A132835183 - 19469 - 2 - 2020 - Lecture 2 April ATE304

Flow Visualization Techniques
What is Flow Visualisation?

• The saying ‘seeing is believing’ most aptly
expresses the importance of flow visualization.
• The flow of air cannot be seen with a naked eye
whereas flow of water can be seen but not its
streamlines or velocity distribution.
• The consolidated science which analyses the
behavior of fluid invisible to the eye like this as
image formation is called flow visualization.
• Flow visualization in fluid dynamics is used to
make the flow patterns visible, in order to get
qualitative or quantitative information on them.
Classification of
• Experimental Visualization Methods
– Wall Tracing Method
– Tuft Method
– Injection Tracer Method
– Chemical Reaction Tracer Method
– Electrically Controlled Tracer Method
– Optical Visualisation Method
Wall Tracing Method
• Surface oil is applied as small dabs of oil at
some upstream location.
• The oil is standard 40W treated with a
fluorescent dye or pigment.
• As the air flows over the model, the oil is
carried downstream in long streaks.
• A variety of pigments aid in flow visualization.
Surface Oil Flow Visualization
Tuft Method
• In aviation, tufts are strips of yarn or string, typically
around 15 cm (6 in), attached to an aircraft surface in a
grid pattern and imaged during flight.
• The motion of the tufts during flight can be observed
and recorded, to locate flow features such as boundary
layer separation and reattachment.
• Tufting is, therefore, a technique for flow visualization.
They are used in aeronautics flight testing to study air
flow direction, strength, and boundary layer properties
Tuft Grid and Surface Tuft
Injection Tracer Method
• In this group of methods, small particles of solid
or liquid are introduced into the fluid stream and
observed by reflected or scattered light.
• It is necessary that such particles are of
sufficiently small inertia to follow the local
direction of fluid motion and sufficiently light as
not to be sensibly influenced by gravity.
• Smoke or other particles in air and dye or other
particles in water provide the necessary
contamination for flow visualization.
Dye-Based Flow Visualization
Smoke Method
Chemical Reaction Tracer Method
• There are certain chemical substances which show negligible
changes in density due to chemical reaction, the settling
velocity of tracer is small and thus many of them are suitable
for flow visualization.
• For example: Injecting saturated ammonium sulphide into a
mixture of White lead and drying oil.
Electrically Controlled Tracer Method
• It gives quantitative estimate using different
methods.
• In this method there are three categories:
– Hydrogen Bubble Method
– Spark Tracing Method
– Smoke Wire Method
• Used for studying
– Flow around and vortex behind the cylinder
– Flow in a cylinder
Electrically Controlled Tracer Method
Spark Tracing Method
For the generation of
spark lines, it is required
to set up two electrodes
perpendicular to gas flow
regions of interest and
apply a high voltage with
a high frequency
Smoke Wire Method:

A wire doped with oil is
stretched across the test
section and is heated by
joule heating. Oil
evaporates making smoke
trails.
Optical Visualization Method
• This method has the capability of flow visualization without
affecting the flow.
• Schlieren’s method utilizes the principle of change in
diffraction due to change in density(temperature).
Classification of
• Computer Aided Visualization Methods
• Visualized Image Analysis
– Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)
– Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV)
• Numerical Data Visualization Method
• Measured Data Visualization
Particle Image Velocimetry
• In Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) light
scattering particles are added to the flow.
• A laser beam is formed into a light sheet
illuminating seeding particles twice with a short
time interval Δt.
• In 2D-PIV the scattered light is recorded onto two
consecutive frames of a high resolution digital
camera.
• In Stereo-PIV two cameras at different
observation angles are used to measure also the
third (out-of-plane) component of the flow
velocity in the light sheet.
Particle Image Velocimetry
Particle Tracking Velocimetry
• Particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) is
a velocimetry method i.e. a technique to measure
velocity of particles that are resident in a fluid.
• As the name suggests, individual particles are
tracked, so this technique is a Lagrangian
approach.
• In contrast to particle image velocimetry (PIV),
which is an Eulerian method that measures the
velocity field of a fluid at a (rectangular) grid
Particle Tracking Velocimetry
Numerical Data Visualisation Method
• In this method, a flow field is numerically analyzed by
computer and its enormous computational output is
presented in an easy to understand figure or by
computer graphics techniques.
• For example: Contours of velocity for flow over a
cylinder, Isobars, Isotherms etc.
Contours Example…
Laser Doppler Velocimetry
• Laser Doppler Velocimetery (LDV) is a technique
used to measure the instantaneous velocity of a
flow field.
• This technique, like PIV is non-intrusive and can
measure all the three velocity components.
• The laser Doppler velocimeter sends a
monochromatic laser beam toward the target
and collects the reflected radiation.
• According to the Doppler effect, the change in
wavelength of the reflected radiation is a function
of the targeted object's relative velocity.
Acoustic Intensity Method

A132835183 - 19469 - 2 - 2020 - Lecture 2 April ATE304

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A132835183 - 19469 - 2 - 2020 - Lecture 2 April ATE304

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Flow Visualization Techniques

What is Flow Visualisation?

Smoke Wire Method:

You might also like