Abstract
Two optical techniques are described for measurement of a liquid film's surface. Both techniques make use of the total internal reflection which occurs at a liquid-vapor interface due to the refractive index difference between a liquid and a vapor. The first technique is used for film thickness determination. A video camera records the distance between a light source and the rays which are reflected back from the liquid-vapor interface. This distance can be shown to be linearly proportional to film thickness. The second technique measures surface wave velocities. Two photo sensors, spaced a fixed distance apart, are used to record the time varying intensity of light reflected from the liquid-vapor interface. The velocity is then deduced from the time lag between the two signals.
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The authors appreciate the support of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under project 45.
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Hurlburt, E.T., Newell, T.A. Optical measurement of liquid film thickness and wave velocity in liquid film flows. Experiments in Fluids 21, 357–362 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189056
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189056