Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Cierpka
Fachgebietsleiter / Institutsdirektor / Prodekan
+49 3677 69 2445
Frau Colette Wilhelm
Sekretariat
+49 3677 69 2410
Haus M
Am Helmholtzring 1
98693 Ilmenau

Heat transfer through flowing media plays an important role in nature and technology. Convective heat flows are usually turbulent and three-dimensional and thus very difficult to characterize. Therefore, the time and location dependent velocity and temperature fields are investigated in model experiments, e.g. in Rayleigh-Bénard cells with the working fluids air, SF6, water and liquid metals. In this context, the flow and temperature fluctuations that are crucial for the turbulent heat flux are determined using non-contact methods such as laser Doppler anemometry (LDA), particle image velocimetry (PIV), ultrasonic Doppler velocimetry (UDV) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), as well as thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC). The results of the model investigations are used, among other things, for the validation of numerical simulations (CFD).