FALL QUARTER 2019

EME 109 – Experimental Methods

MAE Department
University of California, Davis
Course Description:
EME 109 has two broad objectives:

(1) To introduce the principles of measurement theory, data analysis, and bases for statistical
comparisons.
(2) To demonstrate principles and applications of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics through a
series of laboratory experiments.

Class video will be posted in the course ‘box’ as scheduled.

Required Text: Figliola, R.S. and Beasley, D.E. Theory and Design for Mechanical Measurements, 6th
edition, Wiley, 2015.

Grading: 1) Laboratory Reports: 50%

2) Homework: 20%
3) Final Exam: 30%

Teaching Assistant: Each laboratory section will be directed by a Teaching Assistant (TA). Listed
below are data for the three teaching assistants for your laboratory sections:

Teaching Assistant Lab sessions Office Hours Email

Carlos Pereyra TBA TBA [email protected]
Chang Vang TBA TBA [email protected]
Jessica Shum TBA TBA [email protected]
Ryan Liang TBA TBA [email protected]

Overall responsibility for EME 109 resides with a faculty member of the Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering. If you cannot obtain the assistance you need from your TA, or if there is some
problem to be resolved, contact the faculty member. In your case, this is:

Professor Dr. Jae Wan Park

Office 2096 Bainer
Office Hours TBA
Phone Number/Email 752 5559 / [email protected]
Homework Due Dates:
5 homework assignments are made. Homework should be an individual effort and the work submitted
should be your own. Submit your homework in Canvas. Late homework will not be accepted. See
schedule on page 6.

Laboratory Report Due Dates:

TAs will perform each lab and post the video and experimental data in the course ‘BOX’. Your reports
are to be individually written by you (though you may discuss the experiments and your reports with
others). Turn in your report in the course Canvas. See the lab schedule and report due date on page 6.
Late report will be accepted but get 25% penalty per day.

Laboratory Report Formats:

Memo, Formal and lab book reports are required for EME 109. In general, the reports should be as
complete and neat as possible and must be individually prepared. Clarity, brevity, and good grammar
are expected. The memo and formal reports are to be typed on letter size clean white paper with figures
and equations imbedded in the text. Lab book reports are to be handwritten in your lab book in a similar
format to memo reports.

A memo report typically has the following sections:

Introduction: a short introduction section which includes a description of the experiment and a
review of the objectives
Results and Discussion: the analyzed results and discussion of those results, including the analysis
Conclusion: A brief summary of the pertinent results
Appendix: raw data as copied from your lab book, example calculations, detailed descriptions, etc

In general the Memo format reports are shorter and more concise than formal reports. While detailed
background and theory may be important this is less emphasized in memo format reports and more fully
explained in formal reports.

Formal reports should include the following sections:

Cover Sheet
Abstract
Description of the Experiment
Observations
Raw Data from the Experiment
Data Reduction
Analysis
Discussion
Conclusion
Descriptions of Formal Report Sections

Cover Sheet

The cover sheet, which is to be on a separate sheet of paper, should include the following:

Experiment Name

Class (EME 109)

Student Name

Date

Lab Section (Day and Time)

TA's Name

Abstract

The abstract is a very important part of many types of reports. It provides a brief summary of the
contents of the report, and for this class it should be from 100 - 300 words long. The abstract should
state what work was done as well as the major conclusions of the investigation. It is very important to
write a good abstract, because this is often the only part of a report that someone will read. In addition,
readers who are short of time will sometimes use abstracts to select which articles are to be read in more
depth and which are to be ignored. It is therefore necessary to convey the contents of an article or report
as clearly and succinctly as possible.

The abstract should be written on a separate sheet of paper.

Description of the Experiment

In this section, concisely describe the experiment. You should cover aspects such as:

1. The relevance of the subject of the experiment (e.g., is it used in certain important engineering
applications?).

2. The overall objectives of the experiment.

3. Provide a description of the experimental apparatus.

4. Describe the experiments that were performed. Do not include all possible details; just provide
general descriptions of the things that were done. For example, with the supersonic nozzle
experiment, you might state that you investigated operation of two different nozzles, and varied
the inlet and chamber pressures independently.
 You should provide sufficient details to allow a reader to generally understand what was done
during each part of the experiment (though you do not need to provide details on the data
obtained).

Observations

In this section describe any observations you made during the experiment that you think are relevant or
important. Also provide (brief) interpretations of these observations. For example, did the air mass flow
rate become independent of the pressure during the supersonic nozzle experiment? If so, was this
expected?

Raw Data from the Experiment

This section includes the data that you recorded during the actual experiment. These data should be
copied from your lab book.

Data Reduction

After each experiment, you will be provided guidance on how to reduce the data. In this section, briefly
describe the methods you used for data reduction and also list the reduced data.

