Analysis of complex flow fields by animation of PIV and high resolution unsteady pressure data
F. N. Coton, Roderick A. McD. Galbraith, I. W. B. Grant, David W. Hurst · 1998
We describe the use of animation in the analysis of data from unsteady aerodynamic tests where the phenomena of interest vary both temporally and spatially. Particular emphasis is given to results from an investigation of blade vortex interaction (BVI) where both flow field and surface pressure data were recorded. It is shown that animation can be used, in a manner akin to basic flow visualisation, to identify the interesting features of such a flow and to, thus, guide more detailed conventional analysis techniques. The method adopted in this study involved the acquisition of a series of PIV images which were then processed and subsequently interpolated onto a regular grid. The temporal variation in velocity at each grid point was then established by a further interpolation between PIV frames. Finally, particles were placed in the initial velocity field and their subsequent trajectory during the interaction process calculated using a multi-step integration method