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Abstract
The accuracy of 3-D LDA measurements depends on a few
basic parameters determined by the optical configuration and
the principle of signal processing. To illustrate the problem a
single component LDA is investigated first. The accuracy is
computed as a function of the optical parameters and the signal processing method. The important parameters are shown
to be the particle transit time, the number of optical interference fringes within the measuring volume and the processor
bandwidth. The 3-D LDA optical configuration is then treated. It is shown that the axial and transverse velocity components are found by sum and difference of the primary measured velocity components. The sum and difference velocities
can be considered as resulting from passage of some virtual
fringes in a composite measuring volume. Using this concept
it is shown that to obtain good accuracy, in particular on
measuring the axial component, a large angle of separation
between the incident beams is necessary. This result is independent of frequency shifting and also independent on
whether the sum and difference is created by mixing Doppler
frequencies before signal processing or creating sum and differences after original processing. The considerations point to
the conclusion that an optimum shape and orientation of the
measuring volume exists for a particular mean velocity and
turbulence level.
1. Introduction
The solution of many important engineering problems in industry requires knowledge of 3-dimensional turbulent flows.
Often the Laser Doppler Anemometer (LDA) represents the
only practical way of obtaining vital data about the flow.
Thus it is important to be able to make reliable 3-dimensional
LDA measurements.
A trade-off often exists between conflicting requirements and
specifications when considering the use of a sophisticated instrument such as an LDA. To be able to make an intelligent
choice of system configuration it is necessary to know about
the factors influencing the performance characteristics such
as accuracy, spatial and temporal resolution of the LDA and
how these parameters depend on the instrumental characteristics such as optical arrangement and electronic signal pro* DISA Elektronik A/S, Skovlunde, Denmark.
Intersection angle:
= 2 tan- (D/2f)
Number of interference
fringes in volume:
d, = df /cos (e/2)
d, = df
d, = df /sin (012)
Nf = (4/r) (D/dr)
fD
1) Spectral analysis
Let us first assume that the frequency is determined by a
spectral analysis of a Doppler burst, as illustrated in Fig. 2.
It is well known that the accuracy of a spectral estimate is inversely proportional to the duration of the signal. In the
present case the record length is simply T, . Thus the spectral
resolution Afd, which is equivalent to the spectral broadening
is:
A fd = l/T,
We also know that the variance of the power spectral estimator S(f) when performing a simple peak-finding depends on
the value of the spectrum S(f) in the following way:
var S(f) = (S(f)>2
Using a more efficient estimator, this variance may be reduced, but the dependence on the square of the actual spectrum remains.
Denoting by s the root-mean-square (r.m.s.) signal fluctuation and by n the r.m.s. noise signal (assuming additive white
noise), we have:
( S f2=
1
Afd
( n t2=
>
where B is the signal bandwidth and SN (f) indicates the constant (white) shot-noise spectrum.
The accuracy of the estimate of the measured signal frequency is approximately:
6fd s Afd
Jvar
{%(fd)}
s(fd)
Af,
SN (fd )
s(fd )
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7 I-
Td=l/fd
Thus
1JB
1
n
au, = 6fb = 6f,
____ - = _
- fb fu 7i. N, fi I
s
u,
01
Again we see that the uncertainty is inversely proportional
to the number of interference fringes crossed by the particle
independent of the frequency shift. The burst length, T,,
does not enter, but if we assume a white noise spectrum
(which leaves the factor in the square bracket constant) we
see that the bandwidth enters the accuracy estimate through
the factor G The bandwidth B and the number of fringes
N, must under normal circumstances be considered to be
coupled in such a way that a greater number of fringes in the
volume (with fixed dimensions of the probe volume) requires
a correspondingly higher bandwidth. Thus the dependence on
N, goes only as the square root of N,.
6t g 2n/cu
where cy, the slope of the signal at the zero crossing point, is
given by:
The above conclusions are independent of whether or not frequency shift was used. Even though the added number of
zero crossings improves the relative accuracy of the measured
values, the final accuracy is not improved as the value of the
shift must be subtracted from the measured values in the end.
