Three-dimensional measurement of near-wall velocity in millimeter channel by a single view imaging

It is well known that there is a strong correlation between heat transfer and near-wall flow. It is important to obtain the detailed near-wall flow field, but it has a lot of difficulties to measure near-wall region by traditional approaches for example hot wire anemometry and particle image velocimetry (PIV). The purpose of this study is to determine the three-dimensional velocity field at near-wall area in micron resolution by the astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry (APTV). In this study, an estimation of depth location of tracer particles by applying a specialized imaging optics controlling the astigmatism [1] was employed. We have developed a measurement system to get the particle location within 15 μm from wall using a long-working-distance microscope with astigmatic optics. As a proof-of-concept, near-wall velocity field in a millimeter-ordered parallel plate channel was measured with low Reynolds numbers (Re=1 ∼ 5) Poiseuille flow to confirm the validity of it. As a result, we can obtain the near-wall velocity within 15 μm from the wall precisely. From the velocity distribution, the standard deviation of the velocity at each location was calculated and the dispersion of velocity was evaluated. As a result, it was confirmed that the measurement was carried out more accurately in high-speed area. Comparison of the measured velocity distribution with a theoretical calculation and micro-PIV results were also done. From these velocity distributions, the wall shear stress on the wall was determined.