A PIV algorithm for estimating time-averaged velocity fields

A PIV algorithm is presented for estimating time-averaged or phase-averaged velocity fields. The algorithm can be applied to situations where signal strength is not sufficient for standard cross correlation techniques, such as a low number of particle images in an interrogation spot, or poor image quality The algorithm can also be used to increase the spatial resolution of measurements by allowing smaller interrogation spots than those required for standard cross correlation techniques. The quality of the velocity measurements can be dramatically increased by averaging a series of instantaneous correlation functions before determining the location of the signal peak, as opposed to the commonly used technique of estimating instantaneous velocity fields first and then averaging the velocity fields. The algorithm is applied to a 30 mu mx300 mum microchannel flow. [S0098-2202(00)00602-7].