourier transform (CC-FFT). The depth of particle was calculated by binocular stereo vision on space scale, and the plane displacement of particles was acquired by CC-FFT on time scale. Experimental results have proved the effectiveness of the proposed method in 3D reconstruction of velocity field for gas-liquid two-phase flow.

Experimental analysis of the effect of dynamic induction control on a wind turbine wake

Abstract. Dynamic induction control (DIC) has proven to be an effective method of increasing the power output for a wind farm in both simulation studies and wind tunnel experiments. By pitching the blades of a wind turbine periodically, the recovery of the low-velocity wake is accelerated, thereby increasing the energy available to downstream turbines. The wake itself of a turbine operating with DIC has not yet been studied experimentally. This paper presents a wind tunnel experiment where the wake of a wind turbine under periodic excitation is investigated. Using three-dimensional particle image velocimetry, the velocity field behind the turbine was reconstructed. Analysis of the velocity fields indicated that the available power in the wake increases when using DIC. This increase was partially due to a lower average thrust force experienced by the turbine with DIC. However, a large difference was seen between measurement results and actuator disk theory, indicating enhanced recovery of the wake is contributing to the increased energy. Instantaneous measurements visualizing the development of blade tip vortices also showed how the location of vortex breakdown, which is directly related to re-energizing the wake, shifts over time with DIC. We believe this shifting location is contributing to the enhanced wake recovery of DIC, providing more energy to downstream wind turbines.

Experimental Studies on the Influence of Negatively Buoyant Jets on Flow Distribution in a 135-Degree Open Channel Bend

The present paper aims to investigate the evolution of velocity fields as well as secondary flows in an open channel bend under the influence of negatively buoyant jets. A 135-degree open channel bend was used for experiments, and the jet nozzle was located along the outer bank in the straight section upstream of the bend. Efforts were made to specify the flow structures with high precision measurements of three-dimensional velocities by means of a three-dimensional PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technology. The experimental results show that the jets comparatively affect the flow structure at the beginning and exit of the flow in a bend. Although the jets had little effect on the maximum streamwise velocity, complex secondary flow patterns and properties were found to be influenced due to the occurrence of the negatively buoyant jets in the bend.

Characteristics of a Single Sensor Fiber-Coupled Three-Dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry for Reacting Flow-Fields

Abstract Tomographic particle image velocimetry (Tomo-PIV) has become a standard tool for capturing a three-dimensional (3D) velocity fields in nonreacting flows. However, the diagnostic approach can become costly and challenging to implement when extended to applications which require high-speed cameras. This limitation has led to the use of fiber wound bundles to allow for multiple views to be captured on a single camera sensor. Additionally, employing this diagnostic approach on reacting flow-fields becomes more complex as the introduction of the flame causes additional luminosity and optical distortion which impacts the particle field reconstruction. This work seeks to validate and determine the limitations when utilizing a single sensor fiber-coupled approach for capturing Tomo-PIV data on a reacting flow-field. A premixed propane (C3H8) and air Bunsen burner flame is utilized to examine if the single sensor approach can meet the parameters for acceptable reconstruction based on previous research. The resulting velocity fields are then compared to a traditional PIV measurement to assess the deviation of the single sensor approach from a standard velocimetry measurement approach. It is demonstrated that there is strong agreement between the velocity and vorticity for the average flow-fields; however, when comparing the Reynolds shear stresses, a significant deviation is revealed. The deviation is attributed to strong velocity fluctuations occurring within the instantaneous Tomo-PIV data, which creates a significant divergence between the measurement techniques on an instantaneous basis. This demonstrates that while the approach can obtain reliable velocity and vorticity statistics, there are significant limitations in calculating second-order turbulence statistics. Thus, revealing that there is a tradeoff between the ability to extract the full velocity gradient tensor and the extent of the turbulence-related analysis which can be reliably performed.

RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCE OF FREE SURFACE ON THE FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBMARINE WAKE

The flow characteristics around the submarine will affect the maneuverability of the submarine, especially when the submarine is near the water surface, the existence of the free surface will increase the complexity of the wake field of the submarine. In order to explore the influence mechanism of free surface on the flow characteristics of submarine wake when the submarine near the free surface, the research on the flow characteristics of submarine wake is carried out with the help of large-scale underwater three-dimensional particle image velocimetry technology. Firstly, the accuracy of the test method in this study is verified by the standard model experiment of DTMB in USA; Then, the wake field of the submarine is measured by the model test, and the axial velocity and pulsating velocity of the propeller disk under different submergence depths and different speeds are obtained. At the same time, the wave and the velocity field of the longitudinal section which can not be measured by the model test are supplemented by numerical simulation, and the influence mechanism of the free surface on the flow characteristics of the wake field is expounded from the wave point of view. The results show that: When the submarine near the water surface, with the increase of Fr, the upper isopleth of the axial velocity at the propeller disk tends to be flattened; and compared with the 4D submergence depths, the local maximum value of pulsating velocity appears in the 1.5D submergence depths, and the structure of pulsating velocity moves down as a whole. When the free surface exists, the velocity of flow field between the hull and the free surface increases obviously, especially in the area of the propeller disk. With the increase of Fr, the height of the free surface of the propeller disk decreases gradually, which leads to a larger fluid velocity and the squeeze phenomenon of wake field on propeller disk.

