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Flometrics uses a number of tools and techniques to solve problems and develop products and processes for our customers. We use flow visualization, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), experimental design and analytical method to solve our customer's problems. Listed below are some of the techniques which we may use to help your company.
Flow visualization is an incredibly valuable tool in an engineers/scientists toolbox. It allows a better understanding
of the flow characteristics in a device or system by allowing the actual flow patterns to be seen. It can be used
to quickly identify a problem that could hamper, if not severely limit, the performance of a device/system. Often
the problem is due to the fluid not behaving as the engineer expected.
Flow visualization can be used to understand and optimize the design of devices involving the flow of liquids and
gases. Most fluid flow is transparent, and the actual fluid motion is not readily apparent to the human eye. In
order to visually examine the motion of such fluids it is necessary to use various techniques that will allow the
flow of the fluid to be observed.
Flometrics has used flow visualization for studying the flow through valves, manifolds, pumps, flow conditioner devices, flow meters, stented arteries, fluid and gas delivery systems, biological reactors, and many other devices. It can show where the areas of high and low speed flow are, and where flow separation, recirculation and turbulent zones occur. Once the flow visualization has been accomplished, Flometrics can alter the configuration to change the flow pattern, or make measurements at points of interest in the flow. If a flow problem is quickly identified, a great deal of money can be saved by eliminating investigative work and multiple design iterations. As most engineering managers know, "guesswork" can be expensive! In many cases it is quicker to run through a series of varations of a design with flow visualization than with CFD, where each computer run can take many hours.
Flometrics can help you decide what type of flow visualization is right for you. We have at our disposal laser
sheet light systems, hydrogen bubble techniques, Schlieren, or traditional dye or smoke techniques. Our modeling
shop can quickly create dimensionally accurate models of your device or system as necessary to perform the flow
visualization on.
Use the links below or click on the pictures on the left to see photos or videos of flow visualization.
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Whether your problem or investigation requires computational fluid dynamics (CFD) mathematical system modeling,
or structural analysis or materials selection, Flometrics can apply many analytical tools to solve your problem.
Computational Fluid Dynamics is an excellent tool to quickly determining the performance of fluid dynamics devices
and systems. Everyone loves the color enhanced pictures, but there is a very real possibility in CFD of getting
a solution which is completely wrong, even though the problem statement is correct. Knowledge of CFD is a must.
This is where our experience pays off.
Some examples of CFD:
Often a problem can be solved by modeling a process using a series of engineering calculations. When combined with
experiments, this provides a very robust way to optimize a system.
Some examples of mathematical models:
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Flometrics specializes in quick and accurate experiments to solve problems. We can quickly put together data acquistion systems to measure system performance. By using our modeling capability to produce accurate models of your system, we can combine it with velocity, pressure, flow and temperature measurements to understand how to improve your products. In fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in particular, an experiment is worth a thousand hand-waving explanations. If your problem requires a set of external flow experiments, our ready access to various wind-tunnels and water channels can get answers quickly. For internal flow problems we have turbine, magnetic and other flowmeters that measure flow from a few ml to 1000's of gallons per minute. We have hot wire and laser doppler anemometers.
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If you are not familiar with dealing with an engineering contract firm, we can help get you started! . Often engineers are reluctant to hire us because they think that they can figure it out themselves. However, when we help your company, we will show you how to do it yourself next time. Most companies learn a lot from working with us. If we can help your company make more money with a better product everyone wins. Flometrics offers the following suggestions that may help you work more efficiently with us
- Clearly define your problem/work statement for us. It helps to call us and discuss your particular situation
before we start creating a proposal to reduce the time it takes to develop a contract.
- Gather together any specifications, preliminary designs, detailed designs, renderings or the like and review
them for accuracy, correct design direction, etc., so that we can get the most from our first meeting about your
project. Bring them with you to our first meeting!
- Determine your schedule in a realistic fashion. If your job is a “rush” job, then you need to be prepared
to discuss scheduling and costs associated with expediting your project.
- Be prepared with your companies nondisclosure agreements and any other contractual paperwork that may be required.
- The more clearly your project or problem can be represented to Flometrics, the more accurate our quotation process
will be and the faster we can zero-in on the ideal solution!
- If you currently have other contract engineering groups working on your project, it is always helpful to coordinate
the work between groups prior to meeting with us. After our initial meeting or discussion, a plan for coordinating
Flometrics work with the overall project (and other contractors) should be easier to develop.
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