We conclude that the performance of the LDA signal processor is improved as the number of interference fringes is increased either by increasing the intersection angle 8 or by increasing the width of the measuring volume.
3. 3-D Measurements
Thus
1
6t E
J2r
n
fcr ( sf )
The signal frequency f is determined from the measured values of T, , the burst time, and Nd, the number of periods in
a burst (including the extra zero crossings caused by frequency shift):
fd =
Nd
/Trn
6, =
6f
u, = 6, (fD1 - fD2)
2 sin (p/2)
61 fh
-1 1
(a>
(b)
.
11 = cl e
-
i2 = c2 e
u, =
x2
Y22
Z2
Xl>
8 - - - + 8 - - +8 ___
1
dx22
dy22
dz2 2 cos (27dx, .
x2)
u, =
Ul
cos
92 )
(p2 - u2
cos
$91
Y2
Z2
+8-+8-
9
In case p1 = - p2 = _ we get:
i, =
ClC2
i, =
ClC2
dY2
x)
with
cos
(27T6,
z)
2 sin (p/2)
Xl
1
fDl
Sfl fD1
2 sin (0 1 /2)
u2
x2
= ~_____
2 sin (0,/2)
fD2
= sf, fD2
d2 X
1
d2 Z
1
df2
1
df2
0
6
9
cos2 _ +sin2 _ sin2 _
2
2
2
9
8
9
0
sin2 _ cos2 _ + cos2 _ sin2 _
2
2
2
2
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dx
rp 0
9
sin - sin - tan p = Nf 2 sin - tan p
h
2
2
2
h* -
If the angular separation between the primary measured velocity components is small (i.e. if the angle 4 is small) the numb e r
Nm,z will be small and in accordance with the results of
Section 1 and 2 the accuracy correspondingly bad. If 8 is
large the Doppler frequency is high and the necessary bandwidth is large. The best compromise is obtained by using as
large an angle cp as practically possible and maintaining a reasonably small angle 8.
Unless the f-number of the front optics is small the angular
separation cp will be small and the number of Doppler periods
available for the measurement will be very small and the accuracy correspondingly bad. It is equivalent to trying to determine a small quantity (the axial velocity component) by
subtracting two large numbers from each other (the primary
measured velocity components).
As an example a particle in a velocity distribution with a 10%
turbulence will cross at the most one fringe if all four beams
of the system were to be focused through an f : 10 lens.
The best configuration for this measuring situation is shown
in Fig. 6b. Two independent fringe systems form a 2-component LDA with measurement of the x- and z-components as
described above. The angle 9 of about 30 allows adequate
accuracy of the z-component. The Doppler frequencies fbi
and fb2 are reasonably low by keeping e1 and e2 of the same
magnitude as in a usual single-component fringe-mode LDA.
The arrangement shown in Fig. 6b has additional advantages
in practice as will be described in the next section.
e/2
e/2
Gg. 6. 3-D LDA for cross flow measurement with the sum- and difference method.
4. Practical 3-D LDA optical systems
Fig. 7 shows a 3-D LDA optics based on standard LDA
components. The separation of the three velocity signals
takes place by a combination of color and polarization separation. The laser beam from the Ar-ion laser is separated into
a blue beam (488 nm) and a green beam (5 14,5 nm) and directed to the two parallel optical systems by the so-called
beam splitter section. This part contains the beam splitter
and prisms mounted on a commom, rigid support which direct the laser beams into the transmitter optical systems in a
direction parallel but opposite to the laser beam. The two
parallel optical systems form a blue standard l-component
LDA and a green standard 2-component LDA. The laser beams
from the transmitter optics are directed to the common measuring volume by the prism sections built into the front optics.
The prisms and front lenses of the prism section are ridgidly
mounted on a common, stable mount. The stability of the
optical arrangement is assured by a careful design of the
beam splitter section and the prism section. The intersection
of the two sets of transmitted beams are unaffected by slight
motions of the beam splitter section as a whole or the prism
section as a whole relative to the base plate because of the
stability of the internal mounts.
The LDA receivers are also composed of standard parts, but
the PM sections have been switched over such that the green
8
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1
and
3)