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Two-zone analysis of wavy two-phase flow using micro-particle image velocimetry (micro-PIV)

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2009 Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 065401
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IOP PUBLISHING

MEASUREMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401 (11pp)

doi:10.1088/0957-0233/20/6/065401

Two-zone analysis of wavy two-phase flow

using micro-particle image velocimetry
(micro-PIV)
D Schubring1 , R E Foster, D J Rodrguez and T A Shedd
Multiphase Flow Visualization and Analysis Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
1500 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1609, USA
E-mail: DuWayneSchubring@gmail.com

Received 2 December 2008, in final form 3 April 2009

Published 27 April 2009
Online at stacks.iop.org/MST/20/065401
Abstract
Micro-scale particle imaging velocimetry (micro-PIV) has been applied to 20 two-phase
airwater flows in the wavy regime and near the wavy/annular regime transition. Velocity
profiles and fluctuation statistics have been calculated based on the particle image pairs
produced, which were divided into base film and wave zones. A linear velocity profile is seen
within the base film that extends farther from the wall than in turbulent single-phase channel
flow. Axial velocities and fluctuation statistics are observed to be significantly higher in
waves. An increase in the axial fluctuation intensity that stems from the difference between
waves and base film is observed with increasing gas flow, which may be indicative of a regime
transition. The possible sources of the fluctuations, including turbulence and the variable shear
experienced by the film, are also outlined.
Keywords: airwater, micro-PIV, two-phase, wavy flow, velocity profiles

S This article has associated online supplementary data files

phase gasliquid flow. Several flow regimes are possible in

these devices, depending on flow rates, fluid properties and
geometry. The present study considers horizontal airwater
duct flow; conditions that would be labeled wavy based on
the map of Mandhane et al [2] were studied, along with some
conditions near the wavy/annular boundary.
The wavy and annular regimes are characterized by a
fluctuating interface between the gas core and a liquid film. In
the annular regime, the entire wall is coated by liquid, while
in wavy flow, continuous top wetting is not seen. The film
asymmetry due to gravity has been studied in detail by many
authors [35]. Entrained liquid droplets in the gas core and gas
bubbles in the liquid film are seen in both regimes, although
these phenomena are more pronounced in the annular case.
The largest fluctuations of the gasliquid interface are
interfacial disturbance waves. Review articles by Azzopardi
[6, 7] discuss these phenomena. Hewitt et al [8] suggest that
these waves may be an important source of interfacial shear
in annular flow. Direct measurements of wall shear, such as
those of Govan et al [9] and Vlachos et al [10], have indicated

1. Introduction
Mechanistic modeling of single-phase heat transfer through
boundary layers is closely tied to the velocity profile, i.e.,
how the local velocity of fluid varies with distance from the
boundary, and to fluctuation (turbulence) statistics. Relations
such as the universal velocity profile (UVP, equation (1), as
presented by Whalley [1]) have been developed and applied
successfully to many single-phase systems:
+
if y + < 5
y
+
+
)
if
5 < y + < 30
(1)
u = 3 + 5 ln(y

5.5 + 2.5 ln(y + ) if 30 < y + .

Translation from physical coordinates is outlined in
equations (4)(8). For the flows of present interest, a u+
and y + of 1 correspond to approximately 0.05 m s1 and
30 m, respectively.
Many industrial heat transfer systems involve boiling or
condensing a working fluid and therefore are subject to two1

Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.

