Blog Post #3

Completions and Works in Progress for Oct. 28th - Nov. 11:

     Team 20 has been working on completing the technical analysis plan over the past two weeks and has completed a few of the necessary tasks included with the analysis. Furthermore, the team has completed a simulation of the control system that will be used within the testing chamber. Figure 1 shows the schematic of the control system and the various instruments that will be included such as temperature sensors and gas sensors. 

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     For material selection, a thermal analysis simulation is in the process of being completed in SolidWorks. The simulated constraints have been chosen so that the real world conditions are modeled properly, such as the temperature being produced by the batteries and the thermal resistance of various materials that might be used. Currently, the team has been running the simulation with different materials for the chamber walls and different dimensions of insulation to line the interior of the chamber. A few combinations of stainless steel and ceramic fiber insulation have met the constraints of withstanding the high temperature of 700 ℃ and preventing the exterior walls from increasing to an unsafe temperature. Figure 2 shows the results of the thermal analysis when stainless steel is used for the chamber material without the interior lining of insulation. It can be seen that the exterior parallel to where the batteries are placed, receives the most heat from the thermal runaway. The ceramic fiber insulation will be used to mitigate this excess heat buildup at the exterior. Future thermal analysis simulations should eliminate the hot spot that is visible in Figure 2.

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Tasks to be Completed Within the Next Two Weeks:

     The team’s plan for the work period of November 11 - November 25 will consist of finalizing the technical analysis results. This includes the CFD analysis required to understand the gas flow analysis inside the chamber. In addition, the configuration of the placement of components inside the chamber will be finished within the next two weeks. This step entails determining where and how gas sensors and thermocouples will be placed inside the chamber. It also includes designing the wiring configuration for these components. 

     Beginning November 14th, the team plans to begin the process of designing various iterations of a locking mechanism for the chamber door. Currently, a preliminary design of the chamber door has been constructed but will see changes as various lock designs are integrated with it. Figure 3 shows the preliminary design for the chamber door. Some ideas the team has revolve around using a simple spring loaded latch pin or an electromagnet for instantaneous locking and unlocking. 

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Known Obstacles and Solutions:

     A major obstacle Team 20 faces, is the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to better understand the design of the ventilation system used to transfer gas out of the testing chamber. Unfortunately, no one on the team has experience with the use of CFD for fluid analysis. However, based on the non ideal composition of the gas being transferred, the team feels that the use of CFD will be beneficial. Furthermore, team members have been conducting research on how to get the most out of a CFD analysis, and have met with advisors that use CFD regularly. 

     In the event the team is unable to complete a proper CFD analysis within the next two weeks, the team plans to delegate a large portion of time to only focus on CFD during the winter break. This will entail learning more about the program being used and further understanding the fluid flow constraints that are expected. This will be the only task being done over the break, making it feasible to complete even with personal events over the break.

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