Feasibility of Combined PIT and PIV in Mixed Convective Air Flows

Abstract

We report on experiments of combined Particle Image Thermography and Particle Image Velocimetry in a system with continuous air exchange. The measurements were conducted in a rectangular container with air in- and outlet as well as heated bottom and cooled ceiling. Thermochromic liquid crystals were used as tracer particles, which provide a temperature depending reflection of different wavelengths. First results prove the feasibility of the method, however, they also pinpoint a number so far unsolved problems which must be solved. Among these are the generation of the TLC tracer particles, image filtering and colour calibration, which are addressed in this paper.