0957-0233/09/065401+11$30.00

2009 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

a strong temporal variability in instantaneous shear that is

consistent with sharp increases as waves pass. The vertical
annular flow model of Hurlburt et al [11] was one of the first
to explicitly model annular flow in two zones, with waves and
base film handled separately.
The present work is motivated by a need for experimental
data to confirm or refute the assumption of the UVP in twophase flow. A complete film model (including fluctuations)
is an eventual goal of modeling efforts. Development of such
a mean-and-fluctuation model requires instantaneous, local
film velocity data. Recognizing the success of particle image
velocimetry (PIV) in general and micro-PIV in particular in
both single-phase and two-phase research, the present work
seeks to adapt micro-PIV to the exploration of horizontal air
water flows, primarily in the wavy regime.
Particle image velocimetry techniques have existed since
the 1980s. A discussion of the principles behind PIV, as well
as a fairly recent review of the technology including that for
micro-PIV, is provided by Raffel et al [12]. These micro-PIV
techniques stem from the work of Santiago et al [13]. Initial
two-phase explorations with micro-PIV have focused on the
bubbly regime in vertical geometry, such as the work of Hassan
[14] and Choi et al [15].
Explorations of thin film velocity profiles using other
experimental techniques are available in the literature,
including dye trace results for wavyannular/annular flow
in the paper by Hewitt et al [8]. These experiments were
performed in a 32 mm (ID) horizontal tube at gas flow rates
higher than those in the present study. Two velocity profiles
were found: a distorted S-shaped profile for thin base film
and a distorted parabolic shape within the large waves. These
profiles were attributed to the effects of interfacial shear and
the rolling motion of wave crests, respectively.
Kawaji (and collaborators) have used photochromatic dye
activation to study a number of two-phase flow regimes, such
as the work described in [16]. An initial study be Kawaji
et al [17] focused on stratified and wavy countercurrent
flows and provided a beginning to using spot dye traces to
study horizontal annular flow. This study of annular flow
was continued by Sutharshan et al [18], who focused on
circumferential liquid film velocity (due to its relevance to
film thickness distribution); such circumferential data are not
available from the technique used in the present work.
Lorencez et al [19, 20] considered a turbulence structure
near a wavy gasliquid interface using this technique. This
work suggested that turbulent bursts linked to wave passage
occur in liquid films and found that a k  turbulence
model could be used (with optimized boundary conditions)
to predict the overall fluctuation statistics. However, Dobran
[21] showed that modeling vertical annular flow using the
same turbulence structure as in single-phase flow produces
unsatisfactory results.
Falling films such as those investigated by Mudawar and
Houpt [22, 23] are sometimes used as an analogy for the study
of thin films in wavy and annular flow. Mudawar and Houpt
selected laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) for these studies.
Their results indicated that radial velocities were very small.
The LDV results provide good time resolution, allowing for the

Air
Rotameter

Development
Length

Mixing-T

Test Section

Vortex
Separator

Water
Rotameter

Peristaltic
Pump

Figure 1. Flow loop. Flow directions as indicated.

separation of high-frequency effects (attributed to turbulence)

and low-frequency effects (attributed to waves); the results of
this work indicate that the fluctuations due to waves dominate
and cannot exclude the possibility that the film is non-turbulent
(i.e., laminar). Dye activation techniques employed by Moran
et al [24] and Karimi and Kawaji [25] have also been used to
study these films.
The present experimental technique, cross-section thin
film micro-PIV (cTFMPIV) was initially outlined by Shedd
[26]. Preliminary results have been discussed in the thesis
of Foster [27], along with two conference papers [28, 29]; the
present work is the culmination of these efforts. The objectives
in the present work are as follows:
(1) Adapt micro-PIV to a two-phase stratified flow condition,
in particular wavy and wavyannular flow.
(2) Collect PIV data on film velocity profiles in these regimes
for comparison to the UVP.
(3) Separate images into base film and waves to explore
different behaviors that may be present in each.
(4) Produce fluctuation statistics that, when coupled with
mean velocity profiles, may be useful for determining
the wavy to wavyannular regime transition.
A detailed measurement of turbulence behavior in twophase flow is beyond the scope of the present work. The
fluctuation behavior is unlikely to be exclusively due to
turbulence (see section 6). In addition, taking the large number
of measurements necessary to produce exacting statistical
data on fluctuations is very time consuming due to image
processing; this is not necessary to achieve the objectives
above or to demonstrate a proof of concept for cTFMPIV.

2. Experimental details
2.1. Flow loop
The flow loop is depicted in figure 1. Compressed laboratory
air is introduced into the test section and measured using a
variable-area rotameter with 100 L min1 increments. Liquid,
supplied with a peristaltic pump and measured with a rotameter
with 50 cm3 min1 increments, is introduced through a series
of small holes perpendicular to the gas flow. A 6 m square
acrylic development length with a side length of 15.85 mm
was implemented. Based on the work of Okada and Fujita
2

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

3.0 m were introduced into the flow. These particles are

maximally excited by 542 nm light (green) and emit maximally
at 612 nm (red).
The selection of particle concentration is a trade-off
between avoiding disrupting the flow, for which a lower density
of particles is desirable, and minimizing the required number
of images, for which a larger concentration is preferable.
Further, the concentration of particles varied somewhat during
the tests due to particle loss to filtration and water loss due
to evaporation. A concentration of 30 parts per million
is estimated for the present study. This is several orders
of magnitude below the 1% particle concentration of Ooms
et al [31] that was not found to perturb single-phase turbulence
significantly.
Based on the work of Adrian [32], the drift velocity of
particles can be estimated by

Float Glass
Windows
Gravity
y

Microscope Objective
& Red Filter
CCD
Camera

Plane of Focus
& Laser Sheet

Seals

Nd:YAG
Laser

Polished
Polycarbonate
Blanks

vdrift =

(p l )dp2 g

.
(2)
18
The drift velocity for the present system is therefore less than
1 m s1 . Given the 80 s exposure separation and 1.28 m
pixel size, this drift velocity produces an uncertainty of less
than one thousandth of one pixel and can, therefore, be
neglected in analysis.

