Particle image velocimetry studies on the swirling flow structure in the vortex gripper

Wu, Qiong; Ye, Qian; Meng, Xiang‐Gao

doi:10.1177/0954406212469323

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Hence, the plate can also be moved up and down in the vertical direction. The laser meter located under the plate can continuously detect the position of the plate in the vertical direction and we then obtain the value of h. In the course of the experiment, the following steps were followed: (1) the feeding bolt was adjusted to bring the gripper into contact with the upper surface of the plate; (2) three locating pins were set and their ends were allowed to contact with the vortex gripper; (3) clamps were locked to hold the pins tightly; (4) spring was compressed and held in compression using the spring stopper; (5) laser meter was reset to zero; (6) given flow was supplied to the vortex gripper; (7) height of the clearance was continuously increased to obtain suction force F from the force sensor under different h conditions, and the measured data were recorded through data acquisition (DAQ).…”

Section: Measurement Of Suction Forcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The vortex gripper does not make any contact with the sucked surface and is not easily susceptible to the surface roughness; these are its significant features in comparison with the conventional vacuum suction cup. These features make the vortex gripper suitable for some special occasions, for example, transferring and handling of semiconductor wafers and liquid crystal glass substrates 6 and capturing of rough-surfaced workpieces. 7 Although the vortex gripper possesses a simple structure, its internal flow is more complicated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[8][9][10] Iio and colleagues [11][12][13] used an underwater environment to simulate the gaseous environment and observed the swirling flow through visualization. Wu et al 6 used the particle image velocimetry method to obtain the experimental data of the rotational velocity distribution inside the vortex gripper. Li et al 14 revealed the relationship between the velocity field and negative pressure distribution via computational fluid dynamics (CFD).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of chamber diameter of vortex gripper on maximum suction force and flow field

Wang

Zhao

2019

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

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The vortex gripper is a non-contact suction device that uses a high-speed rotating airflow to create a negative pressure and suction force. In this research, we studied the effect of the vortex gripper’s diameter on the maximum suction force and internal flow field. First, we proposed a simplified theoretical model of the maximum suction force and predicted the influences of changing the diameter. Then, we obtained the maximum suction forces of the grippers with different diameters through the experiment. Both the theoretical and experimental results show that changing the diameter of the vortex gripper increases the maximum suction force. However, with the increase in the diameter, the prediction of the trend of the maximum suction force is inconsistent with the experimental results. To analyze the difference between the theoretical and experimental results, we further measured the pressure distribution of the vortex gripper and calculated the pressure gradient. The pressure distribution showed that the maximum negative pressure decreases while the diameter increases, and there is a pressure platform, which dominates the central area of the chamber. Next, we indirectly obtained the circumferential velocity distribution based on the relationship between the pressure gradient and circumferential velocity. The results of the circumferential velocity distribution reveal that the high-speed rotating airflow only exists in the area near the inner wall of the vortex chamber, while the circumferential velocity in the central part of the vortex chamber is extremely slow. In addition, the results clarify that the inaccurate assumption of velocity distribution of the simplified theoretical model is the main cause of the theoretical prediction bias.

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Section: Measurement Of Suction Forcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of chamber diameter of vortex gripper on maximum suction force and flow field

Wang

Zhao

2019

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

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“…Iio et al 33 observed the form of the vortex flow in an underwater environment in 2010. Moreover, in 2013, Wu et al 34 obtained experimental data on velocity distribution using visual equipment and the particle image velocimetry method and proposed several empirical formulae for the velocity distribution in vortex flow. However, the development of the simplified mathematic model remains a rather difficult work because of vortex flow complication.…”

Section: New Mechanism Based On Vortex Adhesionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental study of vortex suction unit-based wall-climbing robot on walls with various surface conditions

Zhao

Bai

2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:

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This study presents a wall-climbing robot called Vortexbot. Vortexbot has a suction unit that uses vortex flow to generate a suction force. Unlike the traditional unit based on contact-type suction, the suction unit can maintain a suction force without any contact with the wall surface. Therefore, the suction unit can provide a climbing robot with sufficient stable suction force even on walls with very rough surfaces and raised obstacles/grooves, and there is no wear and tear. Furthermore, the compressed air vents from the gap between the suction unit and the wall surface after rotating in the vortex chamber. Hence, such kind of flow direction can avoid the effect of the dust and dropped items on the wall surface. In this paper, we first introduced the vortex suction unit principle and discuss the feasibility of its application to a wall-climbing robot. Subsequently, the mechanical structure of Vortexbot was designed. After which, we surveyed the suction properties of the suction unit on a smooth wall surface. Then the functional relationship between the percentage change in the suction force and the supply flow rate was obtained. In addition, we studied the effect of the roughness and shape (a raised obstacle and groove) of the wall surface on the suction performance of the suction unit. Finally, we experimentally verified the climbing performance of Vortexbot on several kinds of walls with different surface conditions. It was confirmed that using the suction unit improves the robot’s climbing performance.

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“…By using visualization methods, Iio et al observed the vortex flow inside the vortex chamber in an underwater condition (Iio et al, 2010). Wu et al analyzed the velocity distribution in the vortex chamber through the use of visual equipment and particle image velocimetry (Wu et al, 2013). Building upon their prior work, Li et al analyzed the velocity and pressure fields inside a vortex gripper in detail using numerical fluid dynamics calculations and exposed the relationship between them (Li et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigation on nozzle diameter of vortex gripper

Zhao¹,

Li²

2021

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Purpose Vortex grippers use tangential nozzles to form vortex flow and are able to grip a workpiece without any physical contact, thus avoiding any unintentional workpiece damage. This study aims to use experimental and theoretical methods to investigate the effects of nozzle diameter on the performance. Design/methodology/approach First, various suction force-distance curves were developed to analyze the effects of nozzle diameter on the maximum suction force. This study determines the tangential velocity distribution on the workpiece surface by substituting the experimental pressure distribution data into simplified Navier-Stokes equations and then used these equations to analyze the effects on the flow field. Subsequent theoretical analysis of the distribution of pressure and circumferential velocity further validated the experimental results. Next, by rearranging these relationships, the study considered the effects of nozzle diameter on the inherent vortex gripper characteristics. In addition, this study developed various suction force-energy consumption curves to analyze the effects of nozzle diameter. Findings The results of this study indicated that the vortex gripper’s circumferential velocity and maximum suction force decrease with increasing nozzle diameter. Nozzle diameter did not significantly affect the inherent frequency of the vortex gripper-workpiece inertial system or the corresponding suspension stability of the workpiece. However, an increase in nozzle diameter did effectively increase the vortex gripper’s suspension region. Finally, as the nozzle diameter increased, the energy required to achieve the same maximum suction force decreased. Originality/value This study’s findings can enable optimization of nozzle design in emerging vortex gripper designs and facilitate informed selection among existing vortex grippers.

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Particle image velocimetry studies on the swirling flow structure in the vortex gripper

Cited by 16 publications

References 11 publications

Effect of chamber diameter of vortex gripper on maximum suction force and flow field

Effect of chamber diameter of vortex gripper on maximum suction force and flow field

Experimental study of vortex suction unit-based wall-climbing robot on walls with various surface conditions

Experimental investigation on nozzle diameter of vortex gripper

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