Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The decision was made to use a rupture disc as a valve, to ensure the
fastest possible valve opening time, while maintaining simplicity of operation
and manufacturing and minimizing flow restriction. A commercially available
rupture disc from Continental Disc Corporation is pictured in Figure 44.
Initially, the idea was to incorporate a purchased rupture disc housing and
purchase a variety of rupture discs to achieve different velocities. However,
replacing a purchased rupture disc for every trial proved to be cost prohibitive.
To minimize cost and retain a simple design for the supersonic pneumatic
gun, a rupture disc system was designed specifically for this application. In
place of a commercially available rupture disc, the design allows for use of
household aluminum foil, purchased shim stock, or any other shim material
that can be trimmed to fit in the housing. The housing for the rupture disc was
designed to clamp the rupture disc into place while maintaining a proper seal.
Like the velocity measurement device developed, the rupture disc assembly
was designed in Pro/Engineer to ensure proper fitment (Figure 45). A lip was
designed into the part on the right to ensure proper alignment between parts
and for ease in operation when the burst disc is replaced. Two o-ring seals
were used in this design to ensure both proper sealing and proper clamping of
the burst disc (Figures 46 and 47). Machinery's Handbook was used to size o-
rings for this application and to obtain correct groove dimensions. The
completed assembly is pictured in Figure 48. The air tank and barrel are
directly connected to the burst disc housing with hydraulic fittings. Figure 49
shows the connection between the air supply and the pneumatic gun. The
cylinder refill kit is used to connect the high-pressure regulator to the
pneumatic gun's air tank (Table 4).
Reproduced with permission. Copyright retained by Inderscience Publishers.
Figure 45. CAD Model of Rupture Disc Housing Assembly.
