Particle image velocimetry (PIV) tracking of flow of foamed gypsum slurry under a roller

Abstract Measurement of three-dimensional velocity field of an opaque material (foamed gypsum slurry) flowing under a roller is explored using a PIV surface-tracking technique employoing two types of software. The foamed slurry was deposited on a moving belt pulling it under a rotating roller. The case of the water-to-stucco ratio (WSR) of 75 was studied at 0.19 wt%, and 1.86 wt% of foam added. The cases of roller co-rotation with the belt, no rotation, and counter-rotation were explored. The effect of the added foam on widening of the slurry layer on a roller was also studied. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure the surface velocity flow field in both top and side views. A significant rejection flow of slurry before the roller was observed in some cases, with its severity varying with the roller’s rotating direction, its angular speed, as well as the foam content. One of the main aims of the present work is in the comparison of two PIV software: PIVlab (Matlab source, Germany) and PIVware (provided by TUDelft).