User:Asmith6980/ENES-100/Project 1/CDIO

Problem Statement
To make a design or multiple designs ideas in order to create cavitation in a small plexiglass tube.

The Design Process
The team is doing a design that is based in a plexiglass tube and will be filled with water. The tube will be roughly 9 inches long and about 1 and a half inches in diameter. The reason the team is using this measurement is because longer tubes will be heavier to make the snap and more liable to shatter because of all the force being exerted on the end of the tube. The solenoid will be the device used to make the snapping motion for the tube, and this will be hooked up to an arduino so the snapping can be exactly timed, and no one will get hurt if the glass were to shatter. The team attempted to use several tools in order to see which way was the best at cutting the Plexiglas tube. We had used a hand-saw, a multi-tool, and a recip-saw, in order to determine how the tube was to be cut.

This small had pump will be connected to the tube through the valve below and will be used to create the vacuum inside the tube creating a low pressure side on the side with the vacuum.

Utilization of Knowledge in Design
The team chose to use a thicker Plexiglas tube due to the knowledge that cavitation quickly wares down the container it is in because of the force of the imploding bubbles.

Modeling, simulation and test
This is a great example of the process of cavitation happening in a tube filled with water.

A prototype had been created using 3 scrap pieces of wood to make a U shape support and were all screwed together. The stopper has 3/16 inch hole drilled straight through and has two drywall nails that allow the 9 inch tube to pivot freely.



As seen in the latest picture, with the caption "The design we had created after the failed.." we had created a new design. The design was to incorporate a pulley into the system so that the cavitation tube could be lifted higher. it has all the original parts such as the solenoid, kill switch, and still controlled by the arduino, however the solenoid was moved on to the top of a new support system so that the string would be pulled and then snapping up the plexiglass tube. Also silicon was used to seal the vacuum tube into the stopper to allow to no air escape.

Tools Used for Design
The team used a score and snap method in order to test how to cut the tube down to the measurements. The team also used several other tools to test the efficiency of various ways, a hand saw, multi-tool, and recip-saw were used. However when it came to at-home designing a recip-saw was used to get a better edge. This was used wearing goggles and gloves to ensure safety.

The Original Design's Problems
Some problems had occurred during the whole process. The original design had failed because the weight of the tube filled with water was not supported by the string that would snap it upwards. Also it came down with too much force for the string and water would come out every time the tube would fall down. It was then determined that the design needed to be rethought and redesigned.

The Redesign's Problems
The team had recreated the new design which included repositioning the solenoid on the top of a mount that was built for the new design. The problem being with this one was the vacuum created, the placement of the solenoid, and the valve to the vacuum. The vacuum did not suction enough pressure out of the tube, for it pulled out most of the oxygen that was in the tube, but the force was not great enough to collapse the bubbles. The placement of the solenoid was a hindrance as well because it would not pull back out after it had been snapped. During the original design gravity had pulled the solenoid back down. Finally the valve that was used did not hold suction very well, so if this design was to be rebuilt than a better valve has to be bought.

Valves Researched
[http://www.amazon.com/Rain-Bird-Sprinkler-Automatic-CP100/dp/B00002N8NN/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362502144&sr=1-2&keywords=rain+bird+valve 1inch. siphon]

This valve was researched in order to further another engineering project, "Water Ram," this valve would help he the process of cavitation to occur in a tube going downward. It can be opened and shut.

Next Steps
To explain to the new team the failed points of cavitation that had occurred and to start project 2.