Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This proposal is for the purchase of a time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TRPIV) system. TRPIV is a velocity measurement technique for fluid mechanics that provides the velocity field within a defined measurement plane with adequate temporal resolution. The system consists of three primary components: (i) a high frame rate CMOS camera, (ii) a high repetition rate pulsed laser to provide illumination and define the measurement plane, and (iii) a data acquisition computer used to control and synchronize the camera and laser, acquire the camera images, and process the images to obtain the velocity field. The proposed system will be the keystone of a new unsteady and biological fluid mechanics laboratory being established at the University of Waterloo (UW) by Dr. Peterson. The inherently unsteady nature of biological fluid flows, such as the pulsatile blood flow produced by the heart, necessitates a measurement system capable of acquiring not only high spatial resolution full field data, but the temporal flow development. For example, it is well established that both spatial and temporal gradients of the wall shear stress have been implicated in cardiovascular disease initiation and progression. Specifically, the requested equipment will be used in the research program proposed in Dr. Peterson's concurrent Discovery Grant application, which focuses on the impact between coherent fluid structures (such as vortices produced in a pumping heart) and a deformable smart material strip towards energy harvesting to power micro-electronic devices and sensors. The fluid/structure interaction is inherently unsteady and spatially variant, thus requiring full-field measurement system with sufficient temporal resolution. The requested TRPIV system is vital for the establishment of a fully functional fluid mechanics research program at the forefront of experimental fluid science.