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Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
150 W.University Blvd.
Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone: (321) 674-8092
Fax: (321) 674-8813
Email: vborton@fit.edu
Laboratories - Thermal Sciences


Overview

Thermal sciences encompass the areas of heat transfer, combustion, and thermal power generation, among many others.  Its principles can be found in heating a building, propelling an airplane, and producing electricity in a powerplant.  The study of clean energy focuses on developing energy sources from renewable sources such as solar or wind power.  With the ever-increasing emphasis on diminishing petroleum reserves and preserving our environment, research in this area is becoming more and more important.

 

Some examples of laboratory experiments:

Experiment: Free Convection Heat Transfer

Goals: To familiarize students with the dimensionless parameters governing free convection and to illustrate experimental techniques for determining free convection heat transfer correlations. In addition the student is also introduced to computerized data acquisition using Labview (National Instruments) and processing procedures.

Experiment: Solar Collector Measurements
Goals: To measure the efficiency of the solar collector under varying flow rates, angle of inclination, and inlet water temperatures. In addition the student is also introduced to computerized data acquisition and processing procedures.
Experiment: Transmittance Measurement of Glass Plates
Goals: To measure the transmittance of a laser beam through glass plates of different thickness and of different materials. By measuring the intensities of a Helium-Neon laser beam (632.8nm) with and without the plate in the beam path, the overall transmittance of the plate is recorded as the ratio of the two intensities. The measured refractive indices and absorption coefficients are compared with the published values.
Experiment: Combustion within Porous Ceramics
Burner Table for Cylindrical, Dual-Layer Porous Ceramic Burner Premixed Flame inside Porous Ceramic Disk

This is a clean combustion technique using the porous ceramics for burner construction.  The combustion of the gaseous fuel and air mixture occurs inside the solid matrix.  Such combustion processes have received much attention in recent years from industry and academia in several nations.

 

Click here for more thermal systems experiments.

Premixed Flame inside Porous Ceramic Disk


Teaching & Research Laboratories

Fluids and Aerodynamics

Thermal Sciences

Structures & Solid Mechanics
Computer-Aided Engineering
Robotics and Spatial Systems
Dynamic Systems and Controls
Computational Modeling
Laser Optics and Instrumentation

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