This thesis deals in the theoretical part with the non-contact vibration measurement by single point Laser Doppler vibrometer and it concretes constructions used in practice. It deals also with the possibilities of the laser beam scanning to measure the vibrations in the plane and there are also listed suitable-commercial systems for this solution. Mentioned sweep is immediately necessary for 2D scanning vibrometer construction. In the practical part, the single-point laser vibrometer OFV-5000 was expanded by scanning galvo system, supplemented by a measuring cards for signal acquisition from the vibrometer and suitable control hardware was chosen for mentioned laser. For the resulting hardware assembly was designed and implemented in LabVIEW measurement software, to control the 2D scanning system, to set the position of the laser beam and to process and to visualize of measured vibration signals in the plane. The functionality of the developed measuring system was checked by performed measurement and visualization of the velocity vibration of restraint girder, excited by shaker.

This master’s thesis deals with measurement of spray characteristics of Effervescent atomizers intended for burning waste and heavy fuels. Atomizers were tested on cold test bench by means of Phase Doppler Anemometry. Spray characteristics were evaluated for many different regimes of pressure, temperature and Gas to liquid ratio. The aim of this measurement is to compare flow regimes and their influence on the quality of spray characteristics. The theoretical part describes basic fundamental principles of liquid atomization, effervescent atomization and principles of laser diagnostic methods. The practical part is engaged with improvements in test bench and setting up and optimization of the laser measuring system. Results contain visualization of spray, velocity profiles and drop size distribution in various operating flow regimes of the jet.

This thesis deals with turbulent flows in 90 degree curved pipes of circular cross-section. The flow cases investigated experimentally are turbulent flow with and without an additional motion, swirling or pulsating, superposed on the primary flow. The aim is to investigate these complex flows in detail both in terms of statistical quantities as well as vortical structures that are apparent when curvature is present. Such a flow field can contain strong secondary flow in a plane normal to the main flow direction as well as reverse flow. The motivation of the study has mainly been the presence of highly pulsating turbulent flow through complex geometries, including sharp bends, in the gas exchange system of Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). On the other hand, the industrial relevance and importance of the other type of flows were not underestimated. The geometry used was curved pipes of different curvature ratios, mounted at the exit of straight pipe sections which constituted the inflow conditions. Two experimental set ups have been used. In the first one, fully developed turbulent flow with a well defined inflow condition was fed into the pipe bend. A swirling motion could be applied in order to study the interaction between the swirl and the secondary flow induced by the bend itself. In the second set up a highly pulsating flow (up to 40 Hz) was achieved by rotating a valve located at a short distance upstream from the measurement site. In this case engine-like conditions were examined, where the turbulent flow into the bend is non-developed and the pipe bend is sharp. In addition to flow measurements, the effect of non-ideal flow conditions on the performance of a turbocharger was investigated. Three different experimental techniques were employed to study the flow field. Time-resolved stereoscopic particle image velocimetry was used in order to visualize but also quantify the secondary motions at different downstream stations from the pipe bend while combined hot-/cold-wire anemometry was used for statistical analysis. Laser Doppler velocimetry was mainly employed for validation of the aforementioned experimental methods. The three-dimensional flow field depicting varying vortical patterns has been captured under turbulent steady, swirling and pulsating flow conditions, for parameter values for which experimental evidence has been missing in literature. / QC 20120425

