Acoustic Transmission Imaging for Flow Diagnostics

Citation

Trebitz, Bernd Otto (1982) Acoustic Transmission Imaging for Flow Diagnostics. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/pnsp-rk30. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-10302003-145444

Abstract

Wave propagation through a given flow field can be utilized to obtain information about the flow. Acoustic waves in particular offer the possibility of measuring velocity fields, because sound waves are convected with the flow, and temperature fields, because the acoustic index of refraction is a strong function of temperature. This work concentrates on situations where the first effect is dominating compared to the latter one.

A sound system capable of "illuminating" a flow field with ultrasonic waves and measuring the amplitude and phase distribution of the transmitted wave as a function of time was constructed. A large area transmitter and a linear receiving array were used as transducers. Parallel signal processing and interleaved data conversion and acquisition result in a maximum frame rate of 10 kHz.

The feasibility of measuring velocity disturbances with ultrasound was demonstrated by transmitting sound through a vortex, which was generated in a duct by an airfoil swirl generator. Assuming an exponential fit for the tangential velocity component, inner core radius and circulation can be determined directly from the phase change of the transmitted wave due to the vortex. A more accurate representation of the radial velocity profile can be found by digital reconstruction via the Abel inversion formula, which allows reconstruction of rotationally symmetric objects from line projections. Even though the flow field under investigation was steady, this is neither a restriction of the technique, nor of the apparatus. However, the repetition rate for consecutive data frames depends on the operating procedure.

Thesis Files