Hydraulics Laboratory

The CSEE hydraulics engineering lab is located in a shared space in 120 Jarvis Hall. All CSEE students will participate in mulitple labs in this space, and this is one of the several spaces that is both a teaching and research lab.

Teaching Labs

  • Students create a visual representation of potential flow using our laminar flow of water with ink that is injected to create streaklines.
  • A large water flume allows students to calculate elements of hydraulic jump, and to estimate flow rates using different methods. The flume represents subcritical and critical flow, and flow under a sluice gate.
  • Students work to measure head losses in pipes of different diameters and through different minor loss components. They compare these measurements to theoretical predictions. 
  • Particles of different sizes and materials settle, forming the basis of the Stokes' Law Lab where students check the validity of the law and apply two methods to estimate liquid viscosity. 
  • During the pump lab, students collect pump data to obtain pump characteristic curves. They examine the impact of rotational pump speed and apply affinity laws to predict impact of rotational speed on pump head, power and efficiency. 

Location

  • The hydraulics lab is located in 120 Jarvis; the same building as the environmental engineering faculty.