<p>  </p> <p>As aviation fuel costs and consumption have continued to rise over recent decades, gas turbine engine manufacturers have sought methods to reduce fuel burn. Manufacturers plan to achieve this by reducing the specific fuel consumption of the machine by increasing the bypass ratio through a reduction of the diameter of the engine core. This presents an opportunity for implementing a centrifugal compressor as the final stage of the high-pressure compressor. The vaned diffuser in a centrifugal compressor stage maintains an integral role in determining the extents of the operating range as well as conditioning the flow for the downstream combustor. Thus, it is critical to understand the aerodynamics and performance of the vaned diffuser across the entire compressor operating range.</p> <p>This investigation focused on seven compressor operating points at the stage’s design corrected speed, which ranged from choked flow to the minimum mass flow rate before rotating stall. Steady-state and unsteady performance data were acquired to study the aerodynamics at each operating point as well as the steady-state performance of the vaned diffuser. Laser Doppler velocimetry, high-frequency pressure transducers, and additive manufacturing techniques were all implemented to acquire data in the research compressor.</p> <p>Unsteady velocity measurements were acquired in the vaneless space and were used to quantify the change in diffuser inlet incidence as the stage mass flow rate changes. The impeller exit jet and wake were compared at each operating point to understand the effect of these flow structures on the spanwise incidence profile. Steady-state performance metrics for the vaned diffuser were compared with the change in incidence to assess the effect of incidence on performance. Maximum static pressure recovery and minimum total pressure loss occurred at the maximum incidence operating point. </p> <p>The chordwise static pressure distribution is critical for health monitoring of the polymer, additive manufactured diffuser vanes. Steady-state and unsteady pressure measurements were acquired along the diffuser vane surface to assess the change in the aerodynamic lift force across the compressor operating range as well as the static pressure differential across the vane leading edge. The maximum unsteady lift on the diffuser vanes was up to 34% greater than the steady-state lift force. Unsteady static pressure differentials across the diffuser vane leading edge were similar to the steady-state values, but they were marginally greater across the entire examined operating range. These unsteady pressure measurements were acquired with high-frequency response pressure transducers installed along the diffuser vane surfaces. These transducers were also used to study the rotating stall and surge behavior of the investigated centrifugal compressor stage. This centrifugal compressor stage exhibits a spike-type rotating stall pattern at the onset of stage instability, which rapidly evolves into full flow reversal with several surge cycles. During these surge cycles, the diffuser vane leading edges are subject to a 20 psid static pressure differential. </p> <p>A computational model was used to predict the compressor flow at three different operating points. This model utilized the BSL-EARSM turbulence model, and it included surface roughness and an experimentally measured shroud thermal profile. The model accurately predicted the diffuser inlet flow angles near the shroud, but it predicted more radial flow near midspan. The diffuser vane leading edge static pressure differential was predicted within 1 psid at higher aerodynamic loading conditions. The differences between the computationally predicted and experimentally measured flow are attributed to difficulties associated with modelling the rate of mixing within the flow.</p>

Many research studies have analyzed the effect that whole-body vibration (WBV) has on sleep, and some have sought to use vibration to treat sleep disorders such as insomnia. It has been shown that low frequencies (f < 2Hz) are generally sleep inducing, but oscillations of this frequency are typically difficult to achieve using electromagnetic vibration drives. In the research that has been performed, optimal vibration parameters have not been determined, and the effects of multiple vibration sources vibrating at different frequencies to induce a low frequency traveling wave have not been explored. Insomnia affects millions of people worldwide, and non-pharmacological treatment options are limited. A bed excited with multiple vibration sources was used to explore beat frequency vibration as a non-pharmacological treatment for insomnia. A repeated measures design pilot study of 14 participants with mild-moderate insomnia symptom severity was conducted to determine the effects of beat frequency vibration, and traditional standing wave vibration on sleep latency and quality. Participants were monitored using high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG). Sleep latency was compared between treatment conditions. Trends of a decrease in sleep latency due to beat frequency vibration were found (p ≤ 0.181 for AASM latency, and p ≤ 0.068 for unequivocal sleep latency). Neural complexity during wake, N1, and N2 stages were compared using Multi-Scale Sample Entropy (MSE), which demonstrated significantly lower MSE between wake and N2 stages (p ≤ 0.002). Lower MSE was found in the transition from wake to N1 stage sleep but did not reach significance (p ≤ 0.300). During N2 sleep, beat frequency vibration shows lower MSE than the control session in the left frontoparietal region. This indicates that beat frequency vibration may lead to a decrease of conscious awareness during deeper stages of sleep. Standing wave vibration caused reduced Alpha activity and increased Delta activity during wake. Beat frequency vibration caused increased Delta activity during N2 sleep. These preliminary results suggest that beat frequency vibration may help individuals with insomnia symptoms by decreasing sleep latency, by reducing their conscious awareness, and by increasing sleep drive expression during deeper stages of sleep. Standing wave vibration may be beneficial for decreasing expression of arousal and increasing expression of sleep drive during wake, implying that a dynamic vibration treatment may be beneficial. The application of vibration treatment as part of a heuristic sleep model is discussed.

