156B Week 6

Week 6

Overview of Status of Analysis, Design, Fabrication, Tests, etc.

The overall design of the wind tunnel has now been finalized. The fabrication process has begun with the wind tunnel acrylic structure components being cut out and all other major components ready for machining. The team is also working on the RTD circuit and Labview temperature controller. The team plans on conducting more tests to ensure uniform temperature distribution on the copper plate.

Accomplishments from Previous Week

• • Obtained fan

  • Cut wind tunnel structure components

  • Obtained plate mount components

  • Obtained components for RTD circuit

Goals for Next Week (list names after each item). Use specific and measurable objectives.

• • Assemble wind tunnel (Tian)

  • Machine insulation (Tian)

  • Finish RTD circuit (Anthony)

  • Machine plate mount assembly (Austin)

  • Design Labview temperature controller (Liz)

Sponsor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments

• • Seshadri lent us a rotameter, which he said guarantees uniform flow. We can vary the maximum flow speed by varying area.

    • Using the rotameter would lead to major design changes and more purchases. We will continue to pursue our current design.

  • Seshadri suggested 2-3 weeks for testing the actual experiment.

    • We have adjusted our Gantt chart and schedule.

  • Fan reaches 5m/s without any pressure drop

Instructor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments

• • Dr. T said to calculate the steady-state power, at the set point temperatures with the flow on.

  • Our pressure drop equates to 1.6” of water, so the pressure drop isn’t trivial.

    • We’re looking into other fans as well as putting fans in series.

  • Perform a Solidworks heat transfer simulation with different percentages of flux applied at different areas. See whether uniform temperature is achieved.

• • Use a thermo-interface for the copper plate to address air gaps.

    • We’re purchasing a thermal conductive adhesive between the heating pad and the copper plate.   

  • IR image of heat source by itself - heat source for physical test was not uniform

  • RTD solder melts at 280℃.

    • We’re not going up to 280℃ specifically, but we need to readdress the temperature range with both Nick and Seshadri.

Risks and Areas of Concern

• • RTD signal conditioning circuit needs to be trouble-shooted (there is a short in the circuit)

  • Heating pad heats up very quickly

  • A new fan may potentially be needed to account for pressure drop due to meshes

Resources or Information Required but not Available

• • What to use for flow speed of 4-15 m/s for calibration?

Schedule

• • Finish fabrication of wind tunnel by the end of the week in order to perform experiments the following two weeks

  • Finish RTD signal conditioning circuit

  • Purchase components for temperature controller

Budget

• • $216.25 spent, $1783.75 remaining

Progress on Report and Webpage

• • First draft of report completed

  • Webpage multimedia page started