Turbulence Measurements Within a Cyclic Flow and Analysis in the Momentum Equation

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements were performed within an optical water analog engine. A unique triggering and data collection system was developed to allow a CCD camera to acquire two consecutive image frames at predetermined crank angles. The water analog engine operated at 15 RPM and had a square cross-section with two circular valved inlets. Measurements were made throughout an entire cycle to determine mean and turbulence statistics and results at 60 crank angle degree are discussed in this paper. Different averaging techniques were used and results between the techniques were compared to provide a number of statistical quantities having large discrepancies in scales and distributions. A study of the equations of motion showed that different averaging techniques results in differing physical interpretations of the flow.