Hello All,
I was thinking about the recent Copenhagen Suborbitals launch and was
wondering what ways can fluid flow be measured accurately. I have heard of
various flow meters used to monitor mixture ratio and overall mass flow but
I am curious about the cost and accuracy of these including turbine flow
meters, magnetic flow meters, or any other ones you have experience with.
Also when measuring how full tanks are what are the best ways to do this?
Obviously using a load cell and just weighing it did not lead to the most
accurate results with Copenhagen. Would it have been better to use a flow
meter when filing or would that have introduced too much more
weight/complexity and had similar error? Using blow down pressure system
would require a fairly accurate amount of propellant but I'm not sure how
much it matters if using a pressure regulator.
Thank you,
Zachary Martinez
Aerospace Engineering | Missouri S&T