Uncertainty analysis of a particle tracking algorithm developed for super-resolution particle image velocimetry
Abstract
Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is a powerful technique to measure the velocity at many points in a flow simultaneously by performing correlation analysis on images of particles being transported by the flow. These images are acquired by illuminating the flow with two light pulses so that each particle appears once on each image. The spatial resolution is an important parameter of this measuring system since it determines its ability to resolve features of interest in the flow. The super-resolution technique maximises the spatial resolution by augmenting the PIV analysis with a second pass that identifies specific particles and measures the distance between them. The accuracy of the procedure depends on both the success with which the proper pairings are identified and the accuracy with which their centre-to-centre distance can be measured. This study presents an analysis of both the systematic uncertainty and random uncertainty associated with this process. The uncertainty is analysed as a function of several key parameters that define the quality of the image. The uncertainty analysis is performed by preparing 4000 member ensembles of simulated images with specific setpoints of each parameter. It is shown that the systematic uncertainty is negligible compared to the random uncertainty for all conditions tested. Also, the image contrast and the selection of a threshold for the particle search are the most critical parameters influencing both success rate and uncertainty. It is also shown that high image intensities still yield accurate results. The search radius used by the super-resolution algorithm is shown to be a critical parameter also. By increasing the search radius, the success rate can be increased although this is accompanied by an increase in random uncertainty.
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)Department
Mechanical EngineeringProgram
Mechanical EngineeringSupervisor
Bugg, James D.Committee
Habibi, Saeid R.; Evitts, Richard W.; Burton, Richard T.; Sumner, DavidCopyright Date
May 2003Subject
High Resolution PIV. Simulated PIV images.
LDV
whole field velocity measurements
Error Measurements in PIV
Uncertainty analysis of PIV algorithm
Super-resolution particle image velocimetry
PIV
SPIV
hot-wire measurements
Particle Image Velocimetry