VIBRATION BASED METHOD TO ESTIMATE VISCOSITY AND DENSITY OF FLUIDS AND SOFT-SOLIDS

 

VAlue proposition

In various applications there is a need for viscosity and density measurements of fluids and solids.  Resonant sensors for the measurement of rheological properties are often employed in process and condition monitoring. Micro-acoustic MEMS devices such as micro-cantilevers and SAW devices have been previously used for such applications. However, due to their scale, these devices measure thin film viscosity and local density. Such measurements are often not comparable to macroscopic measurements obtained through conventional devices. Miniaturized cantilever-based devices immersed in fluid provide an interesting alternative.

 

Description of Technology

This technology is a novel method of estimating viscosity and density of various fluids and semi solids or soft solids. This approach uses nonlinear vibration of a vibrating beam to characterize the medium surrounding the beam. The beam acts as an actuator and a sensor in this approach which allows us to immerse the beam/waveguide into a medium and estimate its viscosity and density. This allows us to continuously monitor critical properties of fluid without the need to extract volumes for estimation. The interaction between the fluid and the oscillating beam is more complex to model. In this technology we utilize an ensemble machine learning based approach to modeling the effect of hydrodynamic loading.  This technology has demonstrated the accuracy of the system as a dynamic viscosity and mass density sensor.

Benefits

  • utilizes multiple excitation amplitudes
  • higher accuracy
  • better estimates

Applications

  • Food and beverage processing
  • chemical processing
  • agricultural industries
  • dairy industry.

IP Status

Patent Pending

LICENSING RIGHTS AVAILABLE

Full licensing rights available

INVENTORS: Sunil Chakrapani, Sarthak Desai

Tech ID: TEC2026-0039

Patent Information: