Contactless inductive flow tomography in fundamental and applied fluid dynamics

Contactless inductive flow tomography (CIFT) is a flow measurement technique developed at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf that can reconstruct the global 3D flow field in electrically conducting fluids such as liquid metals. The velocity field of the moving fluid can be reconstructed by solving the underlying inverse problem using appropriate regularization methods. This publication introduces the key concept and mathematical foundation of the method and illustrates the measurement capability of CIFT on two examples: continuous casting of steel in applied fluid dynamics and Rayleigh-Bénard convection as a paradigmatic system in fundamental fluid dynamics.