Lagrangian coherent track initialization

Ali Rahimi Khojasteh*, Yin Yang, Dominique Heitz, Sylvain Laizet

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Advances in time-resolved three-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry (4D-PTV) techniques have consistently revealed more accurate Lagrangian particle motions. A novel track initialization technique as a complementary part of 4D-PTV, based on local temporal and spatial coherency of neighbor trajectories, is proposed. The proposed Lagrangian Coherent Track Initialization (LCTI) applies physics-based Finite Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE) to build four frame coherent tracks. We locally determine Lagrangian coherent structures among neighbor trajectories by using the FTLE boundaries (i.e., ridges) to distinguish the clusters of coherent motions. To evaluate the proposed technique, we created an open-access synthetic Lagrangian and Eulerian dataset of the wake downstream of a smooth cylinder at a Reynolds number equal to 3900 obtained from three-dimensional direct numerical simulation. Performance of the proposed method based on three characteristic parameters, temporal scale, particle concentration (i.e., density), and noise ratio, showed robust behavior in finding true tracks compared to the recent initialization algorithms. Sensitivity of LCTI to the number of untracked and wrong tracks is also discussed. We address the capability of using the proposed method as a function of a 4D-PTV scheme in the Lagrangian particle tracking challenge. We showed that LCTI prevents 4D-PTV divergence in flows with high particle concentrations. Finally, the LCTI behavior was demonstrated in a jet impingement experiment. LCTI was found to be a reliable tracking tool in complex flow motions, with a strength revealed for flows with high velocity and acceleration gradients.

Original languageEnglish
Article number095113
JournalPhysics of Fluids
Volume33
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

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