Thermo-Fluids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About

The Thermofluids research area consists of two facilities: the Thermal/Fluids lab and the Fluid and Hydaulics lab. The Thermal/Fluids lab is involved in the study of thermofluid, including thermodynamics, heat transfer, energy and multiphase flows. The Fluid and Hydraulics lab is involved in the study of fluid mechanics, such as fluid dynamics, surface and interfacial tension/energy of liquid substances and wave behavior.

Equipment utilized in both facilities includes a two-phase flow loop for pipeline flow-drag reduction and oil-water separation research, a droplet dynamic and icing climatic chamber for studying surface wettability and temperature and a wave tank.

Facilities

People

Equipment

The Fluid and Hydraulics lab has the following equipment:

The Thermal/Fluids lab has the following equipment:

...12" Low Speed Variable Orientation Wind Tunnel

This wind tunnel is designed to test mixed and forced convection current for horizontal, vertical and mixed geometries.

  • The test section can have its angle set between the vertical and horizontal orientation by rotating it and the duct assembly about a pivot axis coincident with the center line of the blower.
  • The contraction section is located in the inlet plenum, and has a 10cm (4 in.) thick honeycomb flow straightener that produces a relatively uniform velocity profile at the entrance of the test section.
  • Airflow velocities of 0 - 15 m/s (0 - 3000 CFM) are controlled by using a TB Woods frequency-based speed regulator.

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...36" Low Speed Wind Tunnel

This equipment is an open circuit wind tunnel with a 3' X 3' test section.

  • It includes a van damper located at the fan inlet to control the airflow
  • The air speed range is between 0-15 m/s (0 - 30000 CFM).
  • Data acquisition is a fully automated process and is done through Labview, a PC/Data logging system.

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Cold Room

...Exterior of cold room

The cold room consists of three cooler rooms. The first room is used to test the ice and ship structures, the second room is used as a preparation room, and the third room is used as a harsh environmental climatic icing chamber.

  • Each cooler operates within the temperature range of 13oC and -34oC.
  • The range of temperature is controlled by individual temperature controllers and adjoining doors.

Equipment stored within the cold room includes:

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...Bandsaw

The bandsaw contains a ball-bearing blade guide system to guide the cutting of materials.

  • A 2-4" dust chute is used for a dust collector hook-up. There is also a quick release blade change lever and a cutting height indicator.
  • A hinged door is available in case the user needs quick access to the blade. User also has access to the motor blade, metre gauge and aluminum rip fence.
  • The equipment also contains a square cast iron titling table.

For more information, please visit here.

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...Harsh Environment Climatic Icing Chamber

The harsh environment climatic icing chamber is used to study engineering equipment in a harsh environment.

  • Uses a salt/fresh water spray system to force the spray through the nozzle at high pressure in the environment chamber.
  • The temperature controlled in the chamber can be as low as -30oC.
  • The fan is used to simulate air by emitting a high-power wind speed of up to 11m/s.

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...Ice Shaper

The ice shaper attaches an ice sample to a spinning turn table to shape ice cones. The user should take care not to cut into the frame while using the ice shaper.

  • The blade is lowered onto the ice sample at a 20o or 30o angle, which is pre-set by the operator.

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...Milling Machine

The milling machine is used for milling, drilling, tapping, boring and reaming.

  • This equipment operates on 110V power.
  • A step pulley system is available to adjust the rotational speed between 240 and 1550 rm.
  • Adjusting the speed of the quill helps to extend the life of the machine and is cost-effective for the user.

For more information, please visit here.

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...MTS Load Frame

This equipment is used for materials testing and finding the break pressures by breaking the ice samples. This equipment is also used in resting steel for ship structures with impact on ice.

  • The load frame provides the reaction mass for the force train, which consists of a specimen and other components installed between the base and the crosshead.
  • The control panels are used to vertically move the crosshead, lock it into the desired position, and stop the test program if desired.
  • The force transducer measures the amount of force and torque that is applied to it, and the LVDT (located inside the actuator) measures the displacement of the actuator's travel.

