Lawn Mower Analysis
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| - | + | The purpose of this analysis is to provide an overall factor of safety for the mechanism. It is crucial to predict the maximum forces encountered on the system in order to compensate with proper material choices and/or force-reducing apparatuses. We've chosen to implement a pulley system in our product to provide a more direct lifting force on the platform, while reducing the tension encountered in the winch. We plan to examine the magnitude of the reduction in the cable tension. This will ensure a safer and more durable product for the user, which consequently prevents any hazardous occurrences and regrettably, potential lawsuits. | |
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| - | The analysis | + | |
= Assumptions = | = Assumptions = | ||
Revision as of 22:16, 10 November 2008
Contents |
Executive Summary
When deciding upon the basis of our Mechanical Analysis, we realized it was prudent to analyze an aspect of our product that dealt with user safety. We originally wanted to determine shearing forces of certain connections/attachments, or perhaps deflections and stresses upon the beams composing our product. This was to make the most appropriate material choices and thicknesses, but after discussing this with machinists from CMU's Machine Workshop we discovered that we were very limited to the material choices we could make due to weight and cost restrictions. Therefore, we elected to determine the static reaction forces on our product caused by the weight of our mechanism's platform with the lawn mower secured upon it. Our following report consists of the purpose of our analysis, a list of the assumptions considered when performing the analysis, a list of the equations used and their symbols, and our conclusions obtained with our plans for implementation.
The purpose of this analysis is to verify that the appropriate design choices and material choices have been made. After consulting specialists in the Carnegie Mellon Machine Shop, we have come up with a design that is anticipated to function as proposed while addressing key concerns such as weight, packaging, manufacturing, and material cost. We found that it would not make sense to try to optimize the lengths and thicknesses of most materials because the sizes we will be using are fairly standard and will hold up to the forces that it will encounter. Our mechanical analysis will verify that these standard sizes will be sufficient and optimal for our design. By using standard sizes we can also save on our material costs.
Purpose of Analysis
The purpose of this analysis is to provide an overall factor of safety for the mechanism. It is crucial to predict the maximum forces encountered on the system in order to compensate with proper material choices and/or force-reducing apparatuses. We've chosen to implement a pulley system in our product to provide a more direct lifting force on the platform, while reducing the tension encountered in the winch. We plan to examine the magnitude of the reduction in the cable tension. This will ensure a safer and more durable product for the user, which consequently prevents any hazardous occurrences and regrettably, potential lawsuits.
Assumptions
- We will be assume that all bodies connected by welds are to be considered one single body.
- We will ignore the weight of the hardware and delrin rollers. We will assume that their weights are insignificant when compared with the weights of the steel tubing and steel plate.
- Ignore vibrations and resonance effects due to driving.
