Abstract
This report describes a preliminary fluid-dynamic experiment performed in a microgravity environment during a parabolic free-falling flight of an aircraft. The flow field is a liquid bridge of silicone oil suspended between two coaxial circular disks. This particular flow geometry is to simulate that of the floating zone method, which is considered as a promising method for manufacturing large-scale semiconductor crystals in microgravity environments. In this report, an emphasis is placed on the description of the development and verification of a three-dimensional flow measurement technique which is based on the particle tracking velocimetry. An automated in-situ camera calibration method is proposed with a view to application to the future experiment planned in a space station. The measurement accuracy is checked by the actual three-dimensional measurement of the moving target marks. Some results of the fluid flow in a suspended liquid bridge are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed technique to the microgravity fluid-dynamic experiments.
