Optical guidelines and signal quality for LDA applications in circular pipes

The optical performance of laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) technology in applications to circular pipes with an external plane wall has been clarified and quantified. It is shown that optical aberration is a persistent feature in such LDA measurements and measurements from each direction along a full pipe diameter are needed to obtain the flow distribution. For measurements of axial velocities in a circular pipe no special care has to be taken, even if the optical plane deviates from the pipe axis. For measurements of tangential and radial velocities detailed operating guidelines have been presented with respect to the shift of the measurement volume, its optical properties and the beam waist dislocations. The analysis reveals the possible influences on both the signal quality and the measurement accuracy.