Final Post

Hi everyone,

I hope you've all been having wonderful summer experiences! I can't believe how quickly the summer flew by.

I've been doing experimental research with an inverted liquid piston air compressor. It involved fabricating different porous media (which are sort of like coarse sponges) and taking high speed videos of the interface between the air and water while running the compressor. I ran tests without porous media, with interrupted stacked plate porous media, and with vertical rod porous media. I also tested the effects of hydrophobic coating for the interrupted stacked plates. I found that longer length plates, wider spacing, and smaller diameters result in greater stability, that compression ratio has little effect, and that the hydrophobic coating results in less air bubbles being entrained in the water but more splashing. My experiments helped characterize interface behavior at different operating frequencies and stroke lengths. This knowledge is important to determine sizing and applications for this technology.

The next steps involve testing different spacing of the vertical rods, testing the vertical rods with hydrophobic coating, designing and testing vertical rods with the same porosity as the interrupted stacked plates, and trying a stepped cylinder that keeps the water height constant when the porous media is plunging into it.

The biggest takeaway for me is the experience of doing research. It's very different from my experiences in internships. The work is much less defined, which can be challenging - with a new technology, there are so many facets to explore, so it's challenging to decide which are most important. I also felt more ownership with my work, as the only person working on the project. I was in charge of every part in my setup and making sure things were running and being analyzed properly.

New REU's should expect to learn a lot about the research experience and fluid power. You'll become an expert in some aspect of fluid power! Research can be frustrating and overwhelming at times - there are so many related papers and textbooks, and it's tricky to balance background reading to better understand what's happening in your project and doing hands-on work for your project. Things also tend to break or behave strangely in research; know that it's okay to be frustrated and to ask for help.

My poster is below. Thanks for a great summer, and best wishes to all of the other REU's!
Rochelle