MRI: Development of a Large-Scale Refractive-Index Matched Flow Facility

0923106 Christensen“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“先进的光学技术激光诱导荧光（LIF）和激光多普勒测速（LDV）是实验记录流动物理过程的最精确和分辨率最高的手段，但由于光学手段的不足，许多科学和工程领域中存在大量的实际复杂流动，包括复杂地形上的流动，尚未得到严格的研究（例如，与空气动力学和地球物理现象有关），复杂几何形状（多孔介质和珊瑚礁中的流动，涡轮机等）以及在存在微粒的情况下（沉积物迁移、营养物迁移、污染物和气溶胶扩散等）。这种高质量的实验数据的缺乏必然限制了有效的模型，预测工具和/或控制策略，这些重要的流量的设计。建议通过开发大规模流动设施来改变这种流动的实验研究，该设施将通过允许工作流体的折射率（RI）被定制为与所研究的固体（或颗粒）的折射率相匹配来缓解这些使人衰弱的问题。这种RI匹配（RIM）流动设施将允许伊利诺伊州的研究人员在浸入工作流体中时使复杂的固体模型和/或颗粒光学透明，从而最大限度地减少反射和失真，并促进彻底的非侵入性实验。该设施的独特之处包括其大的空间尺度（0.45 m × 0.45 m × 2.5 m试验段），从而能够以高的时间和空间分辨率研究相关尺度和雷诺数下的流动，以及可容纳的工作流体类型。

0923106Christensen"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Advanced optical techniques (such as PIV, LIF and LDV) represent the most well-resolved and accurate means of experimentally documenting the physics of flows, yet there exist a wealth of practical complex flows spanning many fields of science and engineering that have yet to be rigorously explored due to inadequate optical access, including flows over complex topography (relevant to aerodynamics and geophysical phenomena, for example), within complex geometries (flow in porous media and coral reefs, turbines, etc.) and in the presence of particulates (sediment transport, nutrient transport, pollutant and aerosol dispersion, etc.). This lack of high-quality experimental data necessarily limits the design of effective models, predictive tools and/or control strategies for these important flows. It is proposed to transform the experimental study of such flows by developing a large-scale flow facility that will alleviate these debilitating issues by allowing the refractive index (RI) of the working fluid to be tailored to match that of the solid (or particulates) under study. This RI-matched (RIM) flow facility will permit Illinois researchers to render complex solid models and/or particulates optically transparent when immersed in the working fluid, thereby minimizing reflections and distortion and facilitating thorough non-intrusive experimentation. The uniqueness of this facility includes its large spatial scale (0.45 m × 0.45 m × 2.5 m test section), allowing the study of flows at relevant scales and Reynolds numbers with high temporal and spatial resolution, as well as the types of working fluids to be accommodated.