Section: Partnerships and Cooperations

International Initiatives

International Partners

Rainbow Particle Imaging Velocimetry

Partner : KAUST - King Abdullah University of Science & Technology

We propose a new approach for snapshot imaging of time-resolved, non-stationary 3D fluid flows, which we term Rainbow Particle Imaging Velocimetry (RainbowPIV). Using only a single camera, RainbowPIV will be able to track a dense set of particles advected in the flow. This is achieved by illuminating the flow volume with a stack of monochromatic light planes at different wavelengths (a “rainbow”). Particles are tracked in 3D by both following their 2D spatial position and their change in color, depending on which light plane they traverse.

RainbowPIV will provide dense measurements of 3D velocity vectors, thus obtaining a dense 3D representation of a 3D velocity field. This will allow us to accurately image and understand many new types of flow, including turbulent flows within complex 3D geometries and particle trajectories, with limited optical access. After the initial exploration stage covered in this proposal, RainbowPIV could find many applications in science and engineering, for example to help understand combustion processes or flow through catalytic converters, between turbine blades, and inside inlet manifolds.