The on-line condition monitoring of turbomachinery blades is of utmost importance to ensure the long term health and availability of such machines and as such has been an area of study since the late 1960s. As a result a number of on-line blade vibration measurement techniques are available, each with its own associated advantages and shortcomings. In general, on-blade sensor measurement techniques suffer from sensor lifespan, whereas non-contact techniques usually have measurement bandwidth limitations. One non-contact measurement technique that yields improvements in the area of measurement bandwidth is laser Doppler vibrometry. This thesis presents results and findings from utilizing laser Doppler vibrometry in an Eulerian fashion (i.e. a fixed reference frame) to measure on-line blade vibrations in axial-flow turbomachinery. With this measurement approach, the laser beam is focussed at a fixed point in space and measurements are available for the periods during which each blade sweeps through the beam. The characteristics of the measurement technique are studied analytically with an Euler-Bernoulli cantilever beam and experimental verification is performed. An approach for the numerical simulation of the measurement technique is then presented. Associated with the presented measurement technique are the short periods during which each blade is exposed to the laser beam. This characteristic yields traditional frequency domain signal processing techniques unsuitable for providing useful blade health indicators. To obtain frequency domain information from such short signals, it is necessary to employ non-standard signal processing techniques such as non-harmonic Fourier analysis. Results from experimental testing on a single-blade test rotor at a single rotor speed are presented in the form of phase angle trends obtained with non-harmonic Fourier analysis. Considering the maximum of absolute unwrapped phase angle trends around various reference frequencies, good indicators of blade health deterioration were obtained. These indicators were verified numerically. To extend the application of this condition monitoring approach, measurements were repeated on a five-blade test rotor at four different rotor speeds. Various damage cases were considered as well as different ELDV measurement positions. Using statistical parameters of the abovementioned indicators as well as time domain parameters, it is shown that with this condition monitoring approach, blade damage can successfully be identified and quantified with the aid of artificial neural networks. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

This dissertation presents results from a thorough study of the tip-gap turbulent flow structure in a low-speed linear compressor cascade wind tunnel at Virginia Tech that includes a moving belt system to simulate the relative motion between the tip and the casing. The endwall pressure measurements and the surface oil flow visualizations were made on a stationary endwall to obtain the flow features and to determine the measurement profiles of interest. A custom-made miniature 3-orthogonal-velocity-component fiber-optic laser-Doppler velocimetry (LDV) system was used to measure all three components of velocity within a 50 mm spherical measurement volume within the gap between the endwall and the blade tip, mainly for the stationary wall with 1.65% and 3.30% tip gaps as well as some initial experiments for the moving wall. Since all of the vorticity in a flow originates from the surfaces under the action of strong pressure gradient, it was very important to measure the nearest-wall flow on the endwall and around the blade tip. The surface skin friction velocity was measured by using viscous sublayer velocity profiles, which verified the presence of an intense lateral shear layer that was observed from surface oil flow visualizations. All second- and third-order turbulence quantities were measured to provide detailed data for any parallel CFD efforts. The most complete data sets were acquired for 1.65% and 3.30% tip gap/chord ratios in a low-speed linear compressor cascade. This study found that tip gap flows are complex pressure-driven, unsteady three-dimensional turbulent flows. The crossflow velocity normal to the blade chord is nearly uniform in the mid tip-gap and changes substantially from the pressure to suction side. The crossflow velocity relies on the local tip pressure loading that is different from the mid-span pressure loading because of tip leakage vortex influence. The tip gap flow is highly skewed three-dimensional flow throughout the full gap. Normalized circulation within the tip gap is independent of the gap size. The tip gap flow interacts with the primary flow, separates from the endwall, and rolls up on the suction side to form the tip leakage vortex. The tip leakage vortex is unsteady from the observation of the TKE transport vector and oil flow visualizations. The reattachment of tip separation vortex on the pressure side strongly depends on the blade thickness-to-gap height ratio after the origin of tip leakage vortex but is weakly related to it before the origin of tip leakage vortex for a moderate tip gap. Other than the nearest endwall and blade tip regions, the TKE does not vary much in tip gap. The tip leakage vortex produces high turbulence intensities. The tip gap flow correlations of streamwise and wall normal velocity fluctuations decrease significantly from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the blade due to flow skewing. The tip gap flow is a strongly anisotropic turbulent flow. Rapid distortion ideas can not apply to it. A turbulence model based on stress transport equations and experimental data is necessary to reflect the tip gap flow physics. For the moving endwall, relative motion skews the inner region flow and is decorrelated with the outer layer flow. Hence, the TKE and correlations of streamwise and wall normal velocity fluctuations decrease. / Ph. D.

This report documents the experimental study for four different three-dimensional turbulent flows. The investigation focuses on near wall measurements in these flows. Several experimental techniques are used in the studies; however, the bulk of the investigation focuses on a three-orthogonal-velocity-component fiber-optic laser Doppler anemometer (3D-LDA) system. The control volume of the 3D-LDA is on the order of 50 micro-meter in size, or a y⁺ distance of around 2.3 units (using average values of U_&#964 and &#957; from the experiment). An auxiliary small boundary layer wind tunnel (auxiliary tunnel) and a low speed linear compressor cascade wind tunnel (cascade tunnel) are utilized in this study. One of four flow experiments is done in the auxiliary tunnel the other three are in the cascade tunnel. The first three-dimensional turbulent flow is a vortical flow created by two half-delta wing vortex generators. Near wall secondary flow features are found. The second flow is an investigation of the first quarter chord tip gap flow in the cascade tunnel. Strong three-dimensional phenomena are found. The third flow investigated is the inflow to the compressor cascade with the moving wall. The experiment records shear layer interaction between the upstream flow and moving wall. Finally the fourth flow investigated is the inflow to the compressor cascade with the moving wall with half-delta wing vortex generators attached. Phase-averaged data reveal asymmetrical vortex structures just downstream of the vortex generators. This is the first time any near wall data has been taken on any of these flows. / Master of Science

