Prony brake

Prony brake

A prony brake is a device used to measure the brake-power of a rotating shaft. It consists of two brake pads that are applied to the shaft, creating an equal and opposite torque. The prony brake is used to regulate the wheel rotational speed and determine the torque at the shaft, which is used to calculate the power output of the system.From: Fundamentals of Water Treatment Unit Processes [2019], Optimization of undershot water wheels in very low and variable flow rate applications [2020]

Principles of Energy Conversion

View Chapter

Purchase Book

Published in Hamid A. Toliyat, Gerald B. Kliman, Handbook of Electric Motors, 2018

Hamid A. Toliyat, Gerald B. Kliman

This tester is also known in the literature as a prony brake. This system is low cost and versatile but it requires a special technique on the part of the operator. A disadvantage is that the motor must bring itself up to speed and be connected all during the test. This, of course, means that the motor will increase in temperature during the test. In the case of the dynamometer machine, the dynamometer can keep the test motor running even when power to the test motor is turned off. Very few brakes of this type are now used.

Optimization of undershot water wheels in very low and variable flow rate applications

View Article

Journal Information

Published in Journal of Hydraulic Research, 2020

Emanuele Quaranta, Gerald Müller

A Prony brake was used to regulate the wheel rotational speed (ω) and to determine the torque at the shaft (T), obtaining the power output P = Tω. The wheel speed was measured by a stopwatch with precision of 0.01 s. Three different time values for 10 revolutions were recorded for better accuracy and a mean value was taken for the calculations.

Explore chapters and articles related to this topic

Principles of Energy Conversion

Optimization of undershot water wheels in very low and variable flow rate applications