Budget Schlieren Imaging Setup Uses 3D Printing to Reveal the Unseen
1 min read
Summary
Ayden Wardell Aerospace has created a low-cost Schlieren imaging setup, consisting of a 3D-printed mirror and phone mount, to visualise differences in air density, for fluid flow analysis.
Schlieren imaging is an established technique for flow visualisation.
However, some commenters have argued that the aerospace engineer’s setup is technically a shadowgraph, since it does not utilise a separate “stop” to fully block light in one half of the image.
Nonetheless, the inexpensive accessibility of the design means that makers can build it and test it for themselves to see the unseeable.
It may also be possible to achieve Schlieren imaging with a smartphone due to its limited entrance pupil, albeit with a less intense image.