Analysis

After each experiment, you will be asked to analyze the results in various ways. In this section, briefly
describe the analyses performed, as well as the results from the analyses.

Discussion

Here, you should provide discussion of any questions that may have been posed in handouts or in the
lectures. You should also provide a general discussion of the experiment. For example, were there any
anomalous results? If so, then can you explain them? Did the analyses you performed make sense? If
not, then why is this? How could the experiment be improved?

Conclusion

References
References:

Background information for the experiments can be found in the following references.

1. Van Wylen, G. J. and Sonntag, R. E., Fundamentals of Classical Thermodynamics, 3rd Edition, John
Wiley and Sons, 1985.

2. Moran, M. J. and Shapiro, H. N., Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, John Wiley and
Sons, 3rd Edition, 1995.

3. White, F. M., Fluid Mechanics, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1999.

4. Wilcox, D. C., Basic Fluid Mechanics, DCW Industries, 1997.

5. Munson, B. R., Young, D. F., and Okiishi, T. H., Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics, 2nd Edition,
John Wiley and Sons, 1994.

6. Fox, R. W. and McDonald, A. T., Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, 4th Edition, John Wiley and
Sons, 1992.

7. Shames, I. H., Mechanics of Fluids, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1992.

Lab Schedule (Fall Quarter 2020):
Week Dates Activity Location
1 9/28 - 10/1 No lab.
2 10/5 - 10/9 Lab 1 Statapult Lab (memo) N/A
3 10/12 - 10/16 No lab.
4 10/19 - 10/23 Lab 2 Temperature Measurement (memo) N/A
5 10/26 - 10/30 No lab.
6 11/2 - 11/6 Lab 3 HVAC and Psychrometrics (formal report) N/A
7 11/9 - 11/13 No Lab.
8 11/16 - 11/20 Lab 4 Wind turbine (memo) N/A
9 11/23 - 11/27 No lab. (Thanksgiving)
10 11/30 - 12/14 Lab 5 Nozzle Flow (formal report) NA
11 12/7 - 12/11 No lab.

Lecture, Assignment and Discussion Schedule (Fall Quarter 2020):

Week Dates Lecture Discussion Assign Date Due Date

1 T 9/29 No lecture
R 10/1 Introduction
2 T 10/6 Lab. 1 Lecture (1/3) HW1/ Lab1(10/6)
R 10/8 Lab. 1 Lecture (2/3) Lab. 1 Discussion #1
3 T 10/13 Lab. 1 Lecture (3/3) Lab. 1 Discussion #2
(+HW discussion 1) HW1 (10/14)
R 10/15 Lab. 2 Lecture (1/4) Lab. 1 Discussion #3 Lab. report #1 (10/16)
4 T 10/20 Lab. 2 Lecture (2/2) HW2/Lab2 (10/20)
R 10/22 Lab. 2 Lecture (3/4) Lab. 2 Discussion #1

5 T 10/27 Lab. 2 Lecture (4/4) Lab. 2 Discussion #2

(+HW discussion 2) HW2 (10/28)
R 10/29 Lab. 3 Lecture (1/4) Lab. 2 Discussion #3 Lab. report #2 (10/30)
6 T 11/3 Lab. 3 Lecture (2/4) HW3/Lab3 (11/3)
R 11/5 Lab. 3 Lecture (3/4) Lab. 3 Discussion #1

7 T 11/10 Lab. 3 Lecture (4/4) Lab. 3 Discussion #2

(+HW discussion 3) HW3 (11/11)
R 11/12 Lab. 4 Lecture (1/4) Lab. 3 Discussion #3 Lab. report #3 (11/13)
8 T 11/17 Lab. 4 Lecture (2/4) HW3/Lab4 (11/17)
R11/19 Lab. 5 Lecture (3/4) Lab. 4 Discussion #1
9 T 11/24 Lab. 5 Lecture (4/4) Lab. 4 Discussion #2
(+HW discussion 4) HW4 (11/25)
R 11/26 No lecture Lab. 4 Discussion #3 Lab. report #4 (11/27)
10 T 12/1 Lab. 5 Lecture (1/4) HW4/Lab5 (12/1)
R 12/3 Lab. 5 Lecture (2/4) Lab. 5 Discussion #1
11 T 12/8 Lab. 5 Lecture (3/4) Lab. 5 Discussion #2
Lab. 5 Lecture (4/4) (+HW discussion 5) HW5 (12/9)
R 12/10 Lab. 5 Discussion #3 Lab. report #5 (12/11)
12 Final Exam
(12/17, 8:30–10:30
pm)

Late homework will not be accepted.

