Applied instrumentation course for undergraduate thermal-fluid sciences

Abstract

This paper explains the development of an applied instrumentation course for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University that focuses on the use of probes and sensors to make measurements in thermal-fluid systems and using the measurements of fundamental properties to determine derived quantities common in engineering testing. The thermal-fluid sciences lecture and lab builds on the fundamental material covered in the first semester measurement and instrumentation course. More advanced application of concepts such as uncertainty and error propagation, filtering and signal conditioning, and data reduction and presentation techniques are introduced in the lecture portion of the course. In the laboratory portion of the course students participate in a number of lab activities that range from using existing experimental set-ups to designing, building, and making measurements on a new laboratory apparatus. Students have the opportunity to use several types of instruments such as pressure transducers, thermocouples, RTDs, and thermistors to measure fundamental quantities of temperature and pressure which the students will then use to determine derived quantities such as volumetric or mass flow rate. Students work with a number of types of probes (Kiel probes, pitot-static tubes), measurement systems (square edge orifice plate, venture tube), and experimental equipment to make these measurements. The students use National Instruments data acquisition and control hardware and LabVIEW software extensively in the lab portion of the course. This two credit course, one credit lecture and one credit lab, places a high level of emphasis on critical thinking and originality through several open-ended laboratory assignments and a group project. These activates focus on planning an experimental program, designing the measurement system, reducing the data, and interpreting the results. Students will report the results of laboratory activities and projects in various formats that require strong communication skills. Much of the knowledge, skills, and abilities students gain in this class is used during the yearlong capstone course the following year in the recommended curriculum.