AN INSTANTANEOUS METHOD FOR REAL-TIME VELOCITY VECTOR DISPLAY IN FLOWS

If we consider experimental methods in fluid mechanics as they are use d in practice, there is a strong need for fast visual flow information , e.g. velocity vector display. Existing 'whole field' techniques can also deliver velocity vectors (beside other quantities), however, the main restraint with these techniques is the relatively long frame proc essing time, which usually does not allow to extract continuously real -time information from the few. Therefore, flow fields can often not b e visualised with a sufficient time resolution. The present paper desc ribes a new technique for the real-time display of velocity vectors in flow fields. With the new technique, real-time analyses of flows can be performed quickly with an incomparably high time resolution. The ac hievable time resolution no longer depends on image processing times. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.