This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to develop a low cost educational Particle Image Velocimetry (ePIV) suite including both hardware and software for fluid science and engineering education at university undergraduate and graduate school levels. The proposed PIV is the state of the art technology in fluid flow research that enables visual and quantitative analysis of the flow field. Industrial/research level PIV system usually costs over $100,000. The high cost and safety considerations - because of the use of high power Class IV lasers - prohibit adaptation of PIV systems in the US higher education system. Current PIV systems typically use two pulse lasers with 50 mJ/pulse energy and 5 nanossecond pulse duration. This translates to a total power of 10 mega Watts if it was a continuous laser. In summary, although it is very challenging to develop a PIV system that works with only a single 15 milliwatt continuous laser and a regular CCD camera, the Phase I outcomes indicate that it is feasible. The project will create learning materials by developing software as a virtual teaching assistant for the education process, where the students can develop enhanced understanding of fluid flow by interactive experiments through a computer terminal in the classroom. Hence, the software will be an instrument that can be used in diverse educational settings because of its effectiveness as an education tool, high-tech appeal, compact size, low cost and safety.
Fluid mechanics is a highly visual subject. During the teaching process one must take full advantage of this fact. ePIV gives the opportunity to achieve this to its full extent making this technology easily accessible. The educational suite will provide faculty the latest technology as a teaching tool at a very affordable price, allowing them to acquire new knowledge and skills and to revise their curricula and teaching practices. The low cost of ePIV will allow schools with very limited budgets to use and teach the state of the art technology to their students. The project envisions bringing this new technology from technical colleges to BS, MS and Ph.D. granting institutions. Due to its simplicity of operation, low cost and being highly visual, the ePIV technology can even be used at museums, science centers and similar institutions to develop exhibits in science and engineering. This tool can also be used to promote fluid mechanics and science in general even to non-science and non-engineering students.
Our Mission is to revolutionize how fluid mechanics and heat transfer are taught at schools worldwide by developing state of the art technology that enables deeper learning through hands on experimentation. FLOWCOACH, HEMOFLOW, THERMOFLOW, ePIV, MiniPIV Systems and FLOWEX™ Software allow educators and students to obtain full understanding of the Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer theory with experimental visualization and analysis. Fluid mechanics and heat transfer are highly visual subjects and so during the teaching process one must take full advantage of this fact. Our Educational Interactive Flow Visualization & Analysis Systems are simple to use and include both hardware and software for science and engineering education at undergraduate and graduate school levels. They provide faculty the latest technology as a teaching tool allowing them to acquire new knowledge and skills. Our systems also have attributes of research grade instruments and provide exceptional opportunity for students to also participate in research. Flow model inserts can be made by students as an integrated part of the Design-Build-Test-Analyze educational process. The systems allow educators and students to obtain full understanding of theory with experimental visualization. The students can use different flow model inserts or design their own inserts. Inserts can be made by machining, molding or rapid prototyping. Students can simulate the flow using the educational CFD module integrated with PIV in Flowex software. This is a great way to teach students the complete design process! All the systems are very versatile! They provide visual and analytical tools to comprehend and understand difficult engineering and science concepts. Flowex software is specifically developed for education for the purpose of flow visualization and analysis with integrated educational particle image velocimetry (PIV), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computer aided design (CAD). All of the systems come with Flowex software which is designed to be user friendly and interactive so that the user can visualize the flow field and the velocity distribution instantaneously. Flowrate, pressure and temperature can also be measured. There are a variety of fluid mechanics phenomena that involve fluid-solid interactions that can be studied with the systems. They are all portable which allow them to be taken from the traditional laboratory setting into a classroom if desired. Flowex software can be connected to a projector or connected to the Network for enhanced classroom participation or for a large audience. By virtue of their strong visualization capability, our educational systems allow students to have more active and stronger learning experience. The systems have been designed to be very easily adaptable as we know that all curriculum contains unique elements. Our users also freely share their curriculums with us which we make available to other users. Here is an excerpt from Int. J. Aerodynamics (Vol. 2, Nos. 2/3/4, 2012) about our systems: "Pre and post-test data demonstrated that students, aided by ePIV as well as Flowcoach, achieved practically and statistically significant growth in their mastery of course content during the fall semesters of both years...Students' outcomes provided evidence that the ePIV/Flowcoach systems were effective in assisting students' understanding of the principles of PIV techniques and relevant fluid dynamics theories. Students' scores on lab reports showed evidence for acquisition of skill and knowledge related to the overall lab implementation goals. Students' growth between pre and post tests was substantial both for knowledge as measured and for their confidence ratings of that knowledge. Survey results demonstrated that as a result of the ePIV/Flowcoach labs, students could conduct experiments and analyze the ePIV/Flowcoach results to gain increased understanding of fluid physics." Here is what the students said about our Educational Interactive Flow Visualization & Analysis Systems (Courtesy of Arizona State University and University of Iowa): 'I loved the class; at one point I was doubting my interest in biomedical engineering. The fact that you are doing a hands on experiment/project showed what type of situation you will deal with in the real world.' 'I really liked how we were able to make actual models of the velocity profiles of the fluid flow through an aneurysm and visualizing what actually takes place inside the aneurysm.' 'The ePIV system showed us the future of how fluids will be analyzed' 'The ePIV system was very fascinating and I think more experiments using that device would be very advantageous' 'The ePIV in this lab actually was of some use which is not what has accrued in the last labs. It allowed me to actually see how a fluid flows around an airfoil at different angles. Having a picture of what we were calculating allowed me to better understand what I was actually calculating. All the different plots also, made it easier to see what happening as the liquid was passed over the airfoil. Overall I found this lab to a success and gave me an overall better understanding of the fluid mechanics'
