FLOW Lab UC Berkeley

The toolbox

Facilities & Equipment

Purpose-built flow facilities and a deep bench of diagnostics — from a shielded X-ray suite to towing-tank instrumentation.

Facilities

  • 6.26 m (W) × 5.45 m (D) × 9.58 m (H) X-ray shielded space — usable with up to 225 kV sources under current approvals — with a 5-ton ceiling crane
  • Access to the Physical Model Test Facility (towing & wave tank)
  • 6″ × 6″ horizontal two-phase-flow water tunnel
  • 4″ × 4″ vertical two-phase-flow water tunnel
  • 2D X-ray imaging at up to kHz rates, or down to sub-micron resolution
  • Time/phase-averaged multi-spectral X-ray CT with resolution down to O(10 µm)
  • ½″ ID recirculating flow loop with rotating test section for X-ray micro-CT
  • ¼″ to ½″ ID "pulsation-free" flow loop
  • 3″ ID bubble column
Under construction

(10 cm)² cavitation and low-pressure boiling vertical water tunnel

2,800 gpm vertical air–water flow loop for wire-mesh-sensor and X-ray instrumentation validation (with Naval Nuclear Laboratory support; commissioning 2026)

Specialized equipment

  • High-speed imager, Phantom v1210 — 1 Mpx at >12 kHz, up to ~820 kHz at ~14 kpx
  • Double-pulse Nd:YAG laser, Evergreen — 200 mJ per pulse at up to 15 Hz
  • Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler (UVP), Met-Flow UVP-DUO MX with transducer set
  • Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) system, ITS P2+
  • Phase Doppler Interferometer and Laser Doppler Velocimetry (1-component)
  • Three X-ray sources
  • ~2 m OD rotary stage with <15 arc-second repeatability, plus an 8-axis linear-stage system on the rotary stage
  • >3 m long flat plate with gas injectors and instrumentation for towing-tank testing
  • 2D & stereo PIV software
  • In-line holography setup

Standard equipment

DAQs; cameras and lenses; >20 liquid flow meters (e.g., Coriolis from <20 gpm to >400 gpm); >20 gas flow meters; 3 LVDTs; >6 workstation computers; filters; a class IIIa continuous laser; >20 pumps (water and slurry) and >10 VFDs (from 50 hp to <1/10 hp); >100 pressure and differential-pressure transducers; conductivity probes; signal generators; oscilloscopes; capacitive and radar level sensors; >20 RTDs; >40 level switches; scales; load cells; microscope; drill press; and more.