The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Development of a non-intrusive particle motion tracking technique for granular flow experiments
Author:	Volcy, Jerry R.
View Online:	njit-etd1994-134 (xi, 144 pages ~ 5.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Mechanical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Dave, Rajesh N. (Committee chair) Rosato, Anthony D. (Committee member) Bukiet, Bruce G. (Committee member) Fischer, Ian Sanford (Committee member)
Date:	1994-01
Keywords:	Granular materials Dynamics of a particle Bulk solid flow
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Implementation aspects of monitoring the position and orientation of a one-inch diameter particle in space non-intrusively based on the principle of magnetic induction coupling are discussed. A radio-transmitter embedded within the particle induces voltages in receiver antennae. Position and orientation of the particle are deciphered from these voltages. A previously developed math model that predicts the voltage induced in an antenna given the position and orientation of the transmitter with respect to the antenna as well as the numerical techniques used to obtain the inverse solution of computing position and orientation from a given set of voltages are used. Practical issues of implementation including the experimental setup, the effect of model-reality discrepancy, empirical model corrections, and methods improving the numerical techniques are the focus of the present study. Experimental results show that the present tracking system has an accuracy of approximately 1 to 2 particle diameters and indicate the accuracy may be greatly improved with the use of multiple transmitters. The technique of tracking developed here has a wide range of applications because of its non-intrusive nature, however, emphasis is placed on the study of the behavior of bulk solids. Directions for future work are discussed.