A Laser Shadowgraph for Flow Visualization in the AFFDL Rent Facility

Abstract

A laser shadowgraph is described which has been used for flow visualization in the Air Force Flight Dynamics Reentry Test Facility. The test flows are arc heated, supersonic, high pressure and high energy. The shadowgraph uses a He-Ne laser, spatial filter, collimating lens, camera lens, spectral filter and a camera body fitted with a neutral density filter to take shadowgraphs of shock waves around calibration probes in the RENT facility. The shadowgraph shows bow shock waves and shocks from the shoulder on the models as well as compression waves from the nozzle. Although it does not completely discriminate against flow luminosity the overexposed regions are limited enough to enable the observation of the shock waves in the luminous flows of this facility.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA377344

Entities

People

  • Robert F. Carpenter

Organizations

  • Flight Dynamics Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Arc Heaters
  • Bow Shock
  • Cameras
  • Dynamics
  • Flow
  • Flow Visualization
  • Light Sources
  • Nose Tips
  • Noses
  • Optics
  • Photographs
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Shock Waves
  • Stagnation Pressure

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion Dynamics and Shock Wave Physics.
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow