Instrumentation and
Measurement
Optical Techniques
Shadowgraph, Schlieren,
Interferometer
Seeing Flow
• Transparent liquids have one property that
makes them useful tools for analysing flows :
their refractive index can change.
– A change in refractive index can have 2 effects
• 1. Light will bend (the cause of mirages) towards higher
density or colder areas
• 2. The speed of light changes.
– These effects are used in the Shadowgraph,
Schlieren and Interferometer.
Refraction of light
• The refraction of light from one medium to
another is governed by Snell’s Law that relates
the angle of incident and transmitted light
beams to the refractive indices of the material
the light is passing through
Air, n1=1.0003 sin 1 n2
sin 2 n1
Glass, n2=1.6
θ1
θ2
Refraction of Light
• The physical reasons for the refraction of light
due to a change of refractive index are
complex and not required here. However, it is
found that there is a linear relationship
between the angle of curvature of a light path
and the gradient of refractive index
perpendicular to the light path.
Refraction of Light
• Within a material, the curvature of a light path
due to changes of refractive index (as may
occur with temperature or density variations)
are considered in terms of gradients of
refractive index 2
x 1 n
2
,
x Refracted light path z n x
y
2 y 1 n
Region of variable density 2
z z n y
Refraction of Light
• For air and other gases there is a linear
relationship between density and refractive index
n 1 k
• Where k is the Gladstone-Dale coefficient and
has a value of around 0.23cm3/g at ambient
conditions
• The term (n-1) is the Refractivity of a gas
Optical Measurements
• The 3 main methods of investigating flows using
purely optical methods are :
– Shadowgraph
– Schlieren
– Interferometry
• A lot of useful information about the Schlieren and
Shadowgraph techniques can be found in the book
Schlieren and Shadowgraph Techniques, by G. S. Settles.
(Around £150)
Shadowgraph
• You may be familiar with a shadowgraph
– Rising air currents on a sunny day will cause wavy dark
shadows on a wall – e.g. rising heat from a radiator.
The pattern on the
wall is generally
random and
complicated, Light refracted:
reflecting the Darker area where light
refracted from. Lighter area
random nature of
where light refracted to
the convection
from the radiator
Shadowgraph
• A shadowgraph can also be seen as rising
columns in a container of hot liquid and as the
shadow of oil drops on the surface of water.
• In essence a shadowgraph is a shadow pattern
created as light is refracted by dissimilar
densities (or refractive indices) of materials.
Shadowgraph
• The principle that is used in a shadowgraph is
simple. A parallel beam of light passes
through an area with varying density, either
due to compressibility or change in
temperature. This refracts the light.
Region with different density
Refraction
Light Source
Lens Screen
Shadowgraph
• A second lens can be used in a shadowgraph to
focus the light into a camera, for example
Region with different density
Refraction
Camera
Light Source
Lens Lens
Shadowgraph
• Example Image
http://www.efluids.com/efluids/gallery/gallery_pages/bullet_shadowgraph.jsp
Shadowgraph
• The refraction of light can be in any direction, due
to any variations of density in the light path.
• What the shadowgraph displays is the second
differential of density with
2 distance, i.e.
d
2
dx
• What this means is that the shadowgraph is not
very sensitive unless density variations are
sudden/discontinuous.
Shadowgraph
• What the shadowgraph depicts is the sum of
all density variations along the light path, so if
the flowfield is complicated or 3 dimensional,
it is usually difficult to fully appreciate all the
effects that are occurring.
• However the shadowgraph does provide a lot
of useful information about the major effects
occurring within a flowfield, e.g. for large
structures like shockwaves.
Schlieren
• The Schlieren system is one of the more well
known methods for investigating flows that
contain density variations
• The Schlieren system arrangement is similar to
that of the Shadowgraph except that an
obstruction known as a knife edge is used to
interact with the refracted light.
• Another knife edge is used to create a well
defined light source
Schlieren
• The Optical arrangement
Region with different density
Image of Source
Refraction
Camera
Light
Source Knife Edge
Lens Lens
Knife Edge
The knife edge obstructs the light that is
refracted downwards. This causes a
darker region to appear in the image in
the camera
Schlieren
• The attitude of the knife edge is important
– If the knife edge is vertical, the Schlieren shows variations
in the horizontal plane
– If the knife edge is horizontal, variations in the vertical
plane are shown
Supersonic jet (M=2)
shown with vertical
knife edge
Schlieren Knife Edge
• The knife edge is an
important part of the
Schlieren system.
• At the light source it acts
to create a distinct light
source.
• After the parallel beam,
the knife edge interrupts
some refracted light
• Knife edges are
adjustable
Schlieren
• The effect of the knife edge, therefore, is to
create areas on the image with differing light
intensity, depending on the direction that the
light was refracted with respect to the knife
edge.
• Darker areas are where light is blocked by the
knife edge and lighter areas are where
additional light passes the knife edge
Schlieren Optics
• One major consideration for the Schlieren system
(and Shadowgraph) is the quality of the optical
components.
• It is found that optical quality is generally better
when using mirrors rather than lenses. The main
reason for this is that glass can focus different
wavelengths of light to different positions and with
convex lenses the actual thickness of the lens can
have a large effect on how light is focussed.
Schlieren
• It is possible to obtain Achromatic lenses that
are designed to focus all wavelengths of light
equally, however they are considerably more
expensive than an equivalent mirror, typically
by a factor of 5, increasing as the diameter
increases.
• Most Schlieren systems, therefore use
spherical mirrors.
Schlieren
• Spherical Mirrors
– Manufactured from glass or aluminium
– Have a polished metal coating to reflect the light.
– Care is needed, the surface can be rubbed off, so mirrors
need protecting when not in use
The “Z” Schlieren Arrangement
• Because mirrors reflect light it makes the optical
arrangement of the Schlieren a little more complicated
than when lenses are used.
• With lenses, the optical path can be in a straight line so
all components are on the same axis
• Because this can’t be done with mirrors, the Schlieren is
therefore arranged so the optical path follows a so-called
‘Z’ pattern.
The “Z” Schlieren Arrangement
• Typical Experimental “Z” Arrangement
The Z Schlieren Arrangement
• View along the optical axis
The “Z” Schlieren Arrangement
• For optical reasons, the initial and final light paths
need to be at a shallow angle with respect to the
mirrors. If the angle is too large, there is too much
distortion of the light beam and this affects the
image quality. Knife Edge Light Source
Light refracted
by density
variation
Camera
Knife Edge at the image of the source
Knife Edge Variations
• There are a number of alternatives to using a
knife edge in a Schlieren system.
• Some users have used a circular hole instead of
a knife edge. This allows density variations in
any direction to be observed, though alignment
of the hole is trickier than with a straight knife
edge.
• Others use a colour filter instead of the second
knife edge.
Colour Schlieren
• There are a number of different varieties of
colour Schlieren, but the easiest to understand
is to imagine the first knife edge being
replaced by a spectrum filter, i.e. a series of
coloured bands. The second knife edge
isolates one colour.
• If the undisturbed image is the colour of the
central colour in the filter, then any refraction
of light will cause other colours to appear.
Colour Schlieren
• Basic Principle with “Spectrum” filter.
Refracted light shows as different colours
Region of variable density
Undisturbed
Yellow and blue
Green colour
light refracted
isolated by knife
and passing the
edge
knife edge
Colour Schlieren
• Different colour arrangements
Using 3 colour filter – red, green, blue Using spectrum filter
http://www.starcs.se/classical_methods.aspx
Schlieren Sensitivity
• The sensitivity of the Schlieren system
depends primarily on 2 factors
– The size of the light source as defined by the first
knife edges
– The position of the second knife edge over the
image of the light source. Usually the knife edge is
positioned half way across the image so the
resulting undisturbed image is mid-grey. Any
alterations then vary from black to white.