Figure 2. Detail of test section (axial view), with the optical setup.
Flow is into page.

[30], this permits the flow sufficient development length such

that the method of liquid introduction will not affect the flow
in the test section.

2.4. Data acquisition (optics)

2.2. Test section

The optical data acquisition system is depicted in figure 2,

along with the test section discussed above. This system was
used to produce 2145 image pairs per flow condition. The two
images of a pair were separated by 80 s with pairs separated
from one another by 1 s to ensure independence of the samples.
The laser assembly was positioned beneath the center of
the test section to produce a laser sheet parallel to the flow and
perpendicular to the bottom of the duct. The laser sheet was
produced by a New Wave Research Solo PIV Nd:YAG laser
with a commercial light sheet lens attachment.
A Roper-Scientific 1300YHS-DIF camera (1300
1030 pixels, inter-line transfer CCD) was equipped with a
microscope objective and placed on a rigid support. The
camera position was carefully adjusted using three orthogonal
translation stages and an attached goniometer. Correct
placement in all three spatial directions was found to be very
important to data acquisition. Precise alignment of the angle
of the cameras line of sight with the test section base using
the goniometer was found to be especially critical, due to
irregularities in the test section and the poor index of refraction
match among water, air and glass.
A long-pass optical filter was used in the lens assembly
to allow the red light emitted from particles to dominate the
resulting images. A 10 Mitutoyo infinity corrected objective
(NA = 0.42, 20 mm focal length, f = 200, 1.0 m resolving
power and 3.5 m depth of focus) was calibrated to produce
pixels corresponding to 1.28 m in the physical domain. This
produces a total physical frame size of slightly more than
1.6 mm (axial) by 1.3 mm (radial). Since the bottom of each
image is somewhat below the physical wall, the maximum
film thickness viewable is approximately 1.25 mm. This is
sufficient to encompass all base films investigated (typically

A specially designed test section, with a side length of

19.05 mm, was used as the location for data acquisition. This
test section was fabricated because commercial square ducts
have slightly rounded corners that would cause unacceptable
optical distortions. Further, PIV requires excellent optical
clarity that might not be achievable in a commercial plastic
duct. An axial view of the test section used can be seen in
figure 2. The darkest shade of gray that surrounds a white
section (representing air) is a schematic of the location of
water in the test section.
Two precision ground polycarbonate blanks (medium
gray in figure 2) with a thickness tolerance of 0.13 mm were
used as the top and bottom walls of the test section. The small
tolerance is important to ensure the perpendicularity of all
faces, which is required to produce accurate measurements
particularly near the wall. The side walls were 3.3 mm
thick float glass windows (light gray in figure 2) with greater
than 95% transmittance in the visible spectrum. These side
windows are clamped against square one-eighth inch seals
(lightly cross hatched in figure 2) that sit on grooves that were
machined into the polycarbonate blocks.
This test section was approximately 30 cm in length,
with a small portion at each end containing the acrylic test
section (15.85 mm in side length, 1.6 mm wall thickness). A
discontinuity of 1.6 mm is therefore present at the entrance to
the test section; the flow is allowed to redevelop over more
than ten side lengths after this discontinuity before imaging.
2.3. Particle selection
Fluorescent polystyrene particles (Duke Scientific R0300)
with a density of 1.06 g cm3 and an average diameter of
3

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

Figure 3. Example images of base film (top) and wave zone (bottom): raw photographs (left) and isolated particle images (right).

image contained few discernible particles after the application

of the Gaussian blur, but other features (such as bubbles) were
mostly left intact. By inverting this altered image and summing
with the original, these other features were largely removed
from the image, allowing particles to dominate the resulting
image.
The next step was a histogram adjustment, with gamma
and mid-tone compression set to 0.20 and 20, respectively.
This adjustment was mostly successful in removing lowintensity, non-particle image residuals due to weak intensity
gradients in the original image. A median noise filter, applied
with a radius of 3 pixels, was used to remove image noise.
Finally, a threshold adjustment, set manually for each image,
was performed to isolate particles. This manual step was
required by the varying overall brightness of each image
(related to particle concentration) and increased brightness
typical of the second image of a pair.

on the order of 0.5 mm, decreasing with increasing gas flow)

but insufficient to encompass tall waves, whose heights can be
several mm.

