High-resolution, high-speed imaging system for flow-physics discovery

• Subject Area: Fluid Mechanics, Technical Thermodynamics and Thermal Energy Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 566052364

ISM continues to produce forward-looking and impactful research in the areas of: subsonic and hypersonic flows; flow control and optimization; multiphase flows; and measurement-technique development. Given the deep experience and skill set of ISM senior staff, as well as the state-of-the-art facilities already available at ISM, the Institute is well positioned to continue to be a leader in these research spaces. However, to continue this frontier research, there is a need for a high-resolution high-speed imaging system at the Institute. The current proposal aims to empower the rich and diverse research ongoing at ISM through the procurement of a system that satisfies a broad spectrum of needs. There are several research pursuits ongoing at ISM that are limited by a lack of access to highspeed or high-resolution imaging measurements. ISM researchers wish to investigate and control fluid transport and turbulent evolution within shear layers, boundary layers and wakes that form during fluid-structure interactions in aerodynamic and biological scenarios. This work requires access to higher-order statistics to assess turbulent properties, as well as the ability to track fluid to identify coherent flow structures. However, ISM’s current measurement systems cannot provide these statistics within an acceptable level of uncertainty, nor do they support state-of-the-art measurement techniques that would allow for high-resolution fluid tracking. ISM researchers also wish to investigate the mass deposition and phase change of disperse phases onto cloud-immersed bodies over space and time, but current equipment at ISM cannot provide the spatial and temporal resolutions necessary to determine the motion and mass of the disperse phase. Within hypersonic flows, ISM seeks to develop methods of boundary-layer modification towards alleviating the structural and thermal loads of hypersonic vehicles, but acquiring adequate measurements within the short duration of a test run using ISM’s current systems poses a significant challenge. ISM also seeks to develop novel measurement techniques including: temperature- and pressure-sensitive paints in low and high Mach-number environments; mass tracking within dispersions such as clouds; and optical velocimetry methods in hypersonic flows; but these techniques must be scaffolded by high-speed and high-resolution imaging measurements. Given the evolving needs of ISM’s research, the following proposal requests a new high-resolution high-speed imaging system for flow physics discovery referred to here as HIP. HIP can be used 3 in whole or in part to pursue the research goals outlined above. HIP will facilitate state-of-the-art, fully-resolved spatiotemporal measurement techniques, as well as support the development of novel measurement methods currently being pursued at ISM.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Raumzeitlich hochauflösendes Bildgebungs- und Messsystem
• Instrumentation Group: 2440 Hilfseinrichtungen und spezielle Meßgeräte für Wind- und Wasserkanäle und Anlagen des Wasserbaus
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Braunschweig
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. David Emory Rival