Free fall of homogeneous and heterogeneous cones

The late stage of the freefall of homogeneous and heterogeneous cones and the induced flow are studied using three-dimensional particle tracking velocimetry and three-dimensional particle image velocimetry. Results showed four distinct patterns modulated by the degree of heterogeneity and specific gravity. They included straight fall, sinusoidal-like trajectories, inclined translations with large rotations, and tumbling followed by an irregular motion.

3D-PIV Measurement for EHD Flow of Spiked Tubular Electrode Corona Discharge in Wide Electrostatic Precipitator

Abstract The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow induced by a corona discharge has an important influence on the movement and collection of fine particles in an electrostatic precipitator. In this paper, three-dimensional particle image velocimetry (3D-PIV) is used to investigate the impact of different primary flow velocities and applied voltage on diffusion and transport of the spiked tubular electrode corona discharge EHD flow in a wide type electrostatic precipitator. In order to measure the flow characteristics of different positions of a spiked tubular electrode, the PIV measurements are carried out in several cross-sectional planes along the ESP duct. From 2D flow streamlines, in plane 1 (where the tip of the spike is oriented in the direction of primary flow), the velocity of the counter-clockwise vortex caused by the EHD flow near the plate decreases as the primary flow velocity increases. However, in plane 3 (where the tip direction is opposite to the primary flow), two vortices rotate adversely, and the flow velocity of the clockwise vortex near the plate increases as the primary flow velocity increases. Flow velocity increasing near the plate makes the particles deposited on the plate more easily to be re-entrained. It can be found in the three-dimensional analysis of the flow field that there are mainly “ascending vortex” and downward tip jet in the three observation planes. There is a discrepancy (in terms of distribution region and the magnitude of velocity) between the three-dimensional characteristics of these vortices and tip jets in the different cross-sectional planes.

Stereo three-dimensional particle image velocimetry measurement and aerodynamic force analysis of non-spinning soccer balls

A knuckle shot, resulting from non-spinning kicking, is an essential technique in soccer. The irregular flight path of the knuckle shot is caused by the aerodynamic force from the three-dimensional twin vortices generated in the wake behind the ball. However, the detailed behavior of the twin vortices and relation between the jet flow and the acting forces on the balls is still not understood. In addition, a more thorough understanding of the effect of ball panels on the formation of twin vortices and jet flow is important to develop balls with high controllability. To study the effect of the ball panel shape on the flight path, stereo three-dimensional particle image velocimetry wake flow measurements and synchronized force measurements were performed on various soccer balls. It was confirmed that the aerodynamic force on the ball is produced by the jet flow generated by the vortices in the wake flow. The directions of the force followed the changes of the jet flow, and the magnitude of the force was strongly associated with the flow rate of the jet. Moreover, the shape of the ball panels, especially the groove volume, determines the critical Reynolds number and the fluttering of the balls.

3D SAPIV particle field reconstruction method based on adaptive threshold.

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a necessary flow field diagnostic technique that provides instantaneous velocimetry information non-intrusively. Three-dimensional (3D) PIV methods can supply the full understanding of a 3D structure, the complete stress tensor, and the vorticity vector in the complex flows. In synthetic aperture particle image velocimetry (SAPIV), the flow field can be measured with large particle intensities from the same direction by different cameras. During SAPIV particle reconstruction, particles are commonly reconstructed by manually setting a threshold to filter out unfocused particles in the refocused images. In this paper, the particle intensity distribution in refocused images is analyzed, and a SAPIV particle field reconstruction method based on an adaptive threshold is presented. By using the adaptive threshold to filter the 3D measurement volume integrally, the three-dimensional location information of the focused particles can be reconstructed. The cross correlations between images captured from cameras and images projected by the reconstructed particle field are calculated for different threshold values. The optimal threshold is determined by cubic curve fitting and is defined as the threshold value that causes the correlation coefficient to reach its maximum. The numerical simulation of a 16-camera array and a particle field at two adjacent time events quantitatively evaluates the performance of the proposed method. An experimental system consisting of a camera array of 16 cameras was used to reconstruct the four adjacent frames in a vortex flow field. The results show that the proposed reconstruction method can effectively reconstruct the 3D particle fields.

