Membrane deflection in inline drip emitters

This study explores the behavior of membranes found within inline drip emitters when subjected to a concentrated load. Knowing the response of the membrane can be useful in optimizing future emitter designs for characteristics such as lower activation pressure. Two different types of membranes were studied, one from the Jain Turbo Cascade® emitters, and the other from the Jain Turbo Top® emitters. These membranes were placed in a fixture, and a texture analyzer fitted with a ball-end probe was used to measure the force exerted by the membrane at a given deflection. The results were compared to analytical models of the deflection of a simply-supported or clamped rectangular plate with a point load, and it was found that these models do not accurately describe the measured behavior. A sensitivity analysis of the models show that changes in the value of the membrane thickness have the greatest effect on change in theoretical deflection at a given force.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Villapando, Alyanna Zsalee.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Amos G. Winter.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123244

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123244