SOFTWARE FOR SIMULATING THERMODYNAMIC STATES OF WATER IN A CYLINDER-PISTON SYSTEM

Resumo

With the advancement of digital technologies and the growing demand for interactive didactic resources in engineering education, the development of computational tools that facilitate the understanding of complex physical phenomena has become increasingly relevant. In this context, this work describes the development of an interactive web application, developed with the Python programming language and the Django framework, aimed at visualizing and analyzing of the thermodynamic states of a cylinder-piston system with water. The main objective is to provide an accessible, efficient and didactic computational tool for teaching and learning fundamental thermodynamics concepts. The platform is designed to simulate, graphically and interactively, the states of compressed liquid, superheated vapor and the liquid-vapor phase mixing region (saturation), allowing the user to explore different thermodynamic processes by manipulating specific variables. The application enables to select known properties, such as temperature, pressure, specific volume, specific internal energy, specific entropy or quality (title), allowing the input of their respective values to determine the thermodynamic state of the water. The backend determines the water's state based on the information provided by the user, using thermodynamic tables that have been previously structured and adapted to Python to identify the phase and calculate the other properties of the substance. The frontend, developed with the Processing.js library, offers a dynamic graphical visualization that simulates, in real time, the piston's position and the behavior of the substance inside the cylinder according to the user's input. The adopted methodology stands out for the integrating computational algorithms, an interactive graphical interface and the use of open-source technologies, resulting in a flexible solution. Tests carried out demonstrate that the tool contributes significantly to the understanding of abstract concepts through intuitive visual simulations. In this way, the application presents itself as a valuable resource to support teaching and deepening knowledge in thermodynamics, highlighting the role of computational methods in the development of innovative educational solutions.