Development Of Instrument For Measuring Viscosity Of The Liquid Metal

Viscosity is an important parameter of the fluid properties. It not onlyaffects the filling ability of the liquid metal, but also has influence on the processof mass transfer and heat transfer. The viscosity measuring equipment can notmeet the requirements of scientific experiments and other fields, especially, thereis a few viscosity measuring instrument for liquid metal with low stability andaccuracy. Therefore, it is have great significance to develop instrument which canmeasure the viscosity of the liquid metal quickly and accurately.This paper analysis the theory of viscosity testing and the temperature range.In this paper, the viscosity measuring instrument is designed on the basis of twistvibration method. The instrument consists of two parts, the software and thehardware. Hardware of this viscometer is mainly composed of test hardwaresystem and measurement and controlling unit of computer. The test hardwaresystem can be divided into four parts, lifting equipment, power device, hoistingsystem, and signal generator, which is mainly to complete the lifting of the testrotor in liquid, the starting of the twisting vibration, the revolving of rotor andthe emerging of signal vibration. Measurement and controlling unit of computeris composed by ADAM-4118module, ADAM-4050module and ADAM-4520module. The main function is to convert voltage signal to digital signal, digitalswitch signal output and the transform the interface between the module and thecomputer. Operation procedure has many functions such as viscosity testing,calibration, history inquiry, parameter set and manual operation, etc.Characteristic signals can be collected and calculated by signal acquisition andprocessing program.Standard liquid is used to calibration instrument constant. The accuracy andrange of the device is determined by the experiment, and the viscosity of purealuminum at different temperature is also measured by this device. The accuracy, repeatability and reliability of the device are all analysised, the results show thatthe device is in conformity with the design requirements.