Robert Balmer
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Mechanical Engineering, Faculty Member
- Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Author of over 60 articles on a variety of engineering a... moreProfessor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Author of over 60 articles on a variety of engineering and pedagogical topics, published a textbook ("Modern Engineering Thermodynamics," Elsevier, 2011), and is a co-author of a freshman engineering textbook ("Exploring Engineering," Elsevier, 5th ed. 2020). His current research is in the field of electrostatic generation in dielectric fluids. I have an abiding interest in the history of technology and its impact on culture and society.edit
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The similarity between the entropy balance equation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the classical balance equations of chemical reaction kinetics or allometric biological growth models is used to construct an entropy model for... more
The similarity between the entropy balance equation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the classical balance equations of chemical reaction kinetics or allometric biological growth models is used to construct an entropy model for biological systems. In this model the entropy transport rate is assumed to be proportional to surface area and the entropy production rate is assumed to
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Prepare to orally defend your design before a “jury.” The jury wants to know: Did the team adhere to a systematic design approach? How does the final concept work? What level of risk is associated with this design? Do the students appear... more
Prepare to orally defend your design before a “jury.” The jury wants to know: Did the team adhere to a systematic design approach? How does the final concept work? What level of risk is associated with this design? Do the students appear to be teaming effectively with each other? Prepare the right number of salient slides.
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It's easy to neglect the final report. Don't! Organization of the report includes these sections: title and authors; table of contents (with page numbers); list of individual contributions to the report; problem definition; design... more
It's easy to neglect the final report. Don't! Organization of the report includes these sections: title and authors; table of contents (with page numbers); list of individual contributions to the report; problem definition; design requirements; conceptual design; alternative concepts; evaluation of alternatives; selection of a concept; detailed design; main features and how it works; results of analysis, experiments, and models; manufacturing details; performance evaluation; and lessons learned.
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Research Interests: Computer Science and Law
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A high speed on-line minicomputer data processing system has been developed for the analysis of scanning laser Doppler anemometer signals. Both transient and steady state laminar and turbulent velocity profile measurements can be directly... more
A high speed on-line minicomputer data processing system has been developed for the analysis of scanning laser Doppler anemometer signals. Both transient and steady state laminar and turbulent velocity profile measurements can be directly obtained. A compact mechanical laser Doppler anemometer scanning system has been developed which moves the scattering volume of the dual beam mode at a high speed
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It is shown that for cylindrical and spherical bodies there is a critical radius below which the addition of any form of insulation to the body will increase rather than decrease the cooling of the body. It is proposed, therefore, that it... more
It is shown that for cylindrical and spherical bodies there is a critical radius below which the addition of any form of insulation to the body will increase rather than decrease the cooling of the body. It is proposed, therefore, that it would be thermally detrimental to newborn homeotherms to be born with a protective covering (fur or down) if their body size were less than this critical size, and consequently that the degree of natal covering is not necessarily related to the overall development of the species when the birth size is less than this critical size. A critical weight is derived from the critical radius for basically spherical animals which compares favorably with typical birth weights of various altricial homeotherms. The effect of the overall conductive-convective heat transfer caused by a basically cylindrical animal rolling up into a ball is also discussed.
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Both the theoretical and experimental results of the extension of a filament of viscoelastic material by surface forces are presented. The filament is horizontally supported on an inviscid substrate fluid and is drawn out by interfacial... more
Both the theoretical and experimental results of the extension of a filament of viscoelastic material by surface forces are presented. The filament is horizontally supported on an inviscid substrate fluid and is drawn out by interfacial force effects. A momentum balance establishes the general shape of the viscoelastic filament geometry and 16 mm motion picture film provides specific data. The results establish that the flow is an unsteady extension and that the filament bulges and contracts due to the presence of inertial effects according to Coleman and Noll's 1962 prediction. Extensional viscosity is also discussed.
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The significance of the Bagley capillary end correction factor and capillary die swell are analytically investigated for a fluid obeying the quasilinear Oldroyd rate type constitutive equation which incorporates the Jaumann differential... more
The significance of the Bagley capillary end correction factor and capillary die swell are analytically investigated for a fluid obeying the quasilinear Oldroyd rate type constitutive equation which incorporates the Jaumann differential operator. The Goddard and Miller integration technique is used, under the assumption that the fluid enters the capillary with a fully developed velocity profile, to invert the constitutive equation and to produce an explicit relation for the pressure drop in the capillary. The inlet stress field decay in the capillary is shown to produce both nonlinear die swell behavior and nonlinear pressure drop behavior with increasing L/D. The theory is substantiated, in part, with experimental results.
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The rheological and pipeline flow behavior of corn starch dispersions has been studied. It was found that the flow characteristics of these systems gave dilatant (shear thickening) behavior until a critical shear rate was attained at... more
The rheological and pipeline flow behavior of corn starch dispersions has been studied. It was found that the flow characteristics of these systems gave dilatant (shear thickening) behavior until a critical shear rate was attained at which point Newtonian behavior commenced. This critical shear rate, as well as the behavior of power law index and consistency index were found to be functions of percent volume concentration. Additionally, the behavior of these rheological parameters was explained on the basis of an existing theory describing shear thickening. Pipeline flow data confirmed that dilatant (shear thickening) fluids followed the Metzner-Reed friction factor relationships in the laminar region. The range of behavior was extended to fluids having n values of 2.92 and volume concentrations of 40.0 percent. Finally, it was found that transition and turbulent flow could not be attained for dilatant (shear thickening) corn starch suspensions. This principally occurred because the critical shear rates yielding Newtonian behavior were excluded.
