Wake flow measurements in towing tanks with PIV

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is a promising measuring technique for the maritime fluid mechanics research. PIV may visualize the spatial structure of unsteady flows and may deliver data sets for validation of (maritime) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The feasibility of PIV in towing tanks has been studied in three different flow applications in two towing tanks using a two-dimensional PIV system (2D-PIV).
These flow applications are a propeller wake, a lee side wake and a cylinder wake. The measuring set-ups and the results of the feasibility study are presented. Attention has been pakt to features of PIV in towing tanks, such as the dimensions of the measuring set-up, the seeding ofa large quantity of water, the visibüity of the particles in water, the towedset up, calibration and measuring accuracy. The results of this study show that PIV is applicable in towing tanks and holds great promise for the maritime research on fluid mechanics.