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Laboratory Equipment

On this page: Two-meter Table | One-meter Table in Clark | One-meter Table | PIV System | Conductivity and Temperature probes | Translation stages | Density Meters | Camera Systems | Lab Software | Related & Facilities Equipment

Two-meter Table
Located in the Coastal Research Laboratory, the two-meter rotating table can carry loads of up to 2000 lbs. at rotational speeds up to ~ 20 RPM
(f = 4.0). Precision feedback control maintains steady rotation rates. A 24 circuit slip ring package provides two separate 20 amp power circuits, two co-ax circuits for video and conductivity sensors, eight circuits for stepper motor control and eight for other low power uses.

A rotating camera station is located above the table in an upper room. A structure that is synchronized with the rotation of the main table allows video and still cameras to record experiments in a rotating frame. A ring of fluorescent light fixtures above the main table provides shadow free lighting.

Two-meter Table
Click to enlarge
Shown on the table is a custom fiberglass tank two meters in diameter and 45 cm deep. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst)



One-meter Table
The newest rotating table at the Coastal Research Laboratory is a one-meter diameter table. Precise rotation speeds are obtained with a high torque direct drive D.C. brushless motor controlled through a programmable feedback loop. The table rotation rate stability is better than 2 x 10-4 of the set rotation rate.

A thirty-two conductor slip ring assembly passes directly through the center of the motor. Two 20 amp power circuits are available for laser power supplies and coolers, lights, heaters, motors, etc. Twenty-eight of the circuits are dedicated for data, video, ethernet, stepper motor control and other low power electronic signals. A four-conductor fiber optic slip ring is used for transmission of digital video camera signals (see the PIV system below). Future plans call for at least two rotary fluid unions to provide water to and from the rotating table.

Attached to the table is a rigid aluminum channel tower designed for solidly locating the PIV hardware. It is also used for mounting video and still cameras, lights, and a variety of sensors and actuators. Two removable side shelves support auxiliary equipment such as pumps and reservoirs.


One-meter Table
Click to enlarge
Shown on the table is a custom fabricated acrylic tank. It has an inside diameter of 96.5 cm and a depth of 41.6 cm. The tower shown has been replaced by a more rigid one suitable for PIV laser use. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst)



One-meter Table in Clark
This older one-meter rotating table is located in Clark 359b in the Physical Oceanography Department. The table speed has an accuracy of 2 x 10-4 of the selected f and is driven through a gear box and belt drive with feedback control of the motor. A metal tower supports cameras, sensors, and other experiment hardware. Slip rings provide power to the table for power supplies, pumps, lights, etc. Video signals from an on-board camera are sent through slip rings to a VCR and monitor. Still photos can be triggered using an infrared remote control..
One-meter Table
Click to enlarge
Shown on the table is a WHOI fabricted acrylic tank 36 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst)



PIV System
New to the lab is a state of the art LaVision Particle Image Velocimetry/Laser Induced Fluorescence (PIV/LIF) system. The imaging system consists of two 4M pixel, 14 bit, dual-frame video cameras. The cameras each have 2GB of onboard RAM and are capable of 14.7 frames per second. Light sheet illumination is from a Big Sky 200mJ Nd:YAG dual head laser with a 30Hz repetition rate. The system is controlled from a dual processor PC with a 1 terabyte RAID array for image logging. The LaVision PIV/LIF system and software can be used for planar 2D, 3D (out of plane) PIV data, or simultaneous 2D PIV and LIF.

The PIV/LIF system is available for general use in the GFD lab, but special accommodations have been made for its use on the new 1-meter rotating table. These include a sturdy framework on the table for mounting the laser and cameras, and a translation stage for vertical positioning of the light sheet and cameras. The digital video camera signals are brought off the table through a fiber optic slip ring. This allows the acquisition and control computer to sit off the rotating table for ease of use during table rotation.

Conductivity and Temperature probes
The lab has six Precision Measurement Engineering micro-scale conductivity probes. Two of these probes have thermistors for co-incident temperature and conductivity measurements. The probes are routinely used for profiling being moved vertically or horizontally by precision stepper motors. With a time constant faster than 10-1 s , the probe can routinely measure microstructure down to a mm length scale.

Translation stages
The lab has two multi-axis translation stages for conductivity profiling. One is a 3D system designed to provide x-y-z profiling capabilities over most of the two-meter table (176 cm x 176 cm x 50 cm motion envelope). The second system is a x-z stage (100cm x 50 cm motion envelope). Both systems use stepper motors with multi-axis controllers from Parker-Compumotor. In addition, several older single-axis stages are available.

Density Meters
Two Anton-Paar Density Meters are available for precise density measurements. One is precise to 0.01 kg/m3 and the other to 0.1 kg/m3 .

Camera Systems
Standard color and black and white analog video cameras and a suite of C-mount lenses are available. In addition, the GFD lab has several megapixel digital video cameras (aside from the PIV system cameras). These include two Hitachi KPF-120 black and white cameras (1.4M pixel, 30 fps, 10 bit) and one Hitachi KPF-100C color camera (1.4 M pixel, 15 fps). Two image capture computers are used for direct-to-computer image sequence capture using EPIX XCAP software. A Nikon D1 digital camera is available for still photography. Video monitors and VCRs are in each lab location.

Lab Software
The lab routinely uses the latest versions of MatLab and Photoshop. Video data analysis software includes Digiflow, EPIX-XCAP, and the LaVision PIV/LIF software mentioned above. Experiment specific software has been written for stepper motor control, data acquisition, and conductivity profiling.

Related Equipment & Facilities

  • Precise thermostatic baths (NESLAB)
  • Stepper motors and controllers
  • Spectra-Physics 6W Argon-Ion laser
  • Programmable temperature loggers
  • A collection of dyes, particles, pumps, filters, thermometers, hydrometers, glassware and flow meters.
  • Seawater and seawater drains available in the Coastal Research Laboratory.
  • Custom designed tanks and apparatus built in-house
  • Machine shop in Coastal Research Laboratory
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