Design and fabrication of very-low-cost engineering experiments via 3-D printing and vacuum forming

Abstract

A new approach to fabricate flexible and inexpensive experiments for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience with engineering concepts has been developed. The approach is driven by design for manufacture and leverages new manufacturing tools such as computer-aided design, 3-D printers, and vacuum forming machines to produce an array of simple and easy-to-use experimental hardware. The design and fabrication process is illustrated by documenting the evolution of four generations of experimental hardware. Experimental hardware has been developed around two areas in fluid mechanics: a Venturi nozzle experiment, illustrating use of the Bernoulli equation and a Pipe Flow experiment focusing on conservation of mass and energy. The Pipe Flow experiment was implemented in a junior-level fluid mechanics class and student learning was assessed. Students who participated in the Pipe Flow experiment demonstrated significantly higher scores on questions relating to head loss in a pipe than students who attended a lecture. In contrast, student scores on questions relating to fluid velocity were no better after participating in the experiment than those for students who saw the lecture. These divergent learning outcomes appear to be a result of the effectiveness of the educational interventions to stimulate a complete experiential learning cycle involving the targeted engineering concept, a crucial aspect of the design of the experimental hardware.

Keywords

Design for manufacture experimental apparatus thermofluid

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