SwRI Mechanical and Fluids Engineering

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), through its Mechanical Engineering Division, is internationally known for its expertise in machinery and piping technology, structural dynamics, acoustics, multiphase/ multicomponent flow mechanics, microgravity fluid dynamics, and fluid/thermal systems.

Test data from simulated pipeline ruptures were used to evaluate new rupture detection and control systems and to validate computer models of pipeline flow dynamics.

SwRI uses this expertise to provide research, development, testing, and field services for clients in the oil and gas, petrochemical, paper and pulp, utility, aerospace, and automotive industries and for U.S. government agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, and Transportation. Many of the engineers, scientists, and technicians providing these services are internationally recognized authorities who share their expertise through technical publications and training courses.

SwRI analyzes a turning vane design, showing thermal-induced transient stress distribution during plant upset conditions.

The mechanical and fluids engineering laboratories within the Mechanical and Fluids Engineering Division encompass more than 25,000 square feet of floor space. All laboratories have up-to-date computerized data acquisition and analysis systems. Outdoor test areas are available for large-scale investigations. Division engineers maintain an extensive inventory of modern diagnostic and test instrumentation for laboratory and field studies, and routinely use analytical and numerical modeling to support field and laboratory investigations.

The Gas Technology Institute's national Metering Research Facility at SwRI is an industry resource for research, development, and testing of flow meters. The Facility provides a laboratory for programs concerned with gas-handling machinery and piping systems.

SwRI and divisional strengths lie in the talents and experience of a dedicated staff, combined with extensive and up-to-date facilities and equipment. For more than 50 years, SwRI has successfully provided a wide range of support to its clients, including plant and machinery performance services, fluids engineering services, and structural dynamics and environmental testing.

SwRI field tests a reciprocating compressor to analyze horsepower and capacity and to identify and correct system performance problems.

Plant and Machinery Performance Services

• System performance enhancement
  • Pulsation and vibration diagnosis, analysis, and mitigation
  • Rotating machinery signature analysis and balancing
  • Optimization for structural, thermal, and fluid dynamic loads and energy usage
  • Fluid and thermal process dynamic simulation

An SwRI transparent, full-scale wellbore section is used with laser-Doppler velocimetry to study turbulence and velocity in mixed flows of liquids and solid particles.

• System monitoring and diagnostic development
  • Vibration and balance monitoring and trending
  • Condition, efficiency, and energy monitoring and trending
  • Component fault identification
  • Economic assessment 
• Rapid response field services
  • In-plant vibration mitigation and performance enhancement
  • On-site troubleshooting
  • Remote monitoring and trending

SwRI engineers developed a prototype compressor developed by SwRI for use in a space station.

A one-fifth-scale model of a Centaur rocket liquid hydrogen propellant tank is prepared for a liquid dynamics test in an Institute laboratory.

Fluids Engineering Services

• Multiphase flow systems
  • Pipeline Flow Assurance and Hydrate Remediation
  • Drilling Hydraulics and Chip Transport
  • Oil/Gas/Water Separation Optimization
  • Oil and Gas Equipment and Certification 
• Flow measurement systems
  • Gas Metering Research Facility
  • Multiphase meter research and evaluation
  • Field or lab meter performance assessment and calibration 
• Space and aerospace fluid systems
  • Propellant dynamics and management
  • Environment control and life support system design and evaluation
  • Flight hardware development
  • Flight experiment analysis, design, and development

A tractor undergoes noise testing in an SwRI chamber to identify major noise sources and paths of propagation.

SwRI engineers and scientists redesign older parts or assemblies to provide increased capabilities and functions.

Environmental Testing and Structural Dynamics

• Structural dynamic analysis and experimentation
• Aeroacoustics, vibroacoustics, and industrial acoustics
• Physical environmental simulation and qualification testing
  • Shock, vibration, and acoustic
  • Temperature, pressure, and humidity
  • Combined environments
  • Mechanical system design for harsh dynamic environments

Complex, time-evolving flow fields and their effects on fluid component performance can be established using SwRI experimental and computational capabilities.

Experiment on wet gas orifice metering Simulated orifice meter flow patterns using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

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