Flow Control Linearization and Calibration

Fall 2008 Minutes

Dec. 5 2008

Accomplishments

• Ran several test trials
• Began doing tests to measure inner diameter of tubing. Resolved to fill until water flows out, plug with part of screw on one end after full

Metrics

• Had initial problems converting volts to cm so ran tests to do our own calibration by adding water in 25mL increments and determine the change in voltage
• Determined that the inner diameter of tubing (1/8") is actually smaller.

Outcomes

• Have some data in volts, some in cm due to problems with sensor calibration.
• Finally have data ready for analysis.

Issues

• Lost some data due to problems with the excel file it was supposed to be saved to.
• We had issues getting the desired pressure units (cm) initially so we have data with two different values. Since the conversion is linear this should not be much of a problem during analysis.
• We have some doubts about the values calculated for the tubing diameter. It is a bit of a toss up- it seems like a longer tube would minimize error, but it becomes even more difficult to fill and in the end came out much different than values calculated for shorter tube lengths.