Lab performers and graders

Lab Performing Exp. Assisting Report Grading

1. Statapult Jessica Chang Jessica
2. Temp. Measurement Chang Ryan Carlos
3. HVAC Chang Carlos Ryan
4. Wind Tunnel Ryan Jessica Carlos
5. Nozzle Flow Carlos Chang Jessica

Homework graders

HW HW Grading
HW1 Carlos
HW2 Jessica
HW3 Ryan
HW4 Ryan
HW5 Prof. Park
EME 107

SAFETY GUIDELINES

Compliance with safety instructions is mandatory. Consult the safety guidelines in your experiment
handouts as well as those safety guidelines posted in the laboratory for other safety information.

1. Teaching Assistants for EME 107 must be present when any of the experiments or equipment are
operated.

2. Doorways must be kept clear.

3. Power tools cannot be used when you are alone in the laboratory.

4. Electrical wiring changes cannot be done while you are alone in the laboratory.

5. Shoes are required in the laboratory; open-toed shoes or sandals are not allowed.

6. If you are supplied eye or ear protection, you must use it.

7. Safety goggles or glasses must be worn when using power tools or chemicals.

8. Ventilation fans must be on when using any chemicals or operating any combustion engines in the
laboratory.

9. A carbon monoxide (CO) monitor must be used when operating any combustion engines in the
laboratory.

10. All students (and Teaching Assistants) must be familiar with the location and operating
instructions for the fire extinguisher.
Formal Report Grading Rubric

Criterion Exceptional Competent Developing Unsatisfactory

Cover Sheet 4 pts 3 pts 2 pts 1 pts

(Includes all elements of All elements are Only three elements are Fewer than three elements
the cover sheet: included but with included but with NO are included.
Experiment Name, Class, minor inaccuracies inaccuracies.
Student Name, on
separate page, etc.)
Abstract 8 pts 6 pts 4 pts 2 pts
All elements of this All elements are Only three elements are Fewer than three elements
criterion (1. 100-300 included but with included but with NO are included.
words, 2. state the work minor inaccuracies. inaccuracies.
done, 3. state major
conclusions, 4. on
separate page) are
satisfied.
Description of 8 pts 6 pts 4 pts 2 pts
the Experiment All elements of this All elements are Only three elements are Fewer than three elements
criterion (1. relevance to included but with included but with NO are included.
engineering, 2. overall minor inaccuracies. inaccuracies.
objectives, 3. apparatus
description, and 4.
experiments performed)
are accurately explained.
Experimental 4 pts 3 pts 2 pts 1 pt
Observations Clear descriptions of your The descriptions of The descriptions of your The descriptions of your
observations. Clear and your observations observations are observations AND/OR your
correct interpretations of are unclear OR unclear AND your interpretations are not
what you observed. your interpretations interpretations are provided.
are unclear and/or unclear and/or incorrect.
incorrect.
Raw Data 4 pts 3 pts 2 pts 1 pt
All raw data are included. Most of the raw A significant amount of Little or no raw data are
data are included. the raw data is missing. included.
Data 16 pts 12 pts 8 pts 4 pts
Reduction All data reduction tasks One of the data Two of the data All of the data reduction
are accurately performed. reduction tasks is reduction tasks are tasks are incorrect.
inaccurately inaccurately performed.
performed.
Analysis 16 pts 12 pts 8 pts 4 pts
All analysis tasks are One of the analysis Two of the analysis None of the analysis tasks
accurately performed. tasks is tasks are inaccurately are accurately performed.
inaccurately performed.
performed.
Discussion 16 pts 12 pts 8 pts 4 pts
All discussion tasks are One of the Two of the discussion None of the discussion
accurately performed. discussion tasks is tasks are inaccurately tasks are accurately
inaccurately performed. performed.
performed.
Major 8 pts 6 pts 4 pts 2 pts
Conclusions Accurately discusses 1. Discusses 1. Discusses 1. Discusses 1.
handout/lecture handout/lecture handout/lecture handout/lecture questions;
questions that were questions; 2. questions; 2. 2. anomalous results; and
posed; 2. anomalous anomalous results; anomalous results; and 3. whether the results
results; and 3. whether and 3. whether the 3. whether the results make sense but with
the results make sense. results make sense make sense but with MORE than two
but with one two inaccuracies.. inaccuracies OR does not
inaccuracy. cover all three elements of
this criterion.
Overall Writing 8 pts 6 pts 4 pts 2 pts
 The writing is clear. The writing is clear. The writing is clear. The writing is not clear
There are no spelling or There are one to There are more than AND there are more than
grammar mistakes. five (total) spelling five (total) spelling and five (total) spelling and
and grammar grammar mistakes. grammar mistakes.
mistakes.

If any sections are not present then the scores for these sections are zero. TOTAL SCORE:

Total Points: 92

Total Score: Total Points x 100/92

Note report will exclude cover sheet and abstract. Total Score of the note report: Total points x 100/80