Tomographic PIV: principles and practice

A survey is given of the major developments in three-dimensional velocity field measurements using the tomographic particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The appearance of tomo-PIV dates back seven years from the present review (Elsinga et al 2005a 6th Int. Symp. PIV (Pasadena, CA)) and this approach has rapidly spread as a versatile, robust and accurate technique to investigate three-dimensional flows (Arroyo and Hinsch 2008 Topics in Applied Physics vol 112 ed A Schröder and C E Willert (Berlin: Springer) pp 127–54) and turbulence physics in particular. A considerable number of applications have been achieved over a wide range of flow problems, which requires the current status and capabilities of tomographic PIV to be reviewed. The fundamental aspects of the technique are discussed beginning from hardware considerations for volume illumination, imaging systems, their configurations and system calibration. The data processing aspects are of uppermost importance: image pre-processing, 3D object reconstruction and particle motion analysis are presented with their fundamental aspects along with the most advanced approaches. Reconstruction and cross-correlation algorithms, attaining higher measurement precision, spatial resolution or higher computational efficiency, are also discussed. The exploitation of 3D and time-resolved (4D) tomographic PIV data includes the evaluation of flow field pressure on the basis of the flow governing equation. The discussion also covers a-posteriori error analysis techniques. The most relevant applications of tomo-PIV in fluid mechanics are surveyed, covering experiments in air and water flows. In measurements in flow regimes from low-speed to supersonic, most emphasis is given to the complex 3D organization of turbulent coherent structures.