Tesla Valve Water Toy

thingiverse

The Tesla Valve is a brilliant design by Tesla himself, sculpting the flow of water to allow it to pass freely in one direction and restrict the flow in the opposite direction. Tesla valves are commonly used as micro-valves. The theory behind this invention is quite complex and often subject to scientific papers describing fluid dynamics. In this toy, there are two Tesla valves side-by-side: one in the unrestricted and the second one in the restricted directions, so you can observe an amazing geometry of this invention. Tesla valves work when they are covered, so you can put the cover on and see the difference in the flow output by measuring the volume of the escaping water. Please note that in this specific application we are using only 4 segments (Tesla patent used 11), so the performance of this toy is much lower than in an actual mechanical application. You can fit the entire assembly (with a cover) onto your kitchen sink to see the difference in performance on both sides of the valve. Tesla valves perform dramatically better when using the oscillating flow (on-off-on-off), like in oscillating pumps. PRINT We use 0.2 mm layer and 12% infill. DON’T print any supports. Raft: optional, we don’t use them. Video https://youtu.be/jEnHi9L0Oy8