Schlieren
• As with the Shadowgraph, the observed image
is due to the sum of all disturbances along the
optical path, so if flows are complicated or 3
dimensional, it may not be possible to see all
the details of the flow in the image.
Interferometry
• The third main optical method of analysing
flows is interferometry.
• This technique differs from the Shadowgraph
and Schlieren in that the image is created
from the combination of two light beams and
takes the form of an interference pattern
Interferometry
• Mononchromatic light source
http://www.ioffe.rssi.ru/GASDYN/balgrp.html
Interferometry
• Basic theory (Mach-Zehnder Interferometer)
Mirror Beam splitter
Combined light beams
Test
Light source region
Fringe pattern with
monochromatic light source
Beam splitter Mirror
If the beam splitters and mirrors are exactly aligned with each other, and
there is no difference in the optical path then when the separate beams of
light combine at the second beam splitter, the light will always be in phase
and there will always be constructive interference, i.e. the combined light
will be of uniform intensity
Interferometry
• Basic theory
Mirror Beam splitter
Combined light beams
Test
Light source region
Shock wave causes a fringe shift.
Beam splitter Mirror The density either side of a shock
wave is different. This causes a
different optical path length and
changes the interference pattern.
Interferometry
• If the beam splitters and/or mirrors are moved relative
to each other, then the optical path lengths of the two
separate light beams will be different, i.e. the distance
travelled by the light will be different.
• This means that when the beams recombine they will
sometimes be in phase and sometimes be out of
phase.
• This, therefore, means that the combined beams
generate a fringe pattern of separate light and dark
bands that, ideally, are equally spaced and parallel.
Interferometry
• The effect of Wavelength.
– When constructive or destructive interference occurs it
depends on the wavelength of the light and the
difference in optical path length between the two beams.
– When constructive interference occurs, the difference in
optical path length is an integer number of wavelengths.
– An integer number of wavelengths is a different physical
distance for different wavelengths of light
– Put another way, different wavelengths of light have
different fringe spacings.
Interferometry
• The effect of wavelength
– This, therefore means, that if a white light source is
used, the different interference patterns from all
the different wavelengths of light will overlap each
other and tend to cancel out so there are only a
few obvious fringes where all wavelengths are
nearly in phase.
– For most interferometry work, therefore, a
monochromatic (laser) light source is used, so the
fringe pattern is uniform.
Interferometry
• White Light Source – shock wave reflection
• Using infinite fringe, i.e. no fringes with undisturbed flow
http://seit.unsw.adfa.edu.au/research/details2.php?page_id=678&topic=Time-
resolved_Mach-Zehnder_interferometry
Interferometry
• Monochromatic Light Source
http://seit.unsw.adfa.edu.au/research/details2.php?page_id=457
Interferometry
• Because the change in optical path length is directly related
to the density of the fluid, it is possible to determine
densities within a fluid by counting fringes since each fringe
corresponds to a known difference in optical path length.
• This is easiest to analyse in a 2D flow since conditions are
uniform across a flow field.
• Strictly speaking, because changes in density change the
speed of light, the phase change between the light beams
is due to one beam being slowed relative to the other one,
but the net effect is as if one beam travels further than the
other.
Interferometry
• Of the three optical techniques, the interferometer is
hardest to implement because of the high accuracy
needed in aligning the various mirrors and beam
splitters.
• The beam splitters and mirrors need to be
manufactured with very smooth surfaces, typically
λ/10 where λ is the wavelength of light. If the
surface of the optical components is not smooth, it
will cause disturbances to the fringe pattern and
complicate the interpretation of images.
Interferometry
• As with the Shadograph and Schlieren, what
the interferometer sees is the total of all
disturbances to the light path, so it is most
effective on 2D flows where conditions are
consistent across the flow field.
