Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Aerospace Systems Engineering
Committee Chair
Philip Ligrani
Committee Member
Haiyang Hu
Committee Member
Jason Cassibry
Research Advisor
Philip Ligrani
Subject(s)
Particle image velocimetry, Shock waves, Aerodynamics
Abstract
Presented is the development of a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) apparatus to quantify the velocity field produced by an oblique shock wave and its reflections in a supersonic/transonic wind tunnel. A flow seeding system is developed using mesquite wood smoke generated in a metal vessel heated with a Vevor TDGC-2KVA variable autotransformer. A pressurized K-bottle drives the smoke through a cooled copper coil and moisture trap to remove contaminants before injection. A dual-pulsed class IV Nd:YAG Big Sky laser with Thorlabs optomechanical components, including two cylindrical lenses, is used to create a pulsed light sheet to illuminate tracer particles. Image pairs are captured using a Phantom V711 camera synchronized using a LaserPulse 610036 synchronizer. PIV measurements are processed in PIVlab software to calculate the velocity field. Measured velocity distributions provide evidence of a turbulent shear layer and a recirculation zone in the vicinity of the oblique shock wave reflection.
Recommended Citation
Girgis, Andrew, "Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of flow characteristics of an unsteady oblique shock wave train" (2025). Theses. 781.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/781