The use of new technologies for monitoring and data collection in earth sciences and river engineering has transformed our understanding of river processes, leading to improved management and preservation of these vital resources. Remote sensing, particularly close-range remote sensing, has emerged as a useful tool for acquiring essential data for river studies. It offers the advantage of large-scale, long-term data collection options, enabling researchers to explore hard to access or hazardous areas and providing a wealth of information to enhance decision-making processes. The importance of remote sensing in earth sciences and river engineering lies in its ability to monitor and collect data on various river hydrodynamics and river processes, such as river ice formation, which significantly influence river characteristics. In cold regions, river ice processes affect hydraulics, sediment transport, water quality, and morphology. The application of close-range remote sensing both using aerial and fixed shore-based imagery in river ice monitoring and data collection has facilitated improved insights into these processes, contributing to better river management and the mitigation of potential hazards. This thesis focuses on the development and application of close-range remote sensing techniques to enhance our understanding of river hydrodynamics and river ice processes. This thesis led to novel applications of close-range remote sensing along two axes: river ice detection and quantification and water survey/discharge measurement. Two algorithms for river ice segmentation and river flow estimation based on artificial intelligent techniques were developed and evaluated in the first axe. The first algorithm is IceMaskNet, a novel river ice detection and segmentation algorithm based on an improved version of the Mask R-CNN. The algorithm has been successfully applied to both aerial and fixed shore-based imagery for river ice detection and classification, achieving average detection and segmentation accuracies of 95% and 91% on aerial imagery. Additionally, the algorithm has been adapted for use on oblique shore-based, low-quality image data, with a detection accuracy of 90% and a segmentation accuracy of 86%. IceMaskNet can be used on aerial imagery to generate quantifiable data and provide insights for an extensive portion of a freezing river. It can also be used on shore-based imagery to gather long-term, near-range observation in comprehending river ice processes. The effectiveness of the developed algorithm was demonstrated in a case study on the Dauphin River where ice categories and ice quantities where extracted over four winters. By employing cost-effective trail cameras along the Dauphin River, a vast collection of oblique, shore-based, and low-quality image data were used to extract quantified river ice data. The comprehensive data and insights derived from this extensive database highlight the potential of close-range monitoring to revolutionize our understanding of river ice processes and their impacts on river systems. IceMaskNet was also adapted, and trained over a set of sea ice imagery to produce an algorithm to identify and segment different sea ice types interacting with bridge piers. The second part of this study was devoted to the development of new tools for water survey and discharge measurement, such as surface velocimetry. In recent years, number of image-based surface velocimetry techniques have emerged, utilizing aerial or shore-based imagery for estimating surface velocity and river discharge. While these methods show great potential in supplementing or even replacing traditional river discharge measurements, they come with high operational costs and require significant user expertise to produce high-quality and satisfactory results. In response to this need, we developed RivQNet, a novel river velocimetry scheme that processes close-range non-contact water surface images using artificial intelligence techniques. The proposed method yields accurate and dense spatial distributions of surface velocities, outperforming conventional optical flow methodologies. Moreover this method requires less amount of user input to estimate surface velocity. RivQNet was further validated with common standard measurement methods and compared with conventional optical flow, Large scale Particle Imagery (LSPIV) and Space Time Image Velocimetry (STIV) methodologies, with a significantly higher estimation accuracy than both LSPIV and STIV, with approximately 25% and 15% higher accuracy respectively for LSPIV and STIV. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates the value of close-range remote sensing in advancing our understanding of river ice processes and hydrodynamics. The development of novel algorithms, such as IceMaskNet and RivQNet, represents a significant contribution to the field of river engineering and water resources management. The comprehensive data and insights derived from the extensive database of oblique shore-based imagery emphasize the significance of long-term close-range monitoring in gaining a better understanding of river ice processes and hydrodynamics. The developed algorithms can be utilized across a range of applications and settings, benefiting water resources researchers, water survey authorities, and industries engaged in environmental and river engineering projects.

