High-speed time-resolved color schlieren visualization of shock wave phenomena

• DOI: 10.1007/s00193-005-0273-6
• Publication Date: 2005-10-26T12:07:53Z
• Authors: H. Kleine; K. Hiraki; H. Maruyama; T. Hayashida; J. Yonai; K. Kitamura; Y. Kondo; T. G. Etoh
• Keywords: Schlieren photography; Frame rate; Schlieren imaging

A newly developed high-speed color video camera, which can record 103 frames at rates of up to 1 million frames per second, has been used to obtain time-resolved color schlieren visualizations of shock wave phenomena. These trials constitute the first successful time-resolved application of the direction-indicating color schlieren method with frame rates up to 125 kHz. The instabilities of a supersonic flow over a double cone were made visible in unprecedented clarity, and the potential of the camera for schlieren visualizations was further demonstrated in experiments showing the explosion of a small firecracker and the bursting of a helium-filled toy balloon.