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...Pressure Intensifier

This equipment is designed to provide a fluid source at pressures suitable for the pressure chamber at the triaxial cell, which contains the fluid that needs to be pressurized. After the pressure is controlled, the fluid is flushed out from the triaxial cell at the end of the test.

  • The compressed air allows fluid to flow between different system components before and after pressurizing operations while filling and emptying the different components of the pressure intensifier
  • The CPI of the pressure intensifier consists of a displacement transducer to measure its linear displacement with respect to a fixed reference point.
  • The CPI of the pressure intensifier consists of a pressure transducer to measure and control its pressure value.

For more information, visit here.

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...Contact Angle Measurement System

This device is used to characterize the surface wettability.

  • The static and dynamic contact angles of liquids on various surfaces are measured.
  • The surface and interfacial tension/energy of the fluids are also measured.

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...Droplet Dynamic and Icing Test Apparatus

This setup generates small water droplets with controlled temperature. The drops then impact metal surfaces with variable wettability and controlled surface temperature.

  • This equipment studies the impact dynamic between the droplets and the metal surfaces.
  • This equipment also studies the heat transfer that occurs between the water droplets and the metal surfaces.
  • In addition, this equipment studies the icing behaviors between the droplets and the metal surfaces.

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...Opens Boat Model Propeller Testing

The opens boat model tests how the propellers work in the water without being affected by the hull. This is done by having the boat laid out with the propeller extending from the shaft, causing the boat to have minimal effect on the flow into the propeller and the propeller to have uniform in-flow. To calculate the propeller's thrust coefficient, torque coefficient and efficiency, the user should measure the propeller thrust, torque and angular velocity.

  • The sting of the opens boat extends from the front of the body to support the propeller, shaft and nozzle thrust assembly.
  • The material of the boat consists of welded stainless steel sheet metal and plate.
  • The lower portion consists of a propeller dynamometer and bilge pump, and the upper portion consists of the instrumentation cabling and drive belt for the propeller shaft.

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...Qualysis Motion Capture System

This equipment uses three cameras to capture the motion of models in the wave tank.

  • Each camera consists of various connection ports, including the data port to connect multiple cameras and to connect the Ethernet and PC, and the control port for external synchronization and trigger.
  • The users can set each camera to one of three modes: marker mode (used for tracking), intensity mode (used to remove any reflections), and video mode (used to adjust the camera's focus and orientation).
  • The camera's capture frequency can be set in the software, and the aperture can be adjusted by opening it to its maximum setting, then closing it slightly in accordance to its volume size. The camera can switch the camera to video mode, and the focus adjusted until the resulting image is crisp and clear.

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...Thermal Baths

This equipment provide desired thermal boundary conditions for various heat transfer experiments.

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...Two-phase Flow Loop

The flow loop is used for flow drag reduction and oil-water separation research. With the oil and water tanks and separate flow lines, the setup allows single- or two-phase flow experiments.

  • Flow diagnostic equipment includes laser doppler velocimetry (LVD), particle imaging velocimetry (LDV), particle imaging velocimetry (PIV), and high speed infrared thermometry.
  • A special diaphragm pump is used to inject concentrated drag reduction polymers or surfactants into the main pipeline.
  • Pressure drop is measured in a 2-m test section by a high precision differential pressure sensor. The measured pressure drop will be used to calculate the flow drag reduction.

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...Wave Tank

The waves of the wave tank are generated by the translatory motion of the waveboard. The frequency response is between 0.3Hz and 1.3Hz, which is dependent on how deep the tank is and how much force the hydraulic actuator can generate.

  • Components of the wave tank include an instrumented towing carriage, a large tank, and a control room containing a complete range of equipment used for data acquisition and analysis.
  • The walls are made out of reinforced concrete construction and the wave board is made out of aluminum and has a watertight Teflon seal around its periphery. There are several large viewing windows in one of the tank's walls, which allows visual and photographic analysis of a model's motion both at the surface and beneath it.
  • The end of the tank is a parabolic beach, which consists of an aluminum frame covered by wooden slats. This beach absorb and dissipates the energy contained in the incident wave and maintains a minimum reflection coefficient. Wave filter plates are placed directly in front of the wave generator to reduce the number of cross tank oscillations in the wave tank.

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