Particle Image Velocimetry System

萨斯喀彻温大学风洞和水力学实验室的机械和土木工程研究人员将共享一种新的粒子图像测速（PIV）系统。PIV实际上是在复杂的三维湍流中进行空气和水速度测量的实验室标准。当PIV在风洞中使用时，气流均匀地播撒小液滴，用激光片照射气流和液滴，并用数码相机对气流进行成像。然后，PIV软件在某一时刻计算流场平面内数千个点的流体运动细节。最终，PIV为研究人员提供了流动中平面内速度场的时间序列。测量的高空间分辨率使研究人员能够研究流体运动的精细细节。在水道中流动的情况下，PIV技术是相同的，但流动均匀地播种小球形颗粒而不是液滴。在申请人的指导下，工程研究生将接受PIV使用的培训，并在他们的研究中使用该仪器。我们在流体力学、空气动力学和水力学领域的研究项目正在帮助解决航空、农业、水质保护和公共安全领域的问题。该研究成果将影响航空工业减少能源消耗和排放的努力，减少大规模农业应用中的能源使用和提高作物产量，改进雨水蓄水池的设计以减少污染对我们的水道的影响，并改善水坝的公共安全。我们注意到，能源、农业和水安全是加拿大未来繁荣的关键领域。新的PIV系统将取代我们老化的PIV系统（超过20年），已接近使用寿命，无法再升级，不再有任何技术支持或维护服务的制造商。尽管更换了一些关键部件，我们的激光器目前的工作功率仅为额定功率的60%，这严重限制了我们能够进行的测量类型。我们老化的PIV系统被大量使用，在我们大学没有类似的系统，据我们所知，在我们整个省也没有积极使用。我们迫切需要资金来购买新的PIV系统，以便在我们老化系统的其他组件失去额外动力或无法运行的情况下，不会延迟或中断我们当前研究生的研究和学位课程。PIV也是我们研究生培训计划的一个重要组成部分，因为他们准备进入工程队伍或开始研究事业。

Funding is requested for a new particle image velocimetry (PIV) system that will be shared by researchers in mechanical and civil engineering in the wind tunnel and hydraulics laboratories at the University of Saskatchewan. PIV is a de facto laboratory standard for making air and water velocity measurements in complex three-dimensional turbulent flows. When PIV is used in a wind tunnel, the airflow is uniformly seeded with small droplets, the flow and droplets are illuminated with a laser light sheet, and the flow is imaged with a digital camera. PIV software then computes the fine details of the fluid motion at thousands of points within a plane in the flow field at one instant in time. Ultimately, PIV provides researchers with a time sequence of velocity fields within a plane in a flow. The high spatial resolution of the measurements allows researchers to study the fine details of the fluid motion. In the case of flow in a water channel, the PIV technique is the same, but the flow is uniformly seeded with small spherical particles instead of droplets. Engineering graduate students supervised by the applicants are trained on the use of PIV and employ this instrumentation in their research. Our research programs in the fields of fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, and hydraulics are helping to solve problems in the areas of aviation, agriculture, protection of water quality, and public safety. The research outcomes will impact efforts to reduce energy consumption and emissions in the aviation industry, reduce energy use and improve crop yields in large-scale agricultural applications, improve the design of storm water retention ponds to reduce impacts of pollution on our waterways, and improve public safety at dams. We note that energy, agriculture, and water security are key areas for Canada's future prosperity. The new PIV system will replace our aging PIV system (more than 20 years old) that is close to the end of its useful life, can no longer be upgraded, and for which there is no longer any technical support or maintenance services available from the manufacturer. Our laser is currently operating at only 60% of its rated power, despite replacing some of its key components, and this severely limits the types of measurements we are able to make. Our aging PIV system is heavily used and there are no similar systems at our university nor, to our knowledge, actively being used in our entire province. There is an immediate need for funds to purchase a new PIV system so as not to delay or disrupt the research and degree programs of our current graduate students, in the event that additional components of our aging system lose additional power or fail to operate. PIV is also a key component of our training program for our graduate students, as they prepare to enter the engineering workforce or begin careers in research.