Demonstration of a laser vorticity probe in turbulent boundary layers

A laser-based probe for the nonintrusive measurement of velocity gradient and vorticity was demonstrated in turbulent boundary layers. Unlike most other optical methods, the current technique provides an estimate of the velocity gradient, without having to first measure velocity at multiple points. The measurement principle is based on the heterodyne of coherent light scattered from two adjacent particles. The beat frequency of the heterodyne is directly proportional to the velocity gradient. The probe is assembled from commercially available, inexpensive optical components. A laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) processor is used to analyze the heterodyne signal. A component of vorticity is obtained by using two appropriately aligned velocity gradient probes. The optical probes developed were used in turbulent boundary layers to measure local, time-frozen velocity gradients partial differential u / partial differential y, partial differential v / partial differential x, and partial differential v / partial differential y, as well as the spanwise vorticity. The measurements were compared to those inferred from LDV measurements in the same facility and to data available in the literature.