Christoph Roloff

Improved 3-D Particle Tracking Velocimetry with Colored Particles

The present work introduces an extension to three-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry (3-D PTV) in order to investigate small-scale flow patterns. Instead of using monochrome particles the novelty over the prior state of the art is the use of differently dyed tracer particles and the identification of particle color classes directly on Bayer raw images. Especially in the case of a three camera setup it will be shown that the number of ambiguities is dramatically decreased when searching for homologous points in different images. This refers particularly to the determination of spatial parti- cle positions and possibly to the linking of positions into trajectories. The approach allows the handling of tracer parti- cles in high numbers and is therefore perfectly suited for gas flow investigations. Although the idea is simple, difficult- ties may arise particularly in determining the color class of individual particle when its projection on a Bayer sensor is too small. Hence, it is not recommended to extract features from RGB images for color class recognition due to infor- mation loss during the Bayer demosaicing process. This article demonstrates how to classify the color of small sized tracers directly on Bayer raw images.

Experimental determination of droplet collision rates in turbulence

Inter-particle collisions in turbulent flows are of central importance for many engineering applications and environmental processes. For instance, collision and coalescence is the mechanism for warm rain initiation in cumulus clouds, a still poorly understood issue. This work presents measurements of droplet–droplet interactions in a laboratory turbulent flow, allowing reproducibility and control over initial and boundary conditions. The measured two-phase flow reproduces conditions relevant to cumulus clouds. The turbulent flow and the droplet size distribution are well characterized, and independently the collision rate is measured. Two independent experimental approaches for determining the collision rate are compared with each other: (i) a high-magnification shadowgraphy setup is employed, applying a deformation threshold as collision indicator. This technique has been specifically adapted to measure droplet collision probability in dispersed two-phase flows. (ii) Corresponding results are compared for the first time with a particle tracking approach, post-processing high-speed shadowgraphy image sequences. Using the measured turbulence and droplet properties, the turbulent collision kernel can be calculated for comparison. The two independent measurements deliver comparable orders of magnitude for the collision probability, highlighting the quality of the measurement process, even if the comparison between both measurement techniques is still associated with a large uncertainty. Comparisons with recently published theoretical predictions show reasonable agreement. The theoretical collision rates accounting for collision efficiency are noticeably closer to the measured values than those accounting only for transport.

Interferometric laser imaging for in-flight cloud droplet sizing

A non-intrusive particle sizing method with a high spatial distribution is utilized for the estimation of cloud droplet spectra during flight test campaigns. The Interferometric Laser Imaging for Droplet Sizing (ILIDS) method derives particle diameters of transparent spheres by evaluating the out-of-focus image patterns. This sizing approach requires a polarized monochromatic light source, a camera including objective lens with a slit aperture, a synchronization unit and a processing tool for data evaluation. These components are adapted to a flight test environment to enable the microphysical investigation of different cloud genera. The herewith presented work addresses the ILIDS system design and specifications, the flight test preparation and selected results obtained in the lower and middle troposphere. The research platform was a commuter aircraft of type Dornier Do228-101 of DLR Flight Operation Center in Braunschweig. It was equipped with the required instrumentation including a high energy laser as light source. A comprehensive data set of around 71.800 ILIDS images was acquired over the course 5 flights. The data evaluation of the characteristic ILIDS fringe patterns relies among others on a relationship between the fringe spacing and the diameter of the particle. The simplest way to extract this information from a pattern is by fringe counting, which is not viable for such an extensive amount of data. A brief contrasting comparison of evaluating methods based on frequency analysis by means of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and on correlation methods such as Minimum Quadratic Difference (MQD) is used to encompass the limits and accuracy of the ILIDS method for such applications.

Tomographic particle image velocimetry for the validation of hemodynamic simulations in an intracranial aneurysm

Image-based blood flow simulations can provide detailed hemodynamic information in diseased vessels such as intracranial aneurysms. However, validation is essential to evaluate the accuracy of these computations and further improve their acceptance among physicians. In this regard, tomographic particle image velocimetry was used to measure the flow characteristics in a patient specific aneurysm phantom model. Additionally, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out using a well accepted commercial software package and a clinical research prototype, respectively. The comparison between in-vitro measurement and in-silico computations reveals a good qualitative agreement. Further, computations based on classical CFD agreed well with results from a clinical research prototype. Hence, the results of this study demonstrate the usability of numerical methods to obtain realistic blood flow predictions in a clinical context.

Comparison of intracranial aneurysm flow quantification techniques: standard PIV vs stereoscopic PIV vs tomographic PIV vs phase-contrast MRI vs CFD

Image-based hemodynamic simulations to assess the rupture risk or improve the treatment planning of intracranial aneurysms have become popular recently. However, due to strong modeling assumptions and limitations, the acceptance of numerical approaches remains limited. Therefore, validation using experimental methods is mandatory. In this study, a unique compilation of four in-vitro flow measurements (three particle image velocimetry approaches using a standard (PIV), stereoscopic (sPIV), and tomographic (tPIV) setup, as well as a phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) measurement) were compared with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. This was carried out in a patient-specific silicone phantom model of an internal carotid artery aneurysm under steady flow conditions. To evaluate differences between each technique, a similarity index (SI) with respect to the velocity vectors and the average velocity magnitude differences among all involved modalities were computed. The qualitative comparison reveals that all techniques are able to provide a reasonable description of the global flow structures. High quantitative agreement in terms of SI and velocity magnitude differences was found between all PIV methods and CFD. However, quantitative differences were observed between PC-MRI and the other techniques. Deeper analysis revealed that the limited resolution of the PC-MRI technique is a major contributor to the experienced differences and leads to a systematic underestimation of overall velocity magnitude levels inside the vessel. This confirms the necessity of using highly resolving flow measurement techniques, such as PIV, in an in-vitro environment to individually verify the validity of the numerically obtained hemodynamic results.

Comparison of pressure reconstruction approaches based on measured and simulated velocity fields

Abstract The pressure drop over a pathological vessel section can be used as an important diagnostic indicator. However, it cannot be measured non-invasively. Multiple approaches for pressure reconstruction based on velocity information are available. Regarding in-vivo data introducing uncertainty these approaches may not be robust and therefore validation is required. Within this study, three independent methods to calculate pressure losses from velocity fields were implemented and compared: A three dimensional and a one dimensional method based on the Pressure Poisson Equation (PPE) as well as an approach based on the work-energy equation for incompressible fluids (WERP). In order to evaluate the different approaches, phantoms from pure Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and in-vivo PC-MRI measurements were used. The comparison of all three methods reveals a good agreement with respect to the CFD pressure solutions for simple geometries. However, for more complex geometries all approaches lose accuracy. Hence, this study demonstrates the need for a careful selection of an appropriate pressure reconstruction algorithm.