Multi-camera volumetric PIV for the study of jumping fish

Archer fish accurately jump multiple body lengths for aerial prey from directly below the free surface. Multiple fins provide combinations of propulsion and stabilization, enabling prey capture success. Volumetric flow field measurements are crucial to characterizing multi-propulsor interactions during this highly three-dimensional maneuver; however, the fish’s behavior also drives unique experimental constraints. Measurements must be obtained in close proximity to the water’s surface and in regions of the flow field which are partially-occluded by the fish body. Aerial jump trajectories must also be known to assess performance. This article describes experiment setup and processing modifications to the three-dimensional synthetic aperture particle image velocimetry (SAPIV) technique to address these challenges and facilitate experimental measurements on live jumping fish. The performance of traditional SAPIV algorithms in partially-occluded regions is characterized, and an improved non-iterative reconstruction routine for SAPIV around bodies is introduced. This reconstruction procedure is combined with three-dimensional imaging on both sides of the free surface to reveal the fish’s three-dimensional wake, including a series of propulsive vortex rings generated by the tail. In addition, wake measurements from the anal and dorsal fins indicate their stabilizing and thrust-producing contributions as the archer fish jumps.

Particle image velocimetry measurement of velocity distribution at inlet duct of waterjet self-propelled ship model

A vehicle-mounted three-dimensional underwater particle image velocimetry (PIV) device is used in a towing tank to measure the velocity distribution of the inlet duct of a waterjet ship model in a self-propulsion test. The following points are shown through a comparison of the influences of the stationary and free states of the ship model on the measured results: (1) during the test, the ship attitude will change, specifically, the ship model will heave and trim, (2) the degree of freedom disturbs the processing of the pixel images enough to distort the subsequent image processing, (3) the stationary state of the ship model is the optimal mode for measuring the velocity distribution using the PIV device, and (4) if the changes must be considered, the man-made heaving and trimming may be pre-applied, and be made a corrected stationary mode. In addition, the momentum effect coefficient and the energy effect coefficient are calculated in a non-uniform inflowing state, and the related factors affecting the two coefficients are analyzed. The test results show that the pumping action of the waterjet creates a transverse vector in the cross-sectional speed, which increases the non-uniformity of the inflow. These results could help to establish the design requirements for a waterjet-propelled ship type.

Improvements on digital inline holographic PTV for 3D wall-bounded turbulent flow measurements

Three-dimensional (3D) particle image velocimetry (PIV) and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) provide the most comprehensive flow information for unraveling the physical phenomena in a wide range of fluid problems, from microfluidics to wall-bounded turbulent flows. Compared with other 3D PIV techniques, such as tomographic PIV and defocusing PIV, the digital inline holographic PTV (DIH-PTV) provides 3D flow measurement solution with high spatial resolution, low cost optical setup, and easy alignment and calibration. Despite these advantages, DIH-PTV suffers from major limitations including poor longitudinal resolution, human intervention (i.e. requirement for manually determined tuning parameters during tracer field reconstruction and extraction), limited tracer concentration, small sampling volume and expensive computations, limiting its broad use for 3D flow measurements. In this study, we present our latest developments on minimizing these challenges, which enables high-fidelity DIH-PTV implementation to larger sampling volumes with significantly higher particle seeding densities suitable for wall-bounded turbulent flow measurements. The improvements include: (1) adjustable window thresholding; (2) multi-pass 3D tracking; (3) automatic wall localization; and (4) continuity-based out-of-plane velocity component computation. The accuracy of the proposed DIH-PTV method is validated with conventional 2D PIV and double-view holographic PTV measurements in smooth-wall turbulent channel flow experiments. The capability of the technique in characterization of wall-bounded turbulence is further demonstrated through its application to flow measurements for smooth- and rough-wall turbulent channel flows. In these experiments, 3D velocity fields are measured within sampling volumes of 14.7 × 50.0 × 14.4 mm3 (covering the entire depth of the channel) with a velocity resolution of <1.1 mm/vector. Overall, the presented DIH-PTV method and measurements highlight the applicability of DIH-PTV to obtain 3D characterization of the turbulent structures with velocity spatial resolution and within sampling volume sizes comparable to other the-state-of-the-art 3D whole-field flow measurement techniques.

Three-dimensional microscopic light field particle image velocimetry

A microscopic particle image velocimetry ( $$\mu \text {PIV}$$ ) technique is developed based on light field microscopy and is applied to flow through a microchannel containing a backward-facing step. The only hardware difference from a conventional $$\mu$$ PIV setup is the placement of a microlens array at the intermediate image plane of the microscope. The method combines this optical hardware alteration with post-capture computation to enable 3D reconstruction of particle fields. From these particle fields, we measure three-component velocity fields, but find that accurate velocity measurements are limited to the two in-plane components at discrete depths through the volume (i.e., 2C-3D). Results are compared with a computational fluid dynamics simulation.