The development of a 3C-PIV system for the 12-foot pressure tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center

A three-component particle image velocimetry (3C-PIV) system was designed installed in the 12-foot (3.7 m) pressure tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. The system was designed for the testing of a 1/8^th scale tractor-trailer model called the generic conventional model (GCM). The 12-foot PWT can be pressurized to 6 atmospheres to enable the testing of Reynolds number effects. The data requirements forced a complex system design. Furthermore, the system had to reside inside the plenum where components sensitive to high pressure had to be isolated. Data were obtained in the gap between the tractor and the trailer where Reynolds number effects were suspected to occur. Sample data from this experiment are presented in this paper.