Viscosity Measurement using Falling Ball Method using LabVIEW

Abstract

The viscosity is one of the most important parameter in manufacturing of fluids such as the beverages and lubricant oils. In this paper the dynamic viscosity measurement is proposed to be done automatically by using falling ball method. The velocity of ball and fluid density are necessary to find the viscosity under falling ball method. The velocity of ball is determined by dropping a ball in a fluid filled tube and the ball is detected at specific intervals using sensors. A load cell setup is used to determine the density of the fluid. LabVIEW with data acquisition card is used to determine the above parameters automatically and the viscosity is determined.

Keywords: Viscosity, density, LabVIEW, falling ball method

Goldwyn Sudahar J, Devaprasanna J, Arjunan M. Viscosity Measurement using Falling Ball Method using LabVIEW. Journal of Control & Instrumentation (JoCI). 2015; 6(2): 19–24p.