We have developed a lens-and-grid-type schlieren optical flow visualization system using a very large grid as a light source, and having a field-of-view of 2.1*2.7 m (7x9 feet), making it by far the largest schlieren system in the world. The design of the system literally makes the building shown below into a giant camera. This system uses retroreflective highway-sign-type material for the source grid which covers an entire wall. The optics are located on the wall opposite the source grid and test area is located in the middle of the building. The intended purpose of this instrument is to visualize and study a variety of full-scale airflows such as those associated with shock waves, HVAC equipment, automobiles, home appliances, fires, clean rooms, welding and spraying operations, abrasive blasting, air curtains, and airflow interactions with the human body. It is especially useful for demonstrating full-scale heat transfer phenomena. Click here to read a detailed paper about our system.
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1-meter Schlieren System
The Lab's 1-meter-diameter schlieren optical flow visualization facility is one of the largest mirror-type systems in the world. It can detect thermal gradients in the atmosphere of less than 1 degree C/cm, and has been used in clean room airflow research, studies of the thermal plume created by the human body, canine olfaction research, thermal spray research, and a wide variety of other studies.
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Cleanroom Facility |
The Human Thermal Plume |
Canine Inhale |
Hot Plume From High Velocity Oxy-Fuel Thermal Spray |
The Gas Dynamics Lab also has a wide variety of smaller schlieren and shadowgraph systems. For further information on these systems please see http://www.mne.psu.edu/psgdl/schlierbookwebpage.html
