Equipment for Aero-Optical Flow Imaging
Abstract
The AFOSR/DURIP Grant has provided the funds to develop a new Aero-Optics Laboratory at UC Irvine, in order to do basic research on aero-optical laser beam propagation through high-speed turbulent flows. The centerpiece of the laboratory is the Aero-Optics Pressurized Flow Facility which is a blow-down wind tunnel especially suited to studies of separated turbulent flows such as the single-stream shear layer. The main pressure vessel can be pressurized to 20 atmospheres, has an internal diameter of 4 feet, an internal height of 8 feet, 5 windows each of 10" diameter and 3.25" thickness made of spectrosil quartz (which permits both visible and UV flowibeam imaging), and 5 window-retaining units capable of 20-atm pressure. The air supply reservoir is rated at 200 gallons and 3,000 psig (- 200 atm). The facility allows for seeding of air with gaseous acetone. Instrumentation for simultaneous flow/beam imaging includes a custom high-resolution Hartmann sensor, with 4,096 pixels and 1,024 subapertures, and a high-resolution high-sensitivity COD camera with approximately 1,000 x 1,000 pixels and 12 bits of dynamic range per pixel. A Nd:YAG pulsed laser provides the illumination source with approximately 100 mJ per pulse at a repetition frequency of 10 Hz. Flow durations are of the order of 2 seconds at high subsonic speeds. The facility is designed to reach a Mach number of 2.5 and Reynolds number of approximately 100 million based on the large-scale shear-layer extent.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 29, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA420864
Entities
People
- Haris J. Catrakis
Organizations
- University of California, Irvine