3. Data and analysis

3.1. Available data
An array of air and water meter readings was used in the
present study. The pressure difference between flow meters
and test section, as well as that between test section and exit, is
small relative to atmosphere pressure. This allows correction
of meter reading or test section flow rate for variations in
gas density to be avoided. The conditions are then well
approximated as a grid of air and water flow rates. Estimated
superficial gas velocities of 6.9, 9.2, 11.5, 13.8 and 16.1 m s1
were investigated (Reynolds numbers between 8900 and
21 000), with liquid superficial velocities of 2.3, 4.1, 6.0 and
7.8 cm s1 (Reynolds numbers between 380 and 1300).

3.3. Separation into zone

3.2. Image processing

For each flow condition, between 21 and 45 image pairs were

taken, with both original grayscale and processed (isolated
particle) versions of the images available. Examples from the
flow with Usg of 11.5 m s1 and Usl of 4.1 cm s1 are shown
in figure 3. Unprocessed grayscale images are shown at left,
with isolated particles shown at right.
The base film zone, shown in the upper two images, shows
particles and flow only close to the wall; that is, a small film
thickness is observed. Few entrained bubbles are seen in base
film images. In contrast, the wave zone shows particles to

The raw image pairs were not adequate for processing into
vector maps due to entrained bubbles, image noise and
out-of-plane features. An image processing algorithm was
implemented using commercial software (Jasc Paint Shop Pro)
to isolate particles from these features.
A copy of a raw image was first subjected to a Gaussian
blur with a radius of 8 pixels, inverted by intensity, and then
added to the original image. As the radius used was several
times the typical imaged particle size, it was found that the
4

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

the top of the frame, with several large entrained bubbles.

Images were separated into these two zones manually based
primarily on the thickness of the liquid film and the presence
of entrained bubbles. Approximately 7% of the images could
not be classified with confidence into one of these two zones.
These images most often showed a moderate film thickness
with few entrained bubbles; images on the edge of a wave (thus
showing both zones) were also occasionally present. These
images were considered in the combined analysis, but not in
either wave or base film zones.

3.5. Analysis of vector results

A post-processing code was implemented to analyze average
axial and radial velocities, along with fluctuation statistics, in
terms of dimensionless wall coordinates. Prior to statistical
processing, components of the text files resulting from DaVis
processing that did not correspond to actual vectors (i.e.,
those with zero velocity) were discarded, along with vectors
at extreme left and right of the images (2% of the total).
As particles enter or leave the frame, spurious vectors were
sometimes generated that may skew the results. Considering
that no significant axial variation is expected within the images
and the reduction in the number of vectors is small, it was found
that removing these results was beneficial.
Data within each zone were divided into seven bins based
on distance from the wall. Results were found to be insensitive
to the number of bins used over a range of 415. Within each
bin, average velocities and y positions were calculated as the
average velocity of the vectors in that bin. The difference
between each vectors velocity and the bin average, a sample of
the perturbation velocity, was calculated. Linear interpolation
of velocity between bin centers was found to produce a change
of final fluctuation statistics of order 1%, which is much less
than experimental uncertainty.
The mean square of these fluctuations in each bin was
calculated to produce the fluctuation Reynolds stresses in both
directions, (u u )bin and (v  v  )bin . The cross-correlation of the
two velocity components was also performed to calculate the
shear Reynolds stress, (u v  )bin .
To accomplish the conversion to wall coordinates, an
estimate of wall shear is necessary.
A pressure loss
measurement over 0.5 m was performed in the development
length (side length: 15.85 mm). The local pressure loss in the
test section (side length: 19.05 mm) was estimated by


15.85 4.75
dP
dP
=
.
(3)
dx 19.05 mm
dx 15.85 mm 19.05
This relation uses an analogy with single-phase flow, for which
pressure gradient varies as the ratio of kinetic energy (scales
with side length to the 4 power at constant mass flow rates)
and side length multiplied by a Reynolds number (scales with
side length to the 0.25 power).
Conversion to wall coordinates proceeded by the
following equations (s denotes the length of one side of the
duct):

