Available Technologies

Executive Summary

One of the hallmarks of turbulence is the formation of rotating currents known as vortices. Measuring the vorticity is of great importance in fluid dynamics, especially for aerodynamic design and control of air flight. MSU researchers have developed a novel high precision technology to permit the use of a laser for direct measurement of vorticity in fluid flows. Instead of following the flow of particles using a laser grid and the resulting flow vectors to indirectly determine vorticity, the novel approach provides direct, real-time measurement of vorticity with micron scale resolution.

Description of Technology

Michigan State University has developed technology for direct measurement of fluid flow vorticity using spatially shaped laser light that measures the rotational Doppler shift from microparticles intersecting the beam focus. This method allows for localized real-time determination of vorticity in a fluid flow. Flow vorticity of a fluid is measured using light scattered form a particle suspended in a fluid. The particle is illuminated with the shaped coherent light beam.  The collected signal is analyzed with an FFT that decomposes the signal into a direct measure of the vorticity of the fluid at the measured point.

Key Benefits

• Use of a laser for direct measurement of vorticity in fluid flows.
• Fast, exact measurement with micron scale resolution

Applications

• Analytical instruments
• Aerodynamics, turbulent flows, chaotic motion
• Real-time determination of vorticity in a fluid flow with three-dimensional resolution

Patent Status: 

Patent pending

Licensing Rights Available

Full licensing rights available

Inventors: Marcos Dantus, Manoochehr Koochesfahani, Shahram Pouya, Anton Ryabtsev, Alireza Safaripour

Tech ID: TEC2016-0075