Synthetic Schlieren -- application to the visualization and characterization of air convection
Abstract
Synthetic schlieren is an digital image processing optical method relying on the variation of optical index to visualize the flow of a transparent fluid. In this article, we present a step-by step, easy-to-implement and affordable experimental realization of this technique. The method is applied to air convection caused by a warm surface. We show that the velocity of rising convection plumes can be linked to the temperature of the warm surface and propose a simple physical argument to explain this dependence. Moreover, using this method, one can reveal the tenuous convection plumes rising from ounce's hand, a phenomenon invisible to the naked eye. This spectacular result may help student realize the power of careful data acquisition combined with astute image processing techniques.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1710.04078,
title = {Synthetic Schlieren -- application to the visualization and characterization of air convection},
author = {Nicolas Taberlet and Nicolas Plihon and Lucile Auzémery and Jérémy Sautel and Grégoire Panel and Thomas Gibaud},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1710.04078},
year = {2018}
}