3.4. Calculation of vectors

DaVis 7.1 [33] was used to calculate velocity vectors. This
software uses a fast Fourier transform (FFT) approximation
of a two-dimensional cross-correlation between the images
of a pair to determine displacement. By using multiple
interrogation windows on the same image, time- and spatially
resolved velocities can be determined.
The cross-correlation was performed between the images
of a pair. The initial interrogation window was set to a
512 pixel square. A decreasing size multi-pass technique
was used, with a minimum size of 32 pixels square. At the
smallest size interrogation window, a total of six passes were
performed. The number of iterations was selected based on
visual examination of isolated particle images and the resulting
vectors. Using fewer than six passes left additional results that
appear spurious. Realistic vectors were sometimes removed
if more than six passes were used; such additional passes also
increased the processing time.
All passes included 50% overlap. Image correction
was not employed, and intermediate vector fields were not
displayed. A second-order correlation was performed on the
initial passes, and the Whittaker reconstruction was employed
on the final pass. Groups with fewer than three vectors were
removed for all passes. On all passes except the last, vectors
with a difference from the surrounding vectors average greater
than 1.8 times the root mean square (RMS) of their neighbors
were also removed. In the final pass, this criterion was relaxed
to 2.5 times RMS.
The vector maps were then visually examined to
determine if the results were reasonable, i.e., if the vectors
obtained had realistic lengths and correct direction. Fewer
than 2% of images were purged at this stage. The remaining
vectors were saved as tab-delimited text files, combined for
each zone, and used in the post-processing code.
An example of a successful vector calculation (Usg of
11.5 m s1 and Usl of 0.060 m s1 , wave zone) is shown
in figure 4. The thick film allows for the visualization of a
large number of vectors that produce a profile in line with
qualitative expectations: an increasing velocity with greater
distance from the wall. The top panels show grayscale
photographs, with the first image of the pair at left. The
isolated particle images are shown in the middle panels, below
the corresponding photographs. The vector field from DaVis
is shown in the lower left panel. These vectors, along with the
later photograph, are also shown in the bottom right panel.

dP s
,
w =
dx 4

w
u =
,
l
uj
u+j =  ,
u
vj
+
vj =  ,
u
yj u
+
yj =
.
l

(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

The average value of wall shear was employed to nondimensionalize the present data, rather than a local wall shear
5

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

Figure 4. Vector processing example. (Top) Grayscale photographs. (Middle) Isolated particle images. (Bottom left) Calculated vectors.
(Bottom right) Vectors superimposed over grayscale photograph.

and superficial velocity in the test section are functions of

absolute pressure at the air meter and in the test section, which
were not directly measured, an uncertainty on Usg of 10% is
estimated. An uncertainty of 510% is estimated for the liquid
flow, dominated by visual uncertainty of the rotameter.
Pressure difference measurements were taken to within
50 Pa in the 15.85 mm side length development length. This
is contributes an uncertainty averaging nearly 10% in the
estimate of wall shear; use of equation (3) to adjust for the
diameter increases this uncertainty to an estimated 15%. Since
wall shear is taken to the one-half power in the conversion to
wall coordinates, this contributes an uncertainty of 8% in these
normalized results.

at the bottom of the duct. Significant circumferential variation

in wall shear has been noted by several studies in annular
and wavy flow in horizontal tubes (e.g., Vlachos et al [10]).
While this variation is also expected in horizontal ducts such
as the current test section, it is not considered in the present
work. Reynolds stresses for different flows were compared by
normalizing by the liquid friction velocity, u .
3.6. Uncertainty
There are several sources of uncertainty in the present work.
Uncertainties relating to the bulk flow (i.e., flow rates and wall
shear) and to the software for correlation peak identification
can be expected, along with statistical uncertainty due to the
number of image pairs available.

3.6.2.
Software uncertainties. Example images were
subjected to known displacements; the resulting pairs were
examined with DaVis to estimate the uncertainty in peak

3.6.1. Bulk flow uncertainties. The air meter reading

uncertainty is estimated at 5%. Since the air mass flow rate
6

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

location. For displacements less than approximately 100

pixels, equivalent to velocities less than 1.6 m s1 , errors
less than 0.1% were found.
For displacements with
larger velocities, uncertainties rose to unacceptable levels
(approximately 100% at 3 m s1 ).
A fast Fourier transform approximation to the correlation
function is implemented in DaVis to improve the speed of
vector field computation. This algorithm is biased in favor
of smaller displacements. While this limits the range of film
velocities that may be studied with this technique (at least
without alteration of the time between images in a pair), the
flows studied in the present work experience film velocities
less than this.
Some additional uncertainty may stem from the velocity
gradient seen in a sheared film for which the displacement
is not constant throughout the image. However, the test
displacement results indicate that uncertainties in experimental
results (velocity profiles, fluctuation statistics) due to peak
identification are likely dominated by statistical and flow rate
uncertainties.

distributed. Further, the film velocities (including fluctuations)

might be expected to exhibit hysteresis due to inertia.
As with mean velocities, uncertainty in fluctuations
statistics can be expected to scale with the number of samples
(less one) to the negative one-half power. Conservatively
estimating the standard deviation of fluctuations as the mean
fluctuation, uncertainties of 25% in u and v  may be typical
of the present system. The same cautions regarding nonindependence of individual bins apply to these estimates as
well.

