Schlieren video for testing aerodynamics ?
 

Imagine having someone video, or photograph your moving car using the Schlieren method.

It seems like a really useful tool.

It's probably too expensive though.
It also looks complex to set up, and seems to just have a small area in which it can view.

Anyone researched this further ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSFwH0BVd3Q

Besides showing the airflow on small objects, like this bullet, Schlieren photography can also show airflow on larger objects like this jet ( even seen from a great distance ).

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question...et/bullet2.jpg

http://content.answers.com/main/cont...6800FG0010.gif


( Hmmm... why are those two pictures just showing up as links ? )

method
 

I've only seen it done in conjunction with ballistic research,have no idea of cost.Tufts,dirt roads and smoke for me.

C'mon guys ... I thought you all were into this sort of thing. :)
Did anyone watch the video ?
You can clearly see in real time the airflow from a guy coughing, and the airflow from a soda as the guy opens it.
If a car drove by as the camera was on, you could clearly see the airflow over the car, as well as the areas of turbulence.
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Phil, tufts and dirt roads don't show the full picture quite as well as this method does.
I'm just wondering what is wrong with it, otherwise it would actually be used for aero research ( on cars that is ) .

from what i've seen it' can't be that expensive in comparison to running a wind tunnel. i didn't see to many high tech things involved.


it reminds me of a construction site i saw a while ago. the site was right next to a road and shielded with tall fences covered with some fabric to protect the cars passing right next to it. as a car passed you could see the air push the fabric against the fence. it was as if the car was enclosed in an invisible bubble of air.

would be great if you could see the whole picture like with this technique

I think we can all remember seeing this effect, as the shadow from a hot car shows this effect well.

I know I personally have seen it numerous times.

Here are some stills from the video :

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/...30a0c4a8_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2561/...f4aedf6b_b.jpg

I called a couple of camera shops and they were clueless.

I found this, but can't open the link : Cookies Required

The title is : Inexpensive schlieren video technique using sensor dead space as a grid
Opt. Eng., Vol. 43, 2501 (2004); doi:10.1117/1.1804546

Anyone looked into this ?

What all is involved with this technique ? Can we do it at home with an amature set up ?

Please. Any feed back would be nice.

Is my tone offensive or something ? ( I need to use more of these : :) in my posts )

you wikied Schlieren?
Schlieren - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieren_photography

Sounds pretty straightforward, will need some computing power to make a pretty and affordable picture out of it though.

To me, it seems like a complicated solution. Tuft testing is more elegant, isn't it? And it doesn't require you to be looking at a computer screen - you can see the airflow, unmediated.