A new laser based flow interrogation system, capable of simultaneous measurement of planar three-component velocity data, was constructed and tested. The Virginia Tech Doppler Global Velocimeter (DGV) system was designed for use in the Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel as a tool for investigating complex three-dimensional separated flow regions. The systems was designed for robustness, ease of use, and for acquisition of low uncertainty velocity data. A series of tests in the Stability Tunnel were conducted to determine the how well the new DGV system met these goals. Extensive calibration tests proved the system is capable of measuring the frequency shifts of scattered laser light, and therefore velocity. However, equipment failures and inadequate flow seed density prevented accurate velocity measurements in the separated wake region behind a 6:1 prolate spheroid. Detailed uncertainty analysis techniques demonstrated that, under the proper conditions, the system is capable of making velocity measurements with approximately +/- 2m/s uncertainty. / Master of Science

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The noise emitted from tactical supersonic aircraft presents a dangerous risk of noise-induced hearing loss for personnel who work near these jets. Although jet noise has many interacting features, large-scale turbulent structures are believed to dominate the noise produced by heated supersonic jets. To characterize the unsteady behavior of these large-scale turbulent structures, which can be correlated over several jet diameters, a velocimetry technique resolving a large region of the flow spatially and temporally is desired. This work details the development of time-resolved Doppler global velocimetry (TRDGV) for the study of large-scale turbulence in high-speed flows. The technique has been used to demonstrate three-component velocity measurements acquired at 250 kHz, and an analysis is presented to explore the implications of scaling the technique for studying large-scale turbulent behavior. The work suggests that the observation of low-wavenumber structures will not be affected by the large-scale measurement. Finally, a spatiotemporally-resolved measurement of a heated supersonic jet is achieved using large-scale TRDGV. By measuring a region spanning several jet diameters, the lifetime of turbulent features can be observed. The work presented in this dissertation suggests that TRDGV can be an invaluable tool for the discussion of turbulence with respect to aeroacoustics, providing a path for linking the flow to far-field noise. / Doctor of Philosophy / During takeoff, the intense noise emitted from tactical supersonic aircraft exposes personnel to dangerous risks of noise-induced hearing loss. In order to develop noise-reduction techniques which can be applied to these aircraft, a better understanding of the links between the jet flow and sound is needed. Laser-based diagnostics present an opportunity for studying the flow-field through time and space; however, achieving both temporal and spatial resolution is a technically challenging task. The research presented herein seeks to develop a diagnostic technique which is optimized for the study of turbulent structures which dominate jet noise production. The technique, Doppler global velocimetry (DGV), uses the Doppler shift principle to measure the velocity of the flow. First, the ability of DGV to measure the three orthogonal components of velocity is demonstrated, acquiring data at 250 kHz. Since turbulent structures in heated jets can be correlated over long distances, the effects on measurement error due to a large field-of-view measurement are investigated. The work suggests that DGV can be an invaluable tool for the discussion of turbulence and aeroacoustics, particularly for the consideration of full-scale measurements. Finally, a large-scale velocity measurement resolved in time and space is demonstrated on a heated supersonic jet and used to make observations about the turbulence structure of the flow field.

