Abstract
The purpose of the current paper is to describe an experimental study of the spatially correlated precision errors associated with particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements made in turbulent flows. A free jet was used as the base flow for the study. The precision error of time-averaged statistics of the mean and turbulent flowfield is governed by the probability distribution function of the various quantities and the finite sample size of the data sets. Spatial measurements that are separated by a distance that is shorter than the size of the large turbulent scales will not be independent, resulting in a correlated precision error. The characteristics of the precision error for various statistics will be described. It is found that mean vorticity has a correlated precision error that is limited to a much smaller length scale. The results demonstrate the importance of understanding the role of error correlation in the interpretation of PIV data.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adrian RJ (1991) Particle-imaging techniques for experimental fluid-mechanics. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 23:261–304
Adrian RJ, Christensen KT, Liu ZC (2000) Analysis and interpretation of instantaneous turbulent velocity fields. Exp Fluids 29:275–290
Angele KP, Muhammad-Klingmann B (2005) A simple model for the effect of peak-locking on the accuracy of boundary layer turbulence statistics in digital PIV. Exp Fluids 38:341–347
Cholemari MR (2007) Modeling and correction of peak-locking in digital PIV. Exp Fluids 42:913–922
Christensen KT (2004) The influence of peak-locking errors on turbulence statistics computed from PIV ensembles. Exp Fluids 36:484–497
Etebari A, Vlachos PP (2005) Improvements on the accuracy of derivative estimation from DPIV velocity measurements. Exp Fluids 39:1040–1050
Figliola RS, Beasley DE (1991) Theory and design for mechanical measurements. Wiley, London
Fincham AM, Spedding GR (1997) Low cost, high resolution DPIV for measurement of turbulent fluid flow. Exp Fluids 23:449–462
Gerbig F, Keady P (1985) Size distributions of test aerosols from a Laskin nozzle. Microcontamination 3:56–61
Gui L, Wereley ST (2002) A correlation-based continuous window-shift technique to reduce the peak-locking effect in digital PIV image evaluation. Exp Fluids 32:506–517
Hart DP (2000) Super-resolution PIV by recursive local-correlation. J Vis 3:187–194
Huang H, Dabiri D, Gharib M (1997) On errors of digital particle image velocimetry. Meas Sci Technol 8:1427–1440
Keane RD, Adrian RJ (1990) Optimization of particle image velocimeters I. Double pulsed systems. Meas Sci Technol 1:1202–1215
Le H, Moin P, Kim J (1997) Direct numerical simulation of turbulent flow over a backward-facing step. J Fluid Mech 330:349–374
Lourenco L, Krothapalli A (1995) On the accuracy of velocity and vorticity measurements with PIV. Exp Fluids 18:421–428
Prasad AK, Adrian RJ, Landreth CC, Offutt PW (1992) Effect of resolution on the speed and accuracy of particle image velocimetry interrogation. Exp Fluids 13:105–116
Roth GI, Katz J (2001) Five techniques for increasing the speed and accuracy of PIV interrogation. Meas Sci Technol 12:238–245
Scarano F, Riethmuller ML (1999) Iterative multigrid approach in PIV image processing with discrete window offset. Exp Fluids 26:513–523
Westerweel J (1997) Fundamentals of digital particle image velocimetry. Meas Sci Technol 8:1379–1392
Westerweel J, Dabiri D, Gharib M (1997) The effect of a discrete window offset on the accuracy of cross-correlation analysis of digital PIV recordings. Exp Fluids 23:20–28
Wheeler AJ, Ganji AR (2003) Introduction to engineering experimentation. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Willert CE, Gharib M (1991) Digital particle image velocimetry. Exp Fluids 10:181–193
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carr, Z.R., Ahmed, K.A. & Forliti, D.J. Spatially correlated precision error in digital particle image velocimetry measurements of turbulent flows. Exp Fluids 47, 95–106 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-009-0638-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-009-0638-1