For the week of 4/12/15-4/18/15, the broken bolts from the engine’s damper were successfully removed so we proceeded with using the original fan belt system. The dimensions of the fan belt were estimated by the group with measuring tape and reassured with the owner’s manual to be a 50” Green V-belt. The belt was easily purchases at Pep boys for approximately $20.00 which saved us $19.00, compared to the price of the belt from the Generac website of $39.55. Once the sheave, belt, and fan were reconnected, we were happy to see that the system worked smoothly and appears to now able to keep the engine cool during use. Now that we have an operating cooling system we plan to schedule an appointment with the technician to review the system again and see if it is now in good condition to move on to the instrument implementation stage.

As we wait for our head engineer to contact the technician, we have been reviewing the possible flow measuring devices. We are considering a Venturi tube, paddle wheel meter, and a mass air flow (MAF) meter. A spreadsheet has been made to show each instrument with their corresponding pros and cons. So far the paddle wheel seems to be our least likely choice because it does not do well with dirty fluids that may cause it to corrode, or high temperatures. It is also the most expensive instrument if we want it to be accurate. We are now biased toward using a Venturi on the radiator for coolant flow and the MAF sensor on the air cleaner snout. APEP has provided us with a mass air flow sensor which we hope to use. With regards to the Venturi, we plan to design and manufacture our own instead of waiting for purchasing and shipping. The next step is to start connecting everything to set up the test bed and prepare to acquire data using labVIEW.

By Daniella Lopez, Engine Test Bed