Friday, May 18, 2012

University Of Colorado Ferrofluid Exhibits

Design Team 14


Project Team: Millie Blackstun, Elaine Brogna, Amanda Childress, Matt Collegeman, Peter Davis, Brandon Schwartz

Company Mentor: Nick Stites, Darren McSweeney
Faculty Advisor: Shirley Chessman



In October of 2011, I was contacted by Millie Blackstun who is part of Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Team 14 at the University of Colorado in Boulder. If you have any questions about their work, you can contact Millie at (millblackstun@gmail.com)  

The objective was to create a series of exhibits to be incorporated into the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory at the engineering center on the CU campus. The ITLL seeks to provide engineering students and the general public with hands on demonstrations of engineering feats. This particular set of exhibits gives physical form to magnetic fields through the unique properties of ferrofluid

*All pictures and video are courtesy of Team 14.

SPICE RACK DISPLAY

The FerroTec EFH1 ferrofluid is suspended in CZFerro Gen4 SL to prevent it from staining the glass jars. Team 14 came up with an very clever vertical and horizontal T-mount for the magnets. If you ever played with neodymium magnets before, you'll know why a safe and durable mount is needed to handle them in a environment where they interact with first time users. A truly smooth and clean display design by the team :)




HAND CRANK DISPLAY


The crank in the far back raises the top magnet up and down via a lead screw and worm gear set. The crank on the left raises and lowers the bottom magnet with a rack and pinion set. The third crank spins the bottom magnet in a circle with spur gears and a keyed shaft. The cranks controlling the bottom magnet can be used independently or simultaneously. The magnetic field interaction between the two magnets produces some really cool magnetic field lines.








NANO TREE DISPLAY


This is the new and improved electromagnetic "Nano Tree" that one of the members of Team 14 optimized. There was a team working on the
project last, but they only had an electromagnet exhibit. The new magnet uses half the power, puts out the same strong magnetic field, and producer 1/5 of the heat. 


 

Friday, May 4, 2012

Ferrofluid in space!

CZFerro display aboard International Space Station


On August 24th, 2011 I was contacted by Howell Ivy of Valley Christian High School, He asked if CZFerro would be interested in getting a ferrofluid display aboard the International Space Station... of course we said yes :) After nearly a year our chamber reached the ISS on March 28th, 2012.







CZFerro Gen3 suspension liquid & FerroTec EFH1 Ferrofluid are used in the chamber.



The ferrofluid is contained in a magnetic chamber with 5 axis of electromagnetic coils.  Different currents are sent through the coils to see the movement of the fluid in a micro-gravity environment.  This is a study of possible uses of ferrofluid in mechanical action without moving parts.  This will also show the magnetic fields without the influence of gravity on the material.



Along with the ferrofluid experiment, the students of VCS sent a total of 7 experiments aboard the ISS. All 7 are experiments are designed and picked by the students.


NanoLab
  1. Electro-plating Experiment -by Valley Christian High School: This experiment  will study the effects of actually doing electro-plating of of gold and bronze in microgravity aboard the ISS and comparing the results of identical electro-plating on earth. Samples of electro-plating in space and on the ground will be analyzed with Valley Christian's Atomic Force Microscope. 
  2. Ferro-Magnetic Fluid Experiment -by Valley Christian School: We all know that metal particles will be attracted to a permanent magnet. In this experiment, students will analyze the effects of microgravity on metal particles in the presence of  electro-magnetic fields. Metal particles in this experiment will be suspended in a special fluid so that the results can be photographed in space, beamed to earth and analyzed daily.
  3. Biological Growth Experiment -by Valley Christian High School: Growth of biological samples will be studied to determine the effects by microgravity. Results will be compared with growth of samples on earth.
  4. Plant Growth Experiment -by Valley Christian High School: Growth of four different plants will be studied to determine the effects by microgravity. Results will be compared with growth of samples on earth. Lighting of plants will be done via light emitting diodes and photos of plant growth will be studied daily.
  5. Concrete Mixing Experiment -by Faith Christian Academy: As humans begin to explore space, a time will come when buildings will need to be built. This group of students will study the effects of mixing concrete in space two ways: (1) By stirring the concrete mixture and, (b) by vibrating the  concrete mixture. The structure integrity of both the space-mixed concrete and the earth-mixed will be analyzed with Valley Christian's Atomic Force Microscope at the molecular level.
  6. Biological Experiment -by Whittier Christian High School: This experiment will examine the level of antibiotic resistance of GFP fluorescent-taggd Escherichia inoculated with Kanamycon antibiotics.
  7. Space Robot Experiment -by Fremont Christian High School: Students will study the effects of a fan-propelled robot in their MicroLab Assembly 
The ISS Program Receives Accolades from President Obama

The ISS Program Receives Letter from Tom Hanks



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