Project Details

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Optimization for Laboratory Centrifuge Rotor Design

Company: Drucker Diagnostics, LLC

Major(s):
Primary: ME
Secondary: EE
Optional: BME

Non-Disclosure Agreement: YES

Intellectual Property: YES

Project will help optimize the rotor design for a small laboratory centrifuge to spin microtainer collection tubes widely available in the US healthcare market using water as test fluid instead of blood. Current designs do not include considerations to optimize total drag, pressure and viscous, on the rotor. By optimizing the total drag on the rotor, the total power requirements for the centrifuge can be reduced, which then would allow use of less costly motors, bearings, power supplies, and other elements of the centrifuge design. The project would include evaluating the current rotor design with hardware and equipment provided by the sponsor as needed to record the baseline power vs RPM curve. Then new rotor design concepts would be developed using CAD and tested using 3D printed, or otherwise manufactured, rotors to produce additional power vs RPM curves to help optimize the rotor design. Additional considerations may include selection of material as aspect of design to further optimize power requirements vs cost to manufacture rotor.