Modeling the effects of surface roughness is an area of concern in many practical engineering applications. Many current roughness models to this point have involved the use of empirical 'constants' and equivalent sand grain roughness. These underdeveloped concepts have little direct relationship to realistic roughness and cannot predict accurately and consistently the flow characteristics for different roughness shapes. In order to aid in the development of turbulence models, the present research is centered around the experimental investigation of seven various shaped single roughness elements and their effects on turbulence quantities in a two-dimensional turbulent boundary layer. The elements under scrutiny are as follows: cone, cone with spatial variations equal to the smallest sublayer structure length scale, cone with spatial variations equal to 2.5 times the smallest sublayer structure length scale, Gaussian-shaped element, hemisphere, cube aligned perpendicular to the flow (cube at 90&#176;), and a cube rotated 45&#176; relative to the flow. The roughness element heights, k+, non-dimensionalized by the friction velocity (U_tau) of the approaching turbulent boundary layer, are 145, 145, 145, 145, 80, 98, and 98 respectively. Analysis of a three-dimensional fetch of the same Gaussian-shaped elements described previously was also undertaken. In order to analyze the complex flow fields, detailed measurements were obtained using a fine-measurement-volume (50 micron diameter) three-velocity component laser-Doppler velocimetry (LDV) system. The data reveals the formation of a horseshoe vortex in front of the element, which induces the downwash of higher momentum fluid toward the wall. This 'sweep' motion not only creates high Reynolds stresses (v^2, w^2, -uv) downstream of the element, but also leads to higher skin-friction drag. Triple products were also found to be very significant near the height of the element. These parameters are important in regards to the contribution of the production and diffusion of the turbulent kinetic energy in the flow. The 'peakiness' of the roughness element was found to have a direct correlation to the production of circulation, whereas the spatial smoothing does not have an immense effect on this parameter. The peaked elements were found to have a similar trend in the decay of circulation in the streamwise direction. These elements tend to show a decay proportional to (x/d)^-1.12, whereas the cube elements and the hemisphere do not have a common trend. A model equation is proposed for a drag correlation common to all roughness elements. This equation takes into account the viscous drag and pressure drag terms in the calculation of the actual drag due to the roughness elements presence in the boundary layer. The size, shape, frontal and wetted surface areas of the roughness elements are related to one another via this model equation. Flow drawings related to each element are presented which gives rise to a deeper understanding of the physics of the flow associated with each roughness element. / Master of Science

The work presented in this thesis was on nominally two-dimensional turbulent boundary layers at zero pressure gradient subjected to high free-stream turbulent intensities of up to 7.9% in preparations for high free-stream turbulence studies on three-dimensional boundary layers, which will be done in the future in the Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel at Virginia Tech. The two-dimensional turbulent flow that will impinge three-dimensional bodies needed to be characterized, before the three-dimensional studies can be made. An active turbulence generator designed to create high free-stream turbulence intensities in the wind tunnel was tested and modified in order to obtain the lowest possible mean flow non-uniformities. A seven-hole pressure probe was used to obtain planes of mean velocity measurements. A three-component state of the art laser-Doppler velocimeter (LDV) was used to obtain mean and fluctuating velocities. Previous high free-stream turbulence studies have been reviewed and are discussed, and some of the previously published data of other authors have been corrected. Based on the measurements obtained with the LDV, it was also determined that the semi-log law of the wall is valid for high free-stream turbulence cases, but with different constants than the ones proposed by Coles, where the constants for the high free-stream cases may be dependent on the turbulence intensity. For the first time, the skin friction coefficient (Cf) was deduced from the viscous sublayer. The difference between the U_tau obtained in the viscous sublayer mean velocity profile and the U_tau obtained in the semi-log layer was 1.5%. The skin friction coefficient was determined to increase by 10.5% when the two-dimensional turbulent boundary layer was subjected to high free-stream turbulence effects. Spectral data obtained with the LDV, were compared to the von K&#225;rm&#225;n model spectrum and to the Pope's model spectrum, where the von K&#225;rm&#225;n spectrum was proven to fit the spectral data slightly better than the Pope's spectrum. Finally, the Hancock-Bradshaw-Blair parameter obtained for this experiment agreed very well with previously published data. / Master of Science