A method to analyze molecular tagging velocimetry data using the Hough transform

The development of a method to analyze molecular tagging velocimetry data based on the Hough transform is presented. This method, based on line fitting, parameterizes the grid lines “written” into a flowfield. Initial proof-of-principle illustration of this method was performed to obtain two-component velocity measurements in the wake of a cylinder in a Mach 4.6 flow, using a data set derived from computational fluid dynamics simulations. The Hough transform is attractive for molecular tagging velocimetry applications since it is capable of discriminating spurious features that can have a biasing effect in the fitting process. Assessment of the precision and accuracy of the method were also performed to show the dependence on analysis window size and signal-to-noise levels. The accuracy of this Hough transform-based method to quantify intersection displacements was determined to be comparable to cross-correlation methods. The employed line parameterization avoids the assumption of linearity in the vicinity of each intersection, which is important in the limit of drastic grid deformations resulting from large velocity gradients common in high-speed flow applications. This Hough transform method has the potential to enable the direct and spatially accurate measurement of local vorticity, which is important in applications involving turbulent flowfields. Finally, two-component velocity determinations using the Hough transform from experimentally obtained images are presented, demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed analysis method.