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Research Interests: Engineering and Physics
Brainstorm the problem with the team. There are no “stupid” suggestions! Sketch the concept. Use research-based strategies to promote creativity: think of analogues, reverse engineer an existing similar design, and check the literature to... more
Brainstorm the problem with the team. There are no “stupid” suggestions! Sketch the concept. Use research-based strategies to promote creativity: think of analogues, reverse engineer an existing similar design, and check the literature to see what exists. Use a functional decomposition for complex systems: decompose the concept into its functionalities, combine subfunctions into alternative designs, and sketch the most promising designs. Finally, complete design milestone 2: generation of alternatives.
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Bomb calorimetry measurements were made on dried whole body samples of N. guentheri in an attempt to detect the effect of age induced protein crosslinking. The results show a clear decrease in body energy with increasing age. However,... more
Bomb calorimetry measurements were made on dried whole body samples of N. guentheri in an attempt to detect the effect of age induced protein crosslinking. The results show a clear decrease in body energy with increasing age. However, this decrease was larger than expected and was probably due to a slight decrease in body fat component with increasing age rather than crosslinking alone.
Research Interests: Zoology, Aging, Biology, Medicine, Energy Metabolism, and 6 moreFemale, Animals, Male, Fishes, Calorimetry, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Research Interests: Computer Science, Algorithms, Acoustics, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, and 15 moreEnergy Conversion, Medicine, Biomedical Imaging, Image Reconstruction, Kidney, Animals, Radio Frequency, Radiation Effect, Reproducibility of Results, Soft Tissue, Sensitivity and Specificity, Field of View, Electrical And Electronic Engineering, In Vitro Techniques, and Elasticity Imaging Techniques
Think through your manufacturing and testing strategies. Talk to a machinist for an expert opinion of your design. Start immediately, and assign subtasks to all the team members. Enforce deadlines for all the team! Keep the device... more
Think through your manufacturing and testing strategies. Talk to a machinist for an expert opinion of your design. Start immediately, and assign subtasks to all the team members. Enforce deadlines for all the team! Keep the device drawings up to date. Use the provided materials to make the device. Use appropriate material joining methods, be they glue, nails, screws, and so forth. (For the beginners, look at the pictures of all the available tools needed for construction.)
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Try to analyze your design and use simple experiments to model what you cannot totally analyze. Eliminate risk and uncertainties. Make decent diagrams including dimensions for your device.
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The onset of the stable laminar secondary flow (hygrocysts) that arises when a partially filled container is rotated about a horizontal axis has been experimentally studied. Nearly 500 sets of data on thirteen fluid systems were obtained... more
The onset of the stable laminar secondary flow (hygrocysts) that arises when a partially filled container is rotated about a horizontal axis has been experimentally studied. Nearly 500 sets of data on thirteen fluid systems were obtained and analyzed using a multiple linear regression computer program. Numerous dimensionless correlation models were investigated, the best being a power law relationship between the Reynolds number, volume fraction, and Weber number. Anomalous behavior was observed in that as the volume fraction approached unity, the critical speed of the onset of the secondary flow approached zero, indicating non-rigid body motion (driven by the lateral body force) in completely filled horizontal rotating containers.
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ABSTRACT In the reported experiments, a device for producing a Fano extensional flow with a total pressure drop of more than 1 atm has been designed and tested with Newtonian fluids. It was found that the shape of the Fano column profile... more
ABSTRACT In the reported experiments, a device for producing a Fano extensional flow with a total pressure drop of more than 1 atm has been designed and tested with Newtonian fluids. It was found that the shape of the Fano column profile was best fit by the equation D//i/D equals C//1 exp(C//2z/L), where C//1 and C//2 are constants, D//i is the inside diameter of the Fano nozzle, L is the total height of the column, and D is the diameter of the column at height z. Extensional viscosity calculations for glycerine Fano columns produced values equal to approximately three times the shear viscosity. It is demonstrated that the extension rate is not constant along the flow direction. This presents no difficulties in the case of Newtonian flows, but may produce analysis problems for flows of non-Newtonian materials with strong memories. The hyperbaric technique is effective in increasing the potential for comparative testing of a wide range of fluids over a wide range of flow rates. A hyperbaric test chamber need not be completely transparent; a small window is sufficient for column control and profile analysis.
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DESIGN DAY highlights the talents and creativity of mechanical engineering students in the Integrated Product and Process Development Course. Teams of senior level students present project prototypes built to solve selected engineering... more
DESIGN DAY highlights the talents and creativity of mechanical engineering students in the Integrated Product and Process Development Course. Teams of senior level students present project prototypes built to solve selected engineering problems. Design Day attracts a wide audience that includes the campus community, area high school and middle school students, family, friends, and anyone interested in innovation and product design. Projects are judged by faculty, students, and industry representatives based on technical criteria. All visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorite project, and the team with the majority of votes is honored with the “People’s Choice Award.”
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Solar, wind, and hydropower sources are ultimately all solar. Direct solar includes photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal electric power plants, and solar thermal heat. Hydropower and wind energy are harnessed by hydroelectric dams and... more
Solar, wind, and hydropower sources are ultimately all solar. Direct solar includes photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal electric power plants, and solar thermal heat. Hydropower and wind energy are harnessed by hydroelectric dams and windmills, both of which can directly produce electricity. PV uses solar photons provided they are above the bandgap of the photovoltaic collector. The bandgap also limits the efficiency of solar PV. Solar thermal power converts virtually all of the solar infrared energy to heat and uses it to run a conventional heat-to-electricity power plant. A less sophisticated application is for home heating, which requires lower temperatures and leads to proportionally less heat losses. Windmill farms directly convert incoming kinetic wind energy into mechanical energy, restricted only by the Betz limit. Hydropower is the most developed of the indirect solar power producers. It converts almost 100% of the potential energy of water upstream of a dam directly into electric power.