Abstract:

Flow visualization techniques such as schlieren and shadowgraph methods for flows with variable density have traditionally been used to gain qualitative insight into flow phenomena but often little else. The development of high-speed cameras capable of framing rates above 100 kHz and the use of short-duration pulsed light sources enables schlieren and shadowgraph techniques to be used to quantitatively investigate non-steady flows and generate an enormous wealth of data from a single experiment. This seminar will detail the inexpensive, user-friendly light sources used at Caltech and present data from two experimental campaigns that demonstrate the capabilities of the technique.

Biosketch:

Bryan Schmidt is a PhD candidate in Dr. Shepherd’s research group at the California Institute of Technology. His current research focuses on flow instabilities in supersonic and hypersonic flows and optical diagnostic methods for compressible flows. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2011 and an M.S. in Aeronautics from Caltech in 2012.