4. Example flow
The flow condition with gas and liquid superficial velocities of
11.5 m s1 and 6.0 cm s1 is discussed in detail below. This
condition is selected since both flow rates are typical of the
set and the results are also typical of those seen in other flow
conditions. This data set includes 28 image pairs identified
as base film, 13 pairs identified as waves and 1 pair from an
undetermined zone. The image pair from the undetermined
zone was excluded from analysis due to spurious vector results.
Mean axial and radial flow rates, along with the axial and
radial normal Reynolds stresses and the shear Reynolds stress,
for all flow rates have been included in a pdf file available
from the electronic version of this paper. These are presented
in three forms: three zones of a single flow condition plotted
together, same zone across four liquid flows at a constant gas
flow plotted together, same zone across five gas flows at a
constant liquid flow plotted together. The data plotted are also
available as a comma-delimited file.

3.6.3. Statistical uncertainties. An average flow condition

includes 21 identified and validated base film image pairs,
13 identified and validated wave image pairs, and 36 total
validated image pairs. If each image is considered as an
independent sample, the sample standard deviation in mean
flows would be estimated within each zone as
sd(Ubin ) = 

ubin

(9)

v
sd(Vbin ) =  bin
.
npairs 1

(10)

npairs 1

4.1. Mean flow: velocity profiles

Figure 5 shows axial (u+ ) and radial (v + ) mean velocities as
functions of dimensionless distance from the wall for base
film, waves and a combined analysis. For comparison, the
UVP (equation (1)) is included in the plot of axial velocity
(velocity profile).
For the base film zone, linear behavior is seen near the
wall. This matches the UVP out to a y + of 5 (i.e., within the
viscous sublayer). However, the linear behavior in the present
base film data extends to a y + of more than 10, suggesting
a larger region where viscous forces dominate. Significant
deviation from linear behavior is observed farther from the
wall, near a y + of 20.
Higher velocities are observed in the wave zone at all
distances from the wall. Far from the wall, the wave zone
velocity profile appears to asymptote. This asymptote is
likely the wave velocity discussed by Azzopardi in the abovereferenced review articles. Near the wall, the velocity profile
begins to curve to achieve the required no-slip boundary
condition. While a relatively small fraction of detected vectors
in the wave zone are near the wall, due in part to the steep
velocity gradient there (producing a fairly high y + in the bin
nearest the wall), manual examination of the images indicates
that the no-slip boundary condition at the wall is indeed
satisfied.
The profile from the combined analysis is dominated by
base film near the wall and by waves farther from the wall.

This would suggest a statistical uncertainty corresponding


), depending
to 1525% of the RMS fluctuation (ubin and vbin
on the number of samples for the flow and zone of interest.
This estimate ignores two important observations of these
flows: (1) not all images contribute to all bins (e.g., some
base film images do not contribute to the bins farthest from
the wall) and (2) each image contains multiple vectors that,
while not independent samples, exhibit variation. The second
observation is likely the dominant effect, particularly close
to the wall (where nearly all images contribute), reducing
estimated uncertainties on mean flow to 1015% of ubin and

(again larger for flow/zone combinations with fewer image
vbin
pairs).
In the analysis below, mean flows are expressed in nondimensional form. An additional uncertainty of 8% is noted
due to estimated wall shear, producing a total uncertainty on
u+ and v + of 1520%. Further, estimates of the velocity in
individual bins are not independent of one another, since they
are taken from the same images.
Statistical analysis of Reynolds stress uncertainty is more
challenging, as the distribution of fluctuations is not known.
Turbulent fluctuations are often modeled with a normal
distribution, but as discussed in section 6, some fluctuations
are likely the result of shifting boundary conditions (local,
instantaneous shear), which are not necessarily normally
7

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

50

50

Base
Waves
Combined
UVP

40

Base
Waves
Combined

30

y [ ]

30

y [ ]

40

D Schubring et al

20

10

10

0
0

20

10

15

20

0
0

25

10

50

50

Base
Waves
Combined

40

30

y+ [ ]

y+ [ ]

40

20

* 2

30

40

Base
Waves
Combined

30

20

10

10
0

20

(uu)/(u )

0.0

0.5

1.0

0
0

1.5

v [ ]

(vv)/(u*)2

50

Figure 5. Mean flows, Usg = 11.5 m s1 and Usl = 6.0 cm s1 ,

expressed in wall coordinates. (Top) Axial mean flow (velocity
profile). (Bottom) Radial mean flow.

