Rain Simulation Improvements and First Simulation

This week we tried to focus on improving the rain simulation because it is one of the most important aspects of the project. It is the main factor we are considering in our study of soil erosion, therefore it is necessary for our tests to be completed. The team may have to make a trip for more materials, but this weekend we worked with the materials we have already purchased.

The first new material tested was an old t-shirt. First, we tried the t-shirt over the double layered screen but observed that the t-shirt absorbed the water instead of allowing the water to travel through it in a randomized pattern. Our next test was with one layer of the t-shirt, however this was still not an accurate simulation.

The next method we tried was the double layered screen by itself. We had tried this before but wanted to retest it because the materials were with us at the time. We discovered that if the screen was raised above the surface of the bin and the water was poured from a height above the screen, the water was more droplet like and random close to that of rain. We concluded that the height gave the water the droplet like effect while the screen having two layers made it more random. The following video is shown with the screen approximately 32 inches from the surface of the bucket and the water being poured from approximately 16 inches from the screen.

We are still open for testing new ways but after discovering this method was close to ideal we decided to simulate it on our test slope. The test slope has none of the proposed methods to slow soil erosion in place. Initially the length of the slope was 7.25 inches, the bottom leg was 6.50 inches, and the height was 4 inches. The average angle calculated was 30.46 degrees. After the rain simulation the slope length was 7.50 inches, the bottom leg was 6.75 inches and the height was 3.75 inches. These gave an average calculated angle of 28.30 degrees. These minor changes were not visible at first glance of the slope, but they coincide with the effects of soil erosion. The only visible change we saw initially was that the top edge of the slope appeared to be more round than edge-like from before. The following video gives a closer look than what we observed during testing. While watching if you focus on the edge of the slope the soil can be seen sliding down from the "rain."

This method of rain simulation is not finalized but the test was done to see what improvements can be made. Our next tasks are to make the rain fall consistent and determine the proper rate of rainfall.