An Application of Image Analysis to Hypersonic Flows

Image-based measurement methods are becoming increasingly common in fluid dynamics and are seen in applications ranging from low subsonic to hypersonic flows. This work is focused on the use of image processing methods for investigations of hypersonic jet flows, visualized through the electron beam technique. Indications about the jets propagation and their resulting morphologies are obtained by means of several techniques carried out on fluorescent images. The main topics presented are an improved measurement technique for moving structures velocities, an image processing method for denoising and reconstruction of jet images and an optical technique for measurements of the jet spreading angles.