Description

The C1-MKIII Compressible Flow Bench has been developed jointly between Armfield Ltd and an experienced lecturer in mechanical engineering of Reading College of Technology.

The bench serves to introduce users to all the basic concepts of compressible flow through a number of experimental procedures with a variety of interchangeable clear acrylic test sections.

Project work: Students may devise additional experiments using the equipment as a project work exercise. Examples are provided

The C1-MkIII equipment comprises a single-stage air compressor, complete with a test section and a throttling valve, plus an electronics console containing the necessary controls and instrumentation.

The single-stage compressor is driven by an integral three-phase AC motor. The compressor speed can be varied using an advanced torque-vector frequency inverter, which gives stable and accurate speed control plus direct electronic read-out of the torque produced by the motor.

The compressor is fitted with an outlet duct incorporating a throttling valve, which allows the flow to be varied independent from compressor speed.

The equipment is supplied with a convergent-divergent test section, fitted at the compressor inlet, designed to produce Mach-1 velocity at the throat. The duct is fabricated from clear acrylic, enabling the student to see the construction and the profiles. A pressure-sensing ring tapping is provided at the inlet, at the throat and at the discharge end of the diffuser. This duct allows all the major concepts of compressible flow to be demonstrated.

The electronics console includes two high-range and two low-range differential pressure sensors plus a control for motor speed and displays for the compressor speed, the pressures and the motor torque.