Feasibility of Particle Imaging Velocimetry in Cone Calorimeter experiments

Experimental results are reported on the feasibility of particle imaging velocimetry in a cone calorimeter. PolyMethyl MethAcrylAte (PMMA) plates have been contaminated at their surface by alumina particles (Dev=4.4 μm) as seeding particles allowing PIV analysis. Particles are released by bubble bursting during the thermal degradation of the PMMA for each heat flux investigated (25, 35 and 45 kW/m). A “layer” of particles could be noticed for the highest heat flux (35 and 45 kW/m) while for the smallest flux (25 kW/m), the release is confined and more erratic. Velocity increases as a function of the height above the polymer surface from 0.03 m/s at the PMMA surface to 0.3 m/s at the bottom of the conical heater and these results are in good agreement with previous experiments and numerical simulations. As an overall conclusion, this first attempt demonstrates the huge potential of PIV analysis, associated to our deposition set-up, for investigating flow field during cone calorimeter experiments involving bubbling polymers.