The study of flow fields and heat transfer characteristics inside a gas turbine combustor provides one of the most serious challenges for gas turbine researchers because of the harsh environment at high temperatures. Design improvements of gas turbine combustors for higher efficiency, reduced pollutant emissions, safety and durability require better understanding of combustion in swirl flows and thermal energy transfer from the turbulent reacting flows to solid surfaces. Therefore, accurate measurement and prediction of the flows and heat loads are indispensable. This dissertation presents flow details and wall heat flux measurements for reacting flow conditions in a model gas turbine combustor. The objective is to experimentally investigate the effects of combustor operating conditions on the reacting swirl flows and heat transfer on the liner wall. The results shows the behavior of swirling flows inside a combustor generated by an industrial lean pre-mixed, axial swirl fuel nozzle and associated heat loads. Planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) data were analyzed to understand the characteristics of the flow field. Experiments were conducted with various air flow rates, equivalence ratios, pilot fuel split ratios, and inlet air temperatures. Methane and propane were used as fuel. Characterizing the impingement location on the liner, and the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) distribution were a main part of the investigation. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) further analyzed the data to compare coherent structures in the reacting and non-reacting flows. Comparison between reacting and non-reacting flows yielded very striking differences. Self-similarity of the flow were observed at different operating conditions. Flow temperature measurements with a thermocouple scanning probe setup revealed the temperature distribution and flow structure. Features of premixed swirl flame were observed in the measurement. Non-uniformity of flow temperature near liner wall was observed ranging from 1000 K to 1400 K. The results provide insights on the driving mechanism of convection heat transfer. As a novel non-intrusive measurement technique for reacting flows, flame infrared radiation was measured with a thermographic camera. Features of the flame and swirl flow were observed from reconstructed map of measured IR radiation projection using Abel transformation. Flow structures in the infrared measurement agreed with observations of flame luminosity images and the temperature map. The effect of equivalence ratio on the IR radiation was observed. Liner wall temperature and heat transfer were measured with infrared thermographic camera. The combustor was operated under reacting condition to test realistic heat load inside the industrial combustors. Using quartz glass liner and KG2 filter glass, the IR camera could measure inner wall surface temperature through the glass at high temperature. Time resolved axial distributions of inner/outer wall temperature were obtained, and hot side heat flux distribution was also calculated from time accurate solution of finite difference method. The information about flows and wall heat transfer found in this work are beneficial for numerical simulations for optimized combustor cooling design. Measurement data of flow temperature, velocity field, infrared radiation, and heat transfer can be used as validation purpose or for direct inputs as boundary conditions. Time-independent location of peak location of liner wall temperature was found from time resolved wall temperature measurements and PIV flow measurements. This indicates the location where the cooling design should be able to compensate for the temperature increase in lean premixed swirl combustors. The characteristics on the swirl flows found in this study points out that the reacting changes the flow structure significantly, while the operating conditions has minor effect on the structure. The limitation of non-reacting testing must be well considered for experimental combustor studies. However, reacting testing can be performed cost-effectively for reduced number of conditions, utilizing self-similar characteristics of the flows found in this study. / Ph. D.

Energy conservation, efficiency, and environmental responsibility are priorities for modern energy technologies. The ever increasing demands for lower pollutants and higher performance have driven the development of low-emission gas turbine engines, operating at lean equivalence ratios and at increasingly higher turbine inlet temperatures. This has placed new constraints on gas turbine combustor design, particularly in regards to the cooling technologies available for the combustor liner walls. To optimize combustor thermal management, and in turn optimize overall engine performance, detailed measurements of the flame side heat transfer are required. However, given the challenging environment at which gas turbine combustors operate, there are currently only limited studies that quantify flame side combustor heat transfer; in particular at reacting conditions. The objective of the present work was to develop methodologies to measure heat transfer within a reacting gas turbine combustor. To accomplish this, an optically accessible research combustor system was designed and constructed at Virginia Tech, capable of operating at 650 K inlet temperature, maximum air mass flow rates of 1.3 kg/s, and flame temperatures over 1800 K. Flow and heat transfer measurements at non-reacting and reacting conditions were carried out for Reynolds numbers (Re) with respect to the combustor diameter ranging from ~11 500 to ~140 000 (depending on the condition). Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure the non-reacting flow field within the burner, leading to the identification of coherent structures in the flow that accounted for over 30% of the flow fluctuation kinetic energy along the swirling jet shear layers. The capability of infrared (IR) thermography to image surface temperatures through a fused silica (quartz) glass was demonstrated at non-reacting conditions. IR thermography was then used to measure the non-reacting steady state heat transfer along the combustor liner. A peak in heat transfer was identified at ~1 nozzle diameter downstream of the combustor dome plate. The peak Nusselt number along the liner was over 18 times higher than that predicted from fully developed turbulent pipe flow correlations, which have traditionally been used to estimate flame side combustor heat transfer. For the reacting measurements, a novel time-dependent heat transfer methodology was developed that allowed for the investigation of transient heat loads, including those occurring during engine ignition and shutdown. The methodology was validated at non-reacting conditions, by comparing results from an experiment with changing flow temperature, to the results obtained at steady state. The difference between the time-dependent and the steady state measurements were between 3% and 17.3% for different mass flow conditions. The time-dependent methodology was applied to reacting conditions for combustor Reynolds numbers of ~12 000 and ~24 000. At an equivalence ratio of ~0.5 and a combustor Reynolds number of ~12 000, the peak heat load location in reaction was shifted downstream by 0.2 nozzle diameters compared to the non-reacting cases. At higher equivalence ratios, and more visibly at a Reynolds number of ~24 000, the heat transfer distribution along the combustor liner exhibited two peaks, upstream and downstream of the impingement location (X/DN=0.8-1.0 and X/DN=2.5). Reacting PIV was performed at Re=12 000 showing the presence of a strong corner recirculation, which could potentially convect reactants upstream of the impingement point, leading to the double peak structure observed. The methodologies developed have provided insight into heat transfer within gas turbine combustors. The methods can be used to explore additional conditions and expand the dataset beyond what is presented, to fully characterize reacting combustor heat transfer. / Ph. D.

Laser flare can often be a major issue in particle image velocimetry (PIV) involving solid boundaries in a flow or a gas-liquid interface. The use of fluorescent light from dye-doped particles has been demonstrated in water applications, but reproducing the technique in an airflow is more difficult due to particle size constraints and safety concerns. The following thesis is formatted in a hybrid manuscript style, including a full paper presenting the applications of fluorescent Kiton Red 620 (KR620)-doped polystyrene latex microspheres in PIV. These particles used are small and monodisperse, with a mean diameter of 0.87 μm. The KR620 dye exhibits much lower toxicity than other common fluorescent dyes, and would be safe to use in large flow facilities. The first sections present a general introduction followed by a validation experiment using a standard PIV setup in a free jet. This work was the first to demonstrate PIV using fluorescent KR620-doped microspheres in an airflow, and results from the experiment were compared to similar data taken using standard PIV techniques. For the free jet results, Mie-scattered and fluorescent PIV were compared and showed average velocities within 3% of each other at the nozzle exit. Based on the PIV validation requirements used, this was deemed to be more of an indication of nozzle unsteadiness rather than an error or bias in the data. Furthermore, fluorescent PIV data obtained vector validation rates over 98%, well above the standard threshold of 95%. The journal article expands on the introductory work and analyzes testing scenarios where fluorescent PIV allows for velocity measurements much closer to a solid surface than standard, Mie-scattered PIV. The fluorescent signal from the particles is measured on average to be 320 ± 10 times weaker than the Mie scattering signal from the particles. This fluorescence-to-Mie ratio was found to be nonuniform, with the typical signal ratio for a single particle expected to fall between 120 and 870. This reduction in signal is counterbalanced by greatly enhanced contrast via optical rejection of the incident laser wavelength. Fluorescent PIV with these particles is shown to eliminate laser flare near surfaces, in one case leading to 63 times fewer spurious velocity vectors than an optimized Mie scattering implementation in a region more than 5 mm from an angled surface. In the appendix, a brief summary of an experiment to characterize the temperature sensitivity of the KR620 dye is included. This experiment concluded that the KR620 particles did not exhibit sufficient temperature sensitivity to warrant further investigation at the time. / Master of Science