Base
Waves
Combined

40

y+ [ ]

This makes a combined analysis somewhat misleading, as the

entire velocity profile shown is unlikely to exist at a fixed axial
location at one time.
The mean radial flow is observed to be an order of
magnitude smaller than that in the axial direction. Indeed,
considering the uncertainties discussed above and other flow
conditions, both base film and wave zones show radial
velocities consistent with a random distribution about zero
at all distances from the wall.

30

20

10

(uv)/(u*)2 [ ]

Figure 6. Fluctuation statistics, Usg = 11.5 m s1 and Usl =

6.0 cm s1 , expressed in the form of Reynolds stresses normalized
by average friction velocity. (Top) Axial Reynolds stress. (Middle)
Radial Reynolds stress. (Bottom) Shear Reynolds stress.

4.2. Fluctuation statistics

Figure 6 shows the magnitude of fluctuations using Reynolds
stresses, normalized by the liquid friction velocity. Expressing
fluctuation statistics in the form of Reynolds stresses is typical
of turbulence analysis, but is selected here primarily as a
convenient way to express analysis that might be familiar
to readers. A discussion of turbulence and other sources of
fluctuations can be seen in section 6.
The axial Reynolds stress, the largest term for the present
study, is seen to be several times larger within the wave zone
than for the base film. This wave-zone Reynolds stress stems
from velocity variations at a small spatial scale (i.e., within an
image) and between waves (i.e., across multiple images). The
combined axial Reynolds stress is observed to be close to that

of the wave zone and remains large, even near the wall. This
highlights the steep velocity gradient of the wave zone, so that
even a small number of wave-zone vectors in the bin nearest
the wall increases the fluctuation statistics significantly.
Trends in axial Reynolds stress with distance from the
wall are fairly weak for this flow. Within the wave zone, axial
fluctuations are somewhat smaller far from the wall. The base
zone displays non-monotonic behavior for this flow condition
and others. Beginning with the second bin from the wall (so as
8

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

to exclude a small number of spurious vectors due to particles

on the wall), axial fluctuations tend to increase with distance
from the wall, matching the behavior in the velocity profile.
The bin furthest from the wall, in contrast, often shows a
decrease in axial fluctuation intensity. This may stem from
the reduced number of images used to populate this bin; many
base film images show a film too thin to affect this result.
The radial fluctuations generally increase with distance
from the wall; this may be linked to the larger mean velocity
there. The bin farthest from the wall for the base film shows
a significantly larger radial Reynolds stress than other bins for
the present flow condition; a trend not repeated in most of the
other flow conditions.
The shear Reynolds stress matches general trends
predicted by single-phase boundary layer theory, with a
negative value increasing in magnitude with increased distance
from the wall. While these results are seen in a majority
of flow conditions studied, they were not seen universally;
further study would be required to confirm these results.
Such study would likely focus on increasing the number of
image pairs taken so as to reduce statistical uncertainty, which
prevents detailed quantitative analysis of results in a single flow
rate.

70
60

40

+
w

y [ ]

50

U [m s ]

6.9
9.2
11.5
13.8
16.1
UVP

sg

30
20
10
0
0

10

15

u+

20

25

60
50

y+ [ ]

40

2.3
4.1
6.0
7.8
UVP

Usl [cm s ]

30
20
10

5. Trends with flow rates

0
0

10

15
+
w

20

25

30

While mean flows and fluctuation statistics in the radial

direction, along with shear Reynolds stresses, are quite similar
across flow rates, significant differences are seen in the axial
direction depending on gas and liquid flow rates. Within the
wave zone, significant difference in the axial velocity profile is
noted with both liquid and gas flow rates. The behavior in the
axial Reynolds stress, viewed as a function of increasing gas
flow, changes at a gas velocity of approximately 12 m s1 ,
close to the velocity predicted to represent a transition
from wavy to annular flow based on the map of Mandhane
et al [2].

Figure 7. Wave zone velocity profile as a function of flow rates.

