Konstantinos Kontis

Thermographic Phosphors for High Temperature Measurements: Principles, Current State of the Art and Recent Applications

This paper reviews the state of phosphor thermometry, focusing on developments in the past 15 years. The fundamental principles and theory are presented, and the various spectral and temporal modes, including the lifetime decay, rise time and intensity ratio, are discussed. The entire phosphor measurement system, including relative advantages to conventional methods, choice of phosphors, bonding techniques, excitation sources and emission detection, is reviewed. Special attention is given to issues that may arise at high temperatures. A number of recent developments and applications are surveyed, with examples including: measurements in engines, hypersonic wind tunnel experiments, pyrolysis studies and droplet/spray/gas temperature determination. They show the technique is flexible and successful in measuring temperatures where conventional methods may prove to be unsuitable.

Imaging gas and plasma interactions in the surface-chemical modification of polymers using micro-plasma jets

This paper reports on the correlation between gas flow and plasma behaviour in the outflow of a micro-atmospheric pressure plasma jet operating in helium using both 2D optical imaging and Schlieren photography. Schlieren photography shows that the helium outflow changes from laminar to turbulent conditions after distances between 20 and 50 mm from the nozzle. Above a flow rate of 1.4 slm, the length of the laminar region decreases with increasing flow rate. However, by contrast the visible plasma plume increases in length with increasing flow rate until its extension just exceeds that of the laminar region. At this point, the plasma becomes turbulent and its length decreases. Exposing polystyrene (PS) samples to the plasma jet significantly alters the water contact angle in a defined area, with the hydrophobic PS surface becoming more hydrophilic. This modification occurs both with and without direct contact of the visible glow on the surface. The radius of the treated area is much larger than the width of the visible jet but much smaller than the area of the turbulence on the surface. The treated area reduces with increasing nozzle–substrate distance.

Head-on collision of shock wave induced vortices with solid and perforated walls

An experimental study has been conducted to examine the interaction of shock wave induced vortices with a flat plate and a perforated plate. The experiments were carried out using a 30mm internal diameter shock-tube at Mach numbers 1.31, 1.49, and 1.61 under critical driver conditions. Air was used both in the driver and driven sections. High-speed schlieren photography was employed to study the flow development and the resulting interactions with the plates. Wall pressure measurements on both plates were also carried out in order to study the flow interactions quantitatively. The experimental results indicated that a region of strong flow development is generated near the wall surface, due to the flow interactions of reflected waves and oncoming induced vortices. This flow behavior causes the generation of multiple pressure fluctuations on the wall. In the case of the perforated plate, a weaker initial reflected wave is produced, which is followed by compression waves, due to the internal reflections wit...

A review of some current research on pressure sensitive paint and thermographic phosphor techniques

The paper discusses the development and application activities within the Aero-Physics and Measurement Technology Laboratory at the University of Manchester on pressure sensitive paint and thermographic phosphor optical imaging systems for gas dynamic applications. It provides a brief review of the basic principles, fundamental theory, properties, chemical characteristics and bonding technologies associated with the two systems. A number of case studies are presented, which exhibit the range of applicability, limitations and potential for further development of the technologies.

Micro-Ramps for Hypersonic Flow Control

Shock/boundary layer interaction (SBLI) is an undesirable phenomenon, occurring in high-speed propulsion systems. The conventional method to manipulate and control SBLI is using a bleed system that involves the removal of a certain amount of mass of the inlet flow to control boundary layer separation. However, the system requires a larger nacelle to compensate the mass loss, larger nacelles contribute to additional weight and drag and reduce the overall performance. This study investigates a novel type of flow control device called micro-ramps, a part of the micro vortex generators (VGs) family that intends to replace the bleed technique. Micro-ramps produce pairs of counter-rotating streamwise vortices, which help to suppress SBLI and reduce the chances of flow separation. Experiments were done at Mach 5 with two micro-ramp models of different sizes. Schlieren photography, surface flow visualization and infrared thermography were used in this investigation. The results revealed the detailed flow characteristics of the micro-ramp, such as the primary and secondary vortices. This helps us to understand the overall flow physics of micro-ramps in hypersonic flow and their application for SBLI control.

Schlieren Photography of the Outflow From a Plasma Jet

Using Schlieren photography, the helium outflow configuration from a fine capillary-based microplasma jet discharge has been captured for free-stream conditions. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow is clearly identified with and without operation of the plasma. At a flow rate of 2.3 L·min-1 with no plasma operating, this transition occurs 54 mm from the nozzle; however, with plasma struck (peak voltages of 8 kVp-p), this reduces to 40 mm.

Experimental investigations of compressible vortex loops

The present study involves the shock wave and consequent vortex loop generated when a shock tube with various nozzle geometries is employed. It aims to provide quantitative and qualitative insight into the physics of these compressible phenomena. The geometries included two elliptic nozzles with minor to major axis ratios of 0.4 and 0.6, a 15 mm circular nozzle and a 30×30 mm2 square nozzle. The experiments were performed for driver gas (air) pressures of 4, 8 and 12 bars. Schlieren, shadowgraphy, and particle image velocimetry techniques were employed to visualize and quantify the induced flow field.

Pressure-Sensitive Paint: Effect of Substrate

There are numerous ways in which pressure-sensitive paint can be applied to a surface. The choice of substrate and application method can greatly affect the results obtained. The current study examines the different methods of applying pressure-sensitive paint to a surface. One polymer-based and two porous substrates (anodized aluminum and thin-layer chromatography plates) are investigated and compared for luminescent output, pressure sensitivity, temperature sensitivity and photodegradation. Two luminophores [tris-Bathophenanthroline Ruthenium(II) Perchlorate and Platinum-tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) Porphyrin] will also be compared in all three of the substrates. The results show the applicability of the different substrates and luminophores to different testing environments.

Laser energy deposition effectiveness on shock-wave boundary-layer interactions over cylinder-flare combinations

The effects of repetitive laser-pulse energy depositions (5.5 mJ/pulse) onto a shock wave-boundary layer interaction region over cylinder-flare model in a Mach 1.92 flow are experimentally investigated. Depending on the nose shape and the flare angle, the flow patterns are subdivided to two; separated flow in which a slip line and a strong separation shock wave originated in the nose-cylinder junction appears, and a non-separated flow in which a slip line is not observed and the re-attachment shock wave is much weaker. At flare angles around 30°, the separation can be suppressed by laser energy deposition even of down to 5 kHz. The Schlieren-visualized flow patterns are well correlated to the drag characteristics, in which a larger drag is obtained without separation. A possible scenario of the separation control is that the disturbance introduced by the baroclinic vortex ring induced the boundary layer transition so that it became robust against the adverse pressure gradient. Under marginal conditions, dual mode flow patterns, that is, a partial and full suppression modes are obtained under the same operation conditions.

28th International Symposium on Shock Waves

Part I Keynote Lectures.- Part II Blast Waves.- Part III Chemically Reacting Flows.- Part IV Dense Gases and Rarefied Flows.- Part V Detonation and Combustion.- Part VI Diagnostics.- Part VII Facilities.- Part VIII Flow Visualisation.- Part IX Hypersonic Flow.- Part X Ignition.- Part XI Impact and Compaction.