Quantitative analysis of three-dimensional steady flow field by using particle image velocimetry and digital image processing method

An approach has been developed to quantitatively analyze steady incompressible flow fields by using particle image velocimetry and digital image processing techniques. The fundamental laws of physics have been applied to analyze the image data. The accuracy of the results has been improved by calibrating camera in the analysis of the flow images. The images of the particles that visualize the field of a water channel flow are captured by using a CCD camera connected to an image processor and illuminated with a portable laser sheet. The images were taken from two orthogonal directions. Microsoft C language programs have been developed to manipulate the image grabbing and processing and extracting velocity data from the images. A procedure of camera calibration has been given.Uniform flow experiment and a two-dimensional flow experiment have been done to verify the method. The results of the experiment of flow past a half-body are analyzed by the comparison between the theoretical data and the experimental results