Formulation and demonstrations of three-dimensional background-oriented schlieren using a mirror for near-wall density measurements

Three-dimensional background-oriented schlieren (3D-BOS) is an effective method for reconstructing 3D density fields from optically measured data, but it has limitations in measuring near-wall regions, where most of the light paths are blocked. This paper proposes a new extension, 3D-BOS using Mirror, which uses a wall as a mirror to provide sufficient light paths. In this paper, first, the conventional formulations are modified for the proposed method to handle the mirror reflections of the light paths. Subsequently, the proposed method is validated using artificially generated model data of an ideal axisymmetric distribution. The proposed method can reconstruct the distribution as accurately as the conventional method for all the number of cameras examined. Finally, the proposed method is experimentally demonstrated using a candle plume. The proposed method can capture cylindrical low-density regions near the wall surface. Graphical abstract