(Top) Gas flows as indicated, Usg = 6.0 cm s1 . (Bottom) Liquid
flows as indicated, Usl = 11.5 m s1 .
80

Usg [m s ]

70

6.9
9.2
11.5
13.8
16.1

60

y+c

50
40
30

5.1. Velocity profile: wave zone

20

Figure 7 indicates the velocity profile within the wave zone

as a function of both liquid and gas flow rates. At low gas
flows (i.e., those clearly in the wavy regime), conversion to
wall coordinates produces similar velocity profiles. As the
gas flow rate increases, however, the non-dimensionalized
wave zone velocity decreases, indicating that wave velocity
increases more slowly with gas flow than does liquid friction
velocity. Further, higher gas flows show less curvature in the
wave velocity profile, particularly far from the wall.
Similar trends are seen with increasing liquid flow. At low
liquid flows (Usl less than 5 cm s1 ), a smooth velocity profile
extending to a u+ of 25 is seen. With increasing liquid flow,
the non-dimensional wave velocity decreases, again indicating
that wave velocity increases less quickly with flow rate than
friction velocity.

10
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

(uu)/(u*)2

Figure 8. Combined zone axial fluctuations, Usl = 7.8 cm s1 , gas

flow rates as indicated.

5.2. Axial fluctuations: gas flow

Axial Reynolds stress in a single zone, as a function of gas
flow rate, is shown in figure 8. Examination of the combined
fluctuation statistics for these flows demonstrates the transition
even more strongly, as the axial Reynolds stress for the
13.8 m s1 gas flow decreases by a factor of 5 with increasing
distance from the wall. The high Reynolds stress near the
9

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 065401

D Schubring et al

wall for the combined calculation comes from the increase

within the wave zone discussed above, which may be related
to the steep velocity gradient near the wall, as well as a greater
difference between base film and wave zone velocities.

7. Conclusions
A new experimental technique, cross-section thin film
micro-PIV (cTFMPIV), has been successfully applied to
the study of two-phase wavy and wavyannular flow in a
horizontal duct.
Division of image pairs into base film and wave zones
shows significantly different film velocity within the two
zones.
The results obtained are consistent with the hypothesis
that waves are turbulent structures while the base film
experiences only decaying turbulence; further study
regarding this hypothesis is advised.

6. Nature of fluctuations
The fluctuations found in the present work were phrased
as Reynolds stresses to provide a familiar framework for
discussion. Although this calculation is therefore rooted in
techniques typical to the analysis of turbulence, it is unlikely
that turbulence (i.e., stochastic vortices within the liquid film)
is the dominant source of fluctuations, particularly in the base
film. Decoupling turbulence from other fluctuations is of direct
interest to heat transfer modeling, as a pulsation that only
moves fluid in the axial direction will not enhance convective
heat transfer as would a turbulent flow.
Intermittent waves appear to travel on top of and mix with
the base film in both wavy and annular flow. As these waves
pass, wall shear increases sharply. This produces fluctuations
due to time-varying boundary conditions. The uncertainty
discussed above, including the binning of data across finite
spatial scales, may also produce fluctuations that do not stem
from turbulence. Further fluctuations not rooted in turbulence
may be found due to uncertainties in the PIV correlation
evaluation and in the sudden expansion (side length from 15.85
to 19.05 mm) encountered 10 diameters upstream of the PIV
measurement.
Typical base film images show a film thickness
significantly less than the width of the image (length of
flow captured). If turbulence were the dominant source
of fluctuations, eddies would be visible in vector images
as changes in local vector length and direction, relative to
surrounding vectors. These eddies are not apparent in the
base film images, particularly among base film pairs with the
thinnest films. Within waves, these images are inconclusive, as
some vorticity, possibly indication of eddies, is seen. However,
these rotating phenomena often occupy most of the image
frame and are therefore too large to be present in the base film.
Moreover, many image pairs (such as figure 4) do not show
these phenomena.
Considering these observations, the pulsating nature of
wavy and annular flow, and the velocity profiles discussed
above (in particular, the linear behavior in the base film),
a qualitative model of these flows emerges, in which the
thin film of wavy flow experiences intermittent turbulence,
with waves conceptualized as turbulent structures subject to
decaying turbulence behavior.
Future work to investigate this flow regime may be
well advised to focus on particle tracking velocimetry (PTV)
methods instead of the PIV method employed in the present
work. The ability to resolve individual particles for multiple
frames would allow for detection of eddies in the film by
examining particle accelerations. This would allow for
investigation of turbulence (through identification of vorticity),
as distinct from pulsation that may occur exclusively in the
axial direction.

Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the financial support for the data
acquisition portion of this project provided by ASHRAE,
the Petroleum Research Fund, and the National Science
Foundation under award no CTS-0134510. Any opinions,
findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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