Upgrade to volumetric velocimetry critical for the advancement of the current research programs

*申请的资金用于从现有的平面粒子图像测速(PIV)系统升级到体积速度测量能力。该系统依靠激光照明和数字成像来测量流量中的所有三个速度分量。申请者在一系列尖端研究应用中大量使用速度测量。申请者拥有活跃的研究小组，他们正在探索各种专题，从用于下一代微型飞行器和涡轮机械空气动力学设计的翼型上的层流分离气泡，到用于能量收集的可变形表面的涡流撞击事件，以驱动分布式环境传感器，到理解流固耦合问题中的信息流，以此作为评估多风环境中土木结构如何相互作用的新工具，以及其他潜在的应用。所有这些研究课题都得到了国家和国际政府和工业资金的支持，本质上涉及到三维流动，需要体积测速来阐明开发改进的工程解决方案的基本物理原理。因此，缺乏足够的研究工具严重阻碍了申请者研究计划的进展，并剥夺了用最先进的设备进行HQP培训的宝贵机会。它也不允许申请者追求源于他们目前活动的新的和创新的研究方向，并限制他们与领先的研究实验室竞争的能力。拟议的Tomo PIV系统就是为了解决这些问题而精心设计的，并为HQP提供了新的培训机会。该提案最大限度地利用现有设备，并使用申请者赠款和机构提供的额外资金。

***The funding requested is for an upgrade to volumetric velocity measurement capabilities from the existing planar Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. The system relies on laser illumination and digital imaging to measure all three velocity components in a flow volume. Velocity measurements are heavily used by the applicants in a range of cutting-edge research applications. The applicants have active research groups exploring topics ranging from laminar separation bubbles on airfoils for aerodynamic design of the next generation of micro air vehicles and turbomachinery, to vortex impact events with deformable surfaces for energy harvesting to power distributed environmental sensors, to understanding the information flow in fluid-structure interaction problems as a novel tool for assessing how civil structures interact with one another in a windy environment, amongst other potential applications. All of these research topics, which are supported by national and international government and industrial funding, involve inherently three-dimensional flows that require volumetric velocimetry to elucidate the underlying physics towards developing improved engineering solutions. Thus, the lack of adequate research tools is seriously hampering the progress of the applicants' research programs and denies valuable opportunities for HQP training with state-of-the-art equipment. It also does not allow the applicants to pursue new and innovative research directions stemming from their current activities and limits their ability to compete with leading research laboratories. The proposed TOMO PIV system is carefully designed to address these issues and provide new training opportunities for HQP. The proposal maximizes the utilization of existing equipment and uses additional funding provided from the applicants' grants and institution.