New versions of old flow visualization systems

A small, modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer placed in series with a much larger schlieren optical system spanning the test section is examined. In one arm of the interferometer, light from the schlieren is focused through a pinhole and recollimating lens to produce a reference beam which interferes with the remaining object beam from the other arm. The object and reference beams are separated only over a small interval following the test section, and differential vibrations are greatly reduced. Color schlieren has technical, as well as aesthetic, advantages over black-and-white schlieren. Since each color is associated with a specific amount of refraction, quantitative evaluation of certain refractive-index fields becomes possible using very simple equations derived from ray trace theory. Rainbow schlieren of an acetylene flame, and the evaluated refractive index distribution are shown. Root-mean-square refractive index fluctuations in homogeneous, isotropic turbulence were determined using the rainbow schlieren, since these fluctuations determine the root-mean-square refraction, which is indicated by the overall color of the image.