Researchers debut novel manifold design theory

College of Illinois researcher Kyle Smith, together with doctoral college students Md Habibur Rahman and Vu Do, grasp’s scholar Colby Warden, and up to date graduate Irwin Loud IV (MSME 2023), have published their new manifold design principle (patent pending) in Physics of Fluids.

Their paper, “A compact, low-pressure manifold with uniform flow at low Reynolds number,” was additionally chosen by the journal’s editors as a featured article.

“I think the really cool thing from a mechanical engineering standpoint is that in this design paradigm that we have introduced, we are leveraging pressure gradients within the manifold to make flow uniform,” mentioned Smith, an affiliate professor of mechanical science and engineering.

Usually categorized in response to their objective (e.g., consumption or exhaust), manifolds function hole our bodies by way of which a fluid, reminiscent of air or water, passes to transition from one house to a different. For instance, a automotive’s consumption manifold facilitates the movement of ambient air into the engine’s cylinders.

The group’s theory presents a very totally different design technique than that of longstanding manifold design theories in literature, which prioritize attaining uniform stress throughout the manifold. Their principle articulates three design constraints that should be met, the primary of which is to strategically taper the cross-section of the manifold’s header, or consumption.

“Depending on what kind of cross section you use, what shape it has in the header channel, the tapering function takes a different form,” Smith mentioned of making use of the speculation. “These are all physics-based constraints that an engineer can apply to a manifold’s design.”

The second constraint dictates that the diffuser area, or outlet, ought to have uniformly spaced channels organized in a triangular configuration. The third constraint accounts for the angle that ought to be utilized to the area.

“Ultimately, we settled on the tapered-header, triangular-diffuser manifold because it was the only one that theoretically produced uniform flow rate to all outlet channels,” Loud mentioned, recalling that that they had additionally explored different configurations reminiscent of straight-header, triangular diffuser and straight-header, rectangular-diffuser manifolds.

The paper describes the researchers’ experimental course of, for which Loud initially 3D-printed manifold prototypes. The group milled subsequent iterations out of clear acrylic after which collected knowledge from dye-based movement visualization, analyzing pictures of dyed fluid flowing by way of the manifold into undyed resolution.

Rahman mentioned of the experiments that he carried out, “A major challenge was air-bubble entrapment. We ended up overcoming this obstacle by using surfactant. As a new experimentalist, doing these experiments challenged and inspired me.” Their experimental outcomes achieved robust settlement with their principle and laptop simulations.

“Our paper discusses the comparison of a manifold that satisfies all three constraints versus other manifolds that include some but omit others,” Smith mentioned. “We demonstrate that satisfying all three constraints simultaneously produces both the most uniform flow and uniform flow over the widest range of flow rate.”

Their article focuses on the design of a single manifold that distributes fluid from one enter right into a multiplicity of retailers, which is probably the most difficult manifold configuration to realize outlet movement uniformity. Nevertheless, the speculation will be utilized broadly, together with to a system of two manifolds to realize uniform movement for the consumption and exhaust of a number of streams.

Pursuing a brand new design principle was motivated by phenomena that Smith’s analysis group had noticed throughout desalination experiments, through which salty resolution passes by way of a manifold to movement over an electrode.

“We were initially working on designing a larger version of our battery-like desalination flow cell,” Loud recalled of working within the lab with Smith and fellow scholar Do greater than a 12 months earlier. “One of the main considerations was to ensure that the electrolyte was evenly distributed to the leading edge of the electrode.”

Do had identified that as a result of the dimensions of the vanguard can be doubled within the scaled-up design, the group would wish to rethink how their manifold would ship fluid to the electrode. “I am unsure any of us envisioned how intensive the design process can be,” Loud mentioned of the ensuing analysis.

The undertaking holds private significance for Smith as nicely. “My dad, Rick Smith, is an inventor and not using a college degree who designed consumption manifolds and different engine components for race cars,” Smith mentioned.

“I was with him at races and his manufacturing shops as a kid. One of my earliest memories is my dad sketching inventions on a Dr. Seuss book of mine. When I realized we had an opportunity to do something with broad impact on manifold design, it got me pretty excited because we could do something innovative in an area that I’ve been exposed to for a long time.”

The tapered-header, triangular-diffuser manifold can obtain uniform movement with lower than one quarter of the footprint required for a comparable bifurcating manifold. For electrochemical units through which pressurized fluid should be distributed throughout electrodes, reminiscent of movement batteries, gasoline cells, electrolyzers, and electrochemical desalination cells, uniform distribution ought to result in uniform reactions, or in different phrases, elevated effectivity. Smith intends to proceed constructing on the speculation to enhance fluid administration effectivity.

As well as, the group’s principle will be tailored for numerous functions as broad ranging as agriculture and the medical subject. As well as, their principle could also be utilized to different movement regimes and different kinds of fluids.

“There’s an opportunity for us to take the basic abstract principles of the theory and build on them in many other contexts,” Smith mentioned.