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

Abstract

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.