Design of third generation Vane Gap Experiment using Surface Evolver
Abstract
The presence of capillary flow can be a benefit or a hindrance in many applications. The existence of capillary flow in gaps in low-gravity environments is of special interest for the design of propellant management devices (PMD). The first generation of the Vane Gap Experiment gave experimental results in low-gravity for a rectangular vane in an elliptical cylinder. This study looks at the design of a third generation of Vane Gap Experiment by looking at the existence of capillary flow and the static liquid-interface solutions for a tapered vane placed in an elliptical cylinder. The vane in this study can be rotated to change the orientation of the vane to the cylinder wall and to change the size of the gap between the vane and the cylinder wall. Surface Evolver is used to obtain the results in this thesis. Baseline cases (cases without rotation axis offset from the center of the ellipse) where the base width of the vane and its taper are varied, offset cases where the axis of orientation is not at the center of the cylinder but is at the center of the vane, and flipped cases which flip the vane studied in the offset cases from top to bottom so that the narrow end of the vane is immersed in the liquid are looked at. This thesis shows that as the vane orientation changes the height to which the liquid climbs the gap also changes. At certain vane rotation angles the gap size between the vane and the cylinder wall is small enough for the liquid to climb to the top of the vane. Depending on whether the wide end of the vane or the narrow end of the vane is immersed in the liquid, what the initial gap size is, and what the vane taper is, the liquid will climb to the top of the vane or will stop before it gets to the top. A bulk shift of the liquid from one side of the cylinder to the other is also observed in several cases.
Degree
M.S.E.
Advisors
Collicott, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Aerospace engineering
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