In Fluid Mechanics I am expecting to learn about the flow of different fluids through many different systems and how those systems affect the fluids. I also expect to learn about the sizing of many different components to supply the fluid where it is needed, and at what rate it is needed.

On this website you will be able to find all of my test/homework submissions for MET 330 Fluid Mechanics as well as all of my reflections of the tests that were taken.

 

Final Reflection:

Now that I am at the end of my MET 330 Fluid Mechanics class I can officially say this was the most involved class that I have ever taken at the college level. There were a lot of course objectives that needed to be covered in a relatively small period of time. All of the work that I have done in this class shows a great understanding for the material I was taught. For example the work I have done in this class covers every course objective and then some.

  • Describe the nature of fluids and define different fluid properties such as viscosity and pressure.

HW 1.1 If you look here on page 4 you can see that I applied what we learned at the very beginning of class to understand the properties of a fluid and how to calculate for them if they are not given.

  • Compute pressure and the forces (magnitude, location, and direction) associate with it in a stagnant fluid.

HW 1.2 On page 3 in this homework assignment you can see where I applied the very basic equations to find the pressures in a stagnant fluid that we learned in the very beginning of class.

HW 2.1 In this homework assignment you can see that I correctly applied what we learned about forces in static fluids on different surfaces with a great understanding of the concepts.

  • Discuss what buoyancy is and determine object stability while floating or submerged in a fluid.

Test 2 In test 2 you can see where I applied what I learned on Buoyancy and Stability on Page 4 where I discuss the center of mass and center of Buoyancy of the inner tube and the person.

  • Explain the fluid dynamics in pipes and fittings;

Test 1 In its entirety, test 1 shows my great understanding of how fluids act in pipes and fittings as I solve for different pressures throughout an entire system.

  • Apply the principles of conservation of energy (Bernoulli’s equation) and mass to
    fluid flow systems;

HW 1.4 It is hard to draw a line in the sand here because HW 1.4 is where I started proving that I had a complete understanding of Bernoulli’s equation and how to apply it to all different situations. It was also used in all of my tests.

  • Compute friction losses in pipes for a variety of configurations (series, parallel,
    network, etc.);

Tests Every single one of my tests include solving for friction losses in one way or another. It was one of the most crucial parts of the class in solving for what was needed to supply a fluid at a desired flow rate or how the fluid was going to react to all of the friction losses in the pipes, fittings, and valves. Test 3 shows what I learned on series and parallel piping systems.

  • Identify and solve for different very specific industrial problems, such as, open–
    channel flow, cavitation, water hammer, drag, lift, forces in pipes, and learn about
    different instruments to measure fluid flow quantities (such as, pressure, fluid
    velocity, flow velocity, etc.);

Test 2 Shows my greatest understanding of all of these concepts because they were all applied to the same problem when I was tasked with designing a lazy river for a water park.

  • Explain how fluid–machinery work (focused on pumps);

Test 3 Was the part of the class where we really started talking about pump selection and what it would require to run a pump and meet desired flow rates and flow times. In this test I show a great understanding of how to find pump head and how to choose the power that is required to achieve the desired flow rate.

  • Compute and select the appropriate pump for different pipe system configurations

My work in the project greatly shows my understanding of choosing pumps for different systems because I was the one in the group that took charge of all of the pump selection tasks that we needed to do.

 

 

I believe that my learning throughout this course was most demonstrated in the tests that we had to complete for the course. In these tests I showed a great understanding of the concepts of fluid mechanics and that was reflected in the grades that I received throughout the semester. I feel that I was most successful in design problems and this shows in test 2 the most because I received a very high grade (99.3) while designing an entire lazy river and followed all of the requirements that were listed very diligently. I do not see the content from this course overlapping with my career as I am currently working as a Mechanical Engineer designing systems for the corrugated industry, but I do see the teamwork that was involved in this class translating directly to my success at a professional level. I was able to apply concepts from this course to the lab that I took right along side of this course. I do not believe I will use any of this information or skills in the future because of my career path. If I were to be starting this class again I would tell myself that it will be time consuming and you really need to stay on top of the project work and take the progress report of the project more seriously.

 

After completing this class I believe that I have improved as an Engineer by leading my group to a successful project (95/100). I went into this project knowing that I wanted to be the leader of my group and really push all of my group mates to push out the best work that they possibly could and I really think that was reflected in the assignments that we all had to complete for the class. We all passed the class which was a win in my book. My biggest accomplishment in this course was not course work, but it was my growth as a leader through the group activities. I believe that I will carry what I learned as a leader through the rest of my life and it will show everyday in my career. I believe what I mastered in this career was designing and that was shown throughout the project and most greatly in test 2 where we were tasked with designing a real life lazy river and I did exceptional on that part of the test. I think my strengths were shown in every test and my weakness was most shown in test 3 where we had to solve for the parallel pipeline system and do iterations in excel. The thing that was most pressing on me when beginning this course was how heavy the workload was going to be and I learned that that was absolutely true, but I also learned throughout the semester that I could do it I just had to push myself to be better at time management. It was difficult to finish this course with 3 kids under 4, a full time job, and 2 other classes this semester, but I knew it was possible to achieve great things. This was solidified when I ended the semester with an A in probably one of the most difficult/involved classes that I will ever take in my life. The greatest thing about the success that I saw in this class is just how much it made me push myself and how REWARDING it is to be able to succeed at such a high level!