Parallel-Channel PIV System for Time-Resolved Measurement of Shock Wave Reflection and Diffraction

Conventional particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques face an inherent trade-off between temporal resolution and single-pulse laser energy, limiting their performance in shock wave measurements. This study develops a multi-channel parallel PIV system with programmable timing control to address this constraint. By distributing laser pulses across eight independent optical channels, the system decouples single-pulse energy from the repetition rate, enabling continuous velocity field measurements at microsecond temporal resolution with high signal-to-noise ratio. Experiments were conducted on a planar shock wave propagating over a trapezoidal step in a shock tube facility. The system captured velocity fields at seven consecutive time instants with a 1 μs pulse interval, revealing the curved evolution of diffracted shock fronts and transient flow separation induced by shock–boundary-layer interaction. Comparison with unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations demonstrated that the PIV system resolves fine-scale post-shock perturbations and turbulent fluctuations that were numerically dissipated in computational fluid dynamics. The results verify that the parallel-channel architecture accurately captures unsteady flow structures during shock reflection and diffraction, offering a reliable diagnostic technique for investigations of shock wave dynamics.