There is a present need for simulation and measuring the inlet swirl distortion generated by airframe/engine system interactions to identify potential degradation in fan performance and operability in a full-scale, ground testing environment. Efforts are described to address this need by developing and characterizing methods for complex, prescribed distortion patterns. A relevant inlet swirl distortion profile that mimics boundary layer ingesting inlets was generated by a novel new method, dubbed the StreamVane method, and measured in a sub scale tunnel using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) as a precursor for swirl distortion generation and characterization in an operating turbofan research engine. Diagnostic development efforts for the distortion measurements within the research engine paralleled the StreamVane characterization. The system used for research engine PIV measurements is described. Data was obtained in the wake of a total pressure distortion screen for engine conditions at idle and 80% corrected fan speed, and of full-scale StreamVane screen at 50% corrected fan speed. The StreamVane screen was designed to generate a swirl distortion that is representative for hybrid wing body applications and was made of Ultem*9085 using additive manufacturing. Additional improvements to the StreamVane method are also described. Data reduction algorithms are put forth to reduce spurious velocity vectors. Uncertainty estimations specific to the inlet distortion test rig, including bias error due to mechanical vibration, are made. Results indicate that the methods develop may be used to both generate and characterize complex distortion profiles at the aerodynamic interface plane, providing new information about airframe/engine integration. / Master of Science

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has become one of the most important tools for experimentally investigating the physics of fluid flows. In PIV, image-processing algorithms estimate flow velocity by measuring the displacements of flow-tracer particles suspended in a fluid. The fundamental operation in PIV is the cross correlation (CC), which measures the displacement between two similar patterns. These measurements can fail under circumstances that arise due to the nature of the underlying flow field (e.g., vortices and boundary layers, where particle patterns not only translate but also rotate, stretch, and shear) or of the images (e.g., X-ray images, with comparatively low signal to noise ratios). Despite these shortcomings, fairly little attention has been paid to fundamentally improving measurements at the level of the CC. The objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate specific modifications to the correlation kernel of PIV that increase its accuracy and in certain cases extend its utility to classes of flows and image types that were previously unresolvable. First, we present a new PIV correlation algorithm called the Fourier-Mellin correlation (FMC) that reduces velocity errors by an order of magnitude in rotating flows (chapter 1). Second, we develop a model of PIV cross correlations that explains the fundamental sources of several major drivers of error in these measurements. We show how the shapes of the tracer particles and the distributions of their individual displacements affect the correlation signal to noise ratio (SNR), whose effects have previously been described only heuristically. We use this insight to create an algorithm that automatically creates a Fourier-based weighting filter, and demonstrate that our algorithm reduces bias and RMS errors in multiple types of PIV experiments (chapter 2). Finally, we apply principles from our insights to measure blood flows in the hearts of grasshoppers using X-ray PIV, and discovered flow kinematics that were unexpected according to the current prevailing understanding of the heart as a peristaltic pump that produces directional flows. Our results suggest that flow production in insect hearts may be more complex than once thought (chapter 3). / Ph. D.

The analysis of turbulent flows provides a unique scientific challenge whose solution remains central to unraveling the fundamental nature of all fluid dynamics. Measuring and predicting turbulent flows becomes even more difficult when considering a two-phase flow, which is a commonly encountered engineering problem across many disciplines. One such example, the ingestion of foreign debris into a gas turbine engine, provided the impetus for this study. Despite more than 40 years of research, operation with a particle-laden inlet flow remains a significant problem for modern turbomachines. The purpose, therefore, is to develop experimental methods for investigating multi-phase flows relevant to the cooling of gas turbine components. Initially, several generic components representing turbine cooling designs were evaluated with a particle-laden flow using a special high temperature test facility. The results of this investigation revealed that blockage was highly sensitive to the carrier flowfield as defined by the cooling geometry. A second group of experiments were conducted in one commonly used cooling design using a Time Resolved Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (TRDPIV) system that directly investigated both the carrier flowfield and particle trajectories. Traditional PIV processing algorithms, however, were unable to resolve the particle motions of the two-phase flow with sufficient fidelity. To address this issue, a new Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) algorithm was developed and validated for both single-phase and two-phase flows. The newly developed PTV algorithm was shown to outperform other published algorithms as well as possessing a unique ability to handle particle laden two-phase flows. Overall, this work demonstrates several experimental methods that are well suited for the investigation of wall-bounded turbulent two-phase flows, with a special emphasis on a turbine cooling method. The studies contained herein provide valuable information regarding the previously unknown fluid and particle dynamics within the turbine cooling system. / Ph. D.