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The subsequent calculations conducted for each trial determine both the minimum pressure required to trigger foam compression and maximum pressure to reach full compression. A full discussion of these calculations can be viewed in the Foam Compression (Physical) Test MathCAD file. Results from the five total experiments are discussed summarized below.
Summary of Results
Ideally, the resulting min. and max. pressures for one piece of foam found from each of the trials should be the same. The pressure that triggers , as the pressures that trigger the beginning of compression and results result in full compression should be the same for each sample of foam. However, as seen in the results in the table below, some discrepancies between pressure values do occur.
Write small commentary on summary of results (ex: any discrepancies between values, how much error, why did error occur, etc.).
These discrepancies may be a result of the foam dimensions. The foam was punched into cylindrical shapes manually and therefore, may not exactly be 1" in diameter and 1" in depth; some may have larger diameters and some may have smaller diameters due to skewed punching. The process of picking samples to use for different physical experiments was random. Therefore, the results should be generally centered around the theoretical pressure values. Additionally, the process of determining minimum versus maximum compression values may not have been consistent. There was no standard gauge used to signal when x-percent compression occurred. We were therefore forced to determine visually when both 1-percent (minimum) and 100-percent (maximum) compression had occurred. Of course, using vision only is not a very precise method.
The average pressure found to trigger compression is approximately 1.25kPa, whereas the average pressure found to achieve full compression is approximately 3.00kPa.
It is important to determine if the pressure at collapse found using trials with the foam column and experimental apparatus is in between these minimum and maximum values determined using this physical compression test. If so, this confirms the general accuracy of the results shown above. With these min. and max. pressure values, we can design the point-of-use filtration unit to avoid failure by compression.