AQUARIA EQUIPMENT
U-GEMS Erosion Microcosm System (GUST)
U-GEMS uses a combination of a spinning disk and a central suction to generate nearly uniform shear stress across sediments in a cylindrical container. U-GEMS is designed to measure the erodibility of fine-grained sediments in a 10cm (or 11.4cm) core tube over calibrated range sheer stresses from 0.01 – 0.45 Pa. The system provides automation and control, and data logging capabilities to conduct erodibility measurements that can be analyzed to determine the parameters of intact sediment cores.
What kind of research is applicable / suitable for this equipment?
- Erosion experiments
- Sediment testing
Any chargeable costs for equipment usage?
Yes, please approach Aquaria Manager or search the handbook (Section A6 – Schedule of rates for specialist facilities) for more details.
Technical specifications
| Green Machine | To set motor speed, pumping rate and digital inputs to motor speed |
| ComScript | Control all components and record scientific and diagnostic data |
| Motor(s) | Used to drive the spinning disk on the erosion head, driven by a Maxon linear motor controller. |
| Pump | Consist of a motor (QV), ceramic pump head (Q1CKCW), and a stroke rate controller (V300). Pumping rate is determined by the angle of the pump head and motor speed. |
| Turbidimeter(s) | Hach2100N turbidimeter communicates at a baud rate of 1200bps |
| Erosion Head | Made of polycarbonate and use a magnetic drive coupling to avoid any rotary seals. The magnetic drive uses 0.500” X 0.200” Neodymium disc magnet pairs spaced at 120o |
| Power/Control Box | Houses the GM/system board unit, the Maxon motor controller(s), main 24VDC power supply, DC/DC converter (12 VDC output), and replay(s) to turn on/off motor controller(s) |
| Accessories | A USB to serial converter is supplied with the system to allow multiple serial ports on a computer with no on-board serial ports |
