Fluid mechanics lab report example

FLUID MECHANICS LABORATORY -- EXPERIMENTAL REPORT FORMAT

Effectively communicating your experimental results is essential. Your experimental reports will be judged on their clarity, depth, and critical nature. Effective report writing will continue to be a benefit in your professional endeavors whether they are experimental, analytical, or management-based.

Each component of the experimental report is outlined below:

I. ABSTRACT

The purpose of the abstract is to concisely present an overview of the results of your experimental investigation. Many people determine if the report should be read in detail based on the abstract. [ ~ 7 to 10 sentences]

II. TABLE OF CONTENTS

A listing of the major sections of the report and the corresponding page numbers should be provided.

III. INTRODUCTION

The introduction should provide the reader with any background information that is required to understand the contents of the report. It should describe the problem being investigated and why this investigation is occurring. The introduction should also include your experimental objectives that are further explained in detail in the remainder of the report. [ ~ 12 to 15 sentences]

IV. THEORY

The underlaying theory behind the experiment must be explained. All experiments are an attempt to associate a measured phenomenon with an analytical model. The details of this analytical model should be described using published references with proper acknowledgement. All symbols should be defined in the theory section during the description of the model. All assumptions in the analytical model should be listed regardless of if they are satisfied during the course of the experiment. [Content is similar to that of the Planning Report and should be updated if necessary] [Equivalent of ~10 to 15 sentences of equations and text]

V. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

Details of the experimental test facility and experimental apparatus should be given. Additionally, a description of how the instrumentation works is required. A figure indication the location of the instrumentation is helpful in clearly communicating the description of your experimental setup. [ ~ 20 sentences]

VI. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

A critical assessment of the experimental results must be presented. Your results need to be presented in either a graphical or tabular form. Your experimental results should also be compared to the expected results from theory and discrepancies should be explained. The answers to the questions listed in your lab handout must also be included in this section. All sources of uncertainty and any relevant inadequacies in the experimental system should be explained in detail. [ ~20 sentences]

VII. CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions should summarize the results of the experiment and a comparison between the theoretical and experimental results. The conclusion should also include any recommendations for further investigation or modifications that would improve the accuracy between the theoretical and analytical model. In addition to the abstract, the conclusions are often the only parts of a report read by upper management or other engineers who wish to pursue the general line of investigation. [ ~ 6 to 8 sentences] *

VIII. DATA REDUCTION AND COMPARISON WITH THEORY

The data reduction section should include a table of the raw data recorded during the experiment, any intermediate data forms, and the final form of the data presented in the results section. Sample calculations and a comparison with theory should be given. No points will be given if data reduction is placed in the appendix.

IX. APPENDIX

All data collected in the lab and not presented in the data reduction section should be included here. Any procedures or methods employed that were too elaborate to be included in the theory sections should be included. Any additional material that does not add to the report but should be included somewhere can be added to the Appendix.

GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION

Advice on assignment of axes when making plots, as well as scale selection and related concepts, are included in most books on laboratory techniques. In addition, the following guidelines should be observed:

(a) Each graph should be located on a separate page.

(b) Axes, scales, labels, and title blocks should be carefully lettered.

(c) Each graph should have a figure number that is referred to in the text.

(d) Each graph should have a title block containing the title, the name of the group member who prepared the graph, and the date of the experiment.

REMARKS

The total length of the text of the Experimental Report should not exceed five or six double-spaced pages, or equivalent.

While the written report is an individual effort, the data analysis and interpretation can be a group effort. No points will be lost for groups having the same plots. Each student may transfer appropriate portions of the Planning Report to the Experimental Report. However, material that is transferred must be revised/improved according to whatever remarks were made by the instructor during grading of the planning report. In the end, the student is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the Experimental Report format are entirely satisfied.