Schlieren photography
Schlieren photography is a process for photographing fluid flow. Invented by the German physicist August Toepler in 1864 to study supersonic motion, it is widely used in aeronautical engineering to photograph the flow of air around objects. Classical optical system The classical implementation of an optical schlieren system uses light from a single collimated source shining on, or from behind, a target object. Variations in refractive index caused by density gradients in the fluid distort the collimated light beam. This distortion creates a spatial variation in the intensity of the light, which can be visualised directly with a shadowgraph system. Classical schlieren imaging systems appear in two configurations, using either one or two mirrors. In each case, a transparent object is illuminated with collimated or nearly-collimated light. Rays that are not deflected by the object proceed to their focal point, where they are blocked by a knife edge. Rays that are deflected by the object, have a chance of passing the knife edge without being blocked. As a result, one can place a camera after the knife edge such that the image of the object will exhibit intensity variations due to the deflections of the rays. The result is a set of lighter and darker patches corresponding to positive and negative fluid density gradients in the direction normal to the knife edge. When a knife edge is used, the system is generally referred to as a schlieren system, which measures the first derivative of density in the direction of the knife edge. If a knife edge is not used, the system is generally referred to as a shadowgraph system, which measures the second derivative of density. In the two-mirror schlieren system (sometimes called the Z-configuration), the source is collimated by the first mirror, the collimated light traverses the object and then is focused by the second mirror. This generally allows higher resolution imaging (seeing finer details in the object) than is possible using the single-mirror configuration. If the fluid flow is uniform, the image will be steady, but any turbulence will cause scintillation, the shimmering effect that can be seen over heated surfaces on a hot day. To visualise instantaneous density profiles, a short-duration flash (rather than continuous illumination) may be used. Focusing schlieren optical system In the mid 20th century, R. A. Burton developed an alternative form of schlieren photography, which is now usually called focusing schlieren or lens-and-grid schlieren, based on a suggestion by Hubert Schardin. Focusing schlieren systems generally retain the characteristic knife edge to produce contrast, but instead of using collimated light and a single knife edge, they use an illumination pattern of repeated edges with a focusing imaging system. The basic idea is that the illumination pattern is imaged onto a geometrically congruent cutoff pattern (essentially a multiplicity of knife edges) with focusing optics, while density gradients lying between the illumination pattern and the cutoff pattern are imaged, typically by a camera system. Like in classical schlieren, the distortions produce regions of brightening or darkening