<p>There is growing interest in the use of nanosecond surface dielectric barrier discharge (ns-SDBD) actuators for high-speed (supersonic/hypersonic) flow control. A plasma discharge is created using a nanosecond-duration pulse of several kilovolts, and leads to a rapid heat release and a complex three-dimensional flow field. Past work has been limited to qualitative visualizations such as schlieren imaging, and detailed measurements of the induced flow are required to develop a mechanistic model of the actuator performance. </p><p><br></p><p></p><p>Background-Oriented Schlieren (BOS) is a quantitative variant of schlieren imaging and measures density gradients in a flow field by tracking the apparent distortion of a target dot pattern. The distortion is estimated by cross-correlation, and the density gradients can be integrated spatially to obtain the density field. Owing to the simple setup and ease of use, BOS has been applied widely, and is becoming the preferred density measurement technique. However, there are several unaddressed limitations with potential for improvement, especially for application to complex flow fields such as those induced by plasma actuators. </p><p></p><p>This thesis presents a series of developments aimed at improving the various aspects of the BOS measurement chain to provide an overall improvement in the accuracy, precision, spatial resolution and dynamic range. A brief summary of the contributions are: </p><p>1) a synthetic image generation methodology to perform error and uncertainty analysis for PIV/BOS experiments, </p><p>2) an uncertainty quantification methodology to report local, instantaneous, a-posteriori uncertainty bounds on the density field, by propagating displacement uncertainties through the measurement chain,</p><p>3) an improved displacement uncertainty estimation method using a meta-uncertainty framework whereby uncertainties estimated by different methods are combined based on the sensitivities to image perturbations, </p><p>4) the development of a Weighted Least Squares-based density integration methodology to reduce the sensitivity of the density estimation procedure to measurement noise.</p><p>5) a tracking-based processing algorithm to improve the accuracy, precision and spatial resolution of the measurements, </p><p>6) a theoretical model of the measurement process to demonstrate the effect of density gradients on the position uncertainty, and an uncertainty quantification methodology for tracking-based BOS,</p><p>Then the improvements to BOS are applied to perform a detailed characterization of the flow induced by a filamentary surface plasma discharge to develop a reduced-order model for the length and time scales of the induced flow. The measurements show that the induced flow consists of a hot gas kernel filled with vorticity in a vortex ring that expands and cools over time. A reduced-order model is developed to describe the induced flow and applying the model to the experimental data reveals that the vortex ring's properties govern the time scale associated with the kernel dynamics. The model predictions for the actuator-induced flow length and time scales can guide the choice of filament spacing and pulse frequencies for practical multi-pulse ns-SDBD configurations.</p>

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In this thesis I investigate characteristics of turbulent flow in a channel where one of the walls has riblets, superhydrophobic microribs, or a hybrid surface with traditional riblets built on a superhydrophobic microrib surface. PIV measurements are used to find the velocity profile, the turbulent statistics, and shear stress profile in the rectangular channel with one wall having a structured test surface. Both riblets and superhydrophobic surfaces can each provide a reduction in the wall shear stress in a turbulent channel flow. Characterizing the features of the flow using particle image velocimetry (PIV) is the focus of this research. Superhydrophobicity results from the combination of a hydrophobic coating applied to a surface with microrib structures, resulting in a very low surface energy, such that the fluid does not penetrate in between the structures. The micro-rib structures are aligned in the streamwise flow direction. The riblets are larger than the micro-rib structure by an order of magnitude and protrude into the flow. All the test surfaces were produced on silicon wafers using photolithographic techniques. Pressure in the channel is maintained below the Laplace pressure for all testing, creating sustainable air pockets between the microribs. Velocity profiles, turbulent statistics, shear stress profiles, and friction factors are presented. Measurements were acquired for Reynolds numbers ranging from 4.5x10^3 to 2.0x10^4. Modest drag reductions were observed for the riblet surfaces. Substantial drag increase occurred over the superhydrophobic surfaces. The hybrid surfaces showed the greatest drag reduction. Turbulence production was strongly reduced during riblet and hybrid tests.

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[pt] A estenose aórtica é um dos mais graves problemas decorrentes de doenças valvares. O implante da prótese valvar aórtica por cateterismo (TAVI) vem se tornando o tratamento mais indicado aos pacientes de alto risco ou inoperáveis. A estenose aórtica grave pode ser uma condição de risco à vida quando não tratada. Devido à natureza do procedimento TAVI, é esperada uma variabilidade no ângulo de inclinação da válvula implantada. O presente trabalho investigou a influência das variações de inclinação e orientação do jato transvalvar sobre o escoamento em aorta ascendente. A compreensão dos padrões hemodinâmicos do fluxo sanguíneo em aorta ascendente é importante porque eles estão intimamente relacionados ao desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares. Para este fim, um modelo vascular com geometria anatômica de paciente específico foi produzido a partir de imagens de tomografia computadorizada, gerando um protótipo impresso em 3D e resina de silicone transparente. Uma configuração especial foi projetada para permitir medições tridimensionais do fluxo em diferentes seções transversais do modelo aórtico. A técnica de velocimetria por imagens estereoscópicas de partículas foi implementada para produzir informações estatísticas acerca do fluxo turbulento, tais como, campos tridimensionais de velocidade média, de energia cinética turbulenta e correlações entre os componentes de flutuação de velocidade. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que o escoamento em aorta ascendente é fortemente afetado pela direção do fluxo de entrada na aorta. / [en] Aortic stenosis is one of the most serious problems arising from valve diseases. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has become the preferred treatment for high-risk or inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis that could be a lifethreatening condition when left untreated. Due to the nature of the TAVI procedure, a variability on the tilt angle of the deployed valve is expected. The present work, investigated the effects on the flow field in the ascending aorta due angle variation of the transvalvular jet. Understanding the hemodynamic patterns of blood flow in the ascending aorta is important because they are closely related to the development of cardiovascular diseases. To this end, a patient-specific vascular phantom was produced by a 3D printed model and transparent silicon resin. A special setup was designed to allow measurements of the 3D flow at different cross sections of the aorta. A stereoscopic particle image velocimetry system was implemented to yield instantaneous and averaged turbulent flow information, such as three-dimensional average velocity fields, turbulent kinetic energy, and correlations between the components of velocity fluctuation. The results obtained indicated that the velocity field in the ascending aorta is strongly affected by the inlet flow direction into the aorta.