College of Engineering

Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering

Diagnostics - Schlieren Flow Visualization

The HPCL has a Z-type schlieren system modified with two additional folding mirrors for flow visualization of high-speed gas dynamic events(such as high temperature gas jets, rocket engine/motor exhaust, and explosions). A region-of-interests (ROIs) of up to 12.5" diameter, set by the current field mirror diameter, can be imaged with the current system. To date the system has been paired to a Vision Research Phantom v7.3 camera, which has been utilized to capture videos at framing speeds 5,000 fps (full resolution, 1 MP) and 63,500 fps (reduced resolution). The monochromatic light source for our setup is a high-power pulsed LED capable of operating at 200 amps at short pulse lengths (less than a few microseconds). A few example Images are given below and video sequences can be found here on our YouTube channel.

The two image sequences below were extracted from high speed schlieren videos of electric matches (J-tek Igniter, MJG Technologies Inc.) both with [top] and without [bottom] a flame guide. Each video was captured at 10,000 fps

The image shown below was extracted from a high speed schlieren video of a Quest A6-4 hobby rocket motor. Video was captured at at 5,000 fps