Design of a Wall Mounted Bicycle Work Stand - Essay Example

Design of a Wall Mounted Bicycle Work Stand Aims of the Project The primary aim of the project is to design and develop a simple cost effective wall mounted bicycle workstation that is intended not only to help maximize the use of space but also to make bike repair, cleaning and maintenance much more easier. In addition, built to withstand the daily use, the stability of the proposed design will also offer a greater range of working positions over current available wall mounted workstations, incorporating both height adjustment and rotational movement. The other important aims of the project include: i. To provide a way of holding bicycles at any desired height during repairs while at the same time keeping them in a stable position ii. To allow bicycle mechanics and owners to effectively work on the bicycle without necessarily putting undue pressure on any of the components of the bike Project Description The project will particularly be based on a review of various bicycle work stand designs that are currently available, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. To develop the workstation I will be required to identify the materials for construction and suitable material joining techniques as well as the sustainable nature of the product, in deciding upon the materials and construction I will be required to establish that they are mechanically suitable for the purpose intended, this will be shown in the engineering design calculations. I will explore the various methods for finishing the surface of the product and choose an option that will aid the durability of the product. The project will be completed in a number of steps each with its own tasks. Step 1 The first step involves planning and designing the overall geometry of the wall mounted bicycle work stand. This will be particularly based on my aesthetic preference as well as the functional factors. Some of the key areas I would like to consider during this phase include the expected protrusion length from the wall and the general the geometry of the cutout. Stage 2 In stage 2 I intend to research available literature on the subject as soon as possible, the resources I will use for this will be mainly online forums and engineering databases, as well as the OU library and visiting manufacturers websites, this should give me an impression of the materials and techniques currently in use and the criteria that would be required to fulfil to bring the project to completion and fulfil the requisite standards should the product ever be developed for market. Stage 3 In stage 3 I intend to review the design I submitted for the T307 project, although the final submission was considered to have fulfilled the objectives and learning outcomes for T307 I was not satisfied entirely with the design and believe improvements can be made. My first objective will be to breakdown the design into its component parts and then try to refine at each stage, I have previously identified areas where improvements could be applied and will explore alternatives in materials and configuration and I will make use of the CES database to research alternative materials and processes. I have begun to compile a project log where I will document my journey through the redesign process. Stage 3 Once I am satisfied with the design improvements it will be necessary to provide a concise engineering evaluation consisting of drawings and engineering calculations of the component parts and construction techniques to provide evidence that they are suitable for this application. I was previously required to calculate the dimensions etc of the component parts for the T307 project but was not required to provide engineering calculations to prove the material strengths, for this I will be required to revisit some of my previous Open University modules, for the calculations regarding the stresses, strains and torque I will be using the text books from modules; T357 Structural integrity: Designing against failure and T207 Engineering: Mechanics, materials and design. I may also be required to look elsewhere for solutions to engineering calculations. I will also be using the CES database to research the mechanical properties of the materials used and construction processes. The workstation is going to be required to have a finish that will both protect and be aesthetically pleasing, I will explore methods for providing this finish and show the reasoning in my final choice. Stage 4 Upon completion of the engineering evaluation I will review the design again to see if there are any improvements that can be made, bearing in mind that I will be continuing with the literature review throughout the whole process and this may bring new issues to light. At the end of the review period I will then finalize the design and provide detailed drawings Stage 5 At this point I will be ready to begin working on my final project report and project poster, I intend to give myself 5 weeks to collate all the data from my work to present in the final report and then a further week to review the report and evaluate where any improvements can be made prior to submission. Project Schedule The project began on 26th February, 2015 and is expected to take a maximum of 27 weeks. The activities have been planned as follows; Complete TMA 01 (Week 1–4) Review T307 (Week 2-3), I am following up on my project from T307 so will therefore re-familiarise myself with it. 3, Literature reviews (Week 2-18), I will be required to study external sources throughout the project, and therefore this activity will run concurrently with several others. 4, Deconstruct/reconstruct T307 design (Week 4-8), There are several aspects of the T307 design that I am not satisfied with, so I will be breaking it down and looking at areas where improvements can be made. 5, Engineering calculations (Week 6-18), throughout the course I will be required to perform calculations to prove the design. 6, Complete TMA 02 (Week 7-10). 7, Explore finishing options (Week 15-18), in this section I will explore the options for the providing a durable and aesthetically pleasing finish to the product. 8, Review product (Week 18-21), by this time I expect to be close to completing product design and will review it to ensure I am satisfied. 9, Complete TMA 03 (Week 19-21). 10, Poster preparation Week 22-25). 11, EMA (Week 20-26). 12, Final project review (Week 25-27), in this section I will review all aspects of the project prior to submitting the EMA. At the moment I am not aware of any particular software needs other than those provided by the course, but I will be required to buy some research manuals throughout the course. Question 2 a) Bibliography – Below are the references of 3 books I have found useful and will be using throughout the project; 1), Von Stamm, Bettina (2003) Managing innovation, Design and creativity, Wiley. 2), Timings, Roger (2008) Mechanical Engineers Pocket Book, Third edition, Newnes. 3), Childs, Peter R N ( 2003) Mechanical design, Second edition, Butterworth-Heinemann. b) The reference that I have chosen to highlight is the mechanical engineers pocket book, (Timings, 2008). The reason I have chosen this book is that I anticipate that I will be required to Consult it often during the design phase of the product, it contains all the up to date Engineering data and many of the principles and formulas I will be using in my engineering calculations. Below is a brief example of some of the calculations that I have performed using equations from the Engineers pocket book to prove the suitability of the material for my Bicycle workstand. I have chosen to use Aluminium rectangular tubing (6082) as the main arm supports for the design. The dimensions of the tubing shall be; 62.5mm x 25mm with a wall thickness of 3.25mm. I have performed the calculations to prove both the strength of the material and also the deflection caused as a consequence of loading. To find the stress applied it was necessary to find the cross sectional area of the material, this was done by subtracting the internal area from the external area. A = A1 – A2, A1 = 62.5x10-3 x 25x10-3 = 1.5625x10-3 m2. A2 = 56x10-3 x 18.5x10-3 = 1.036x10-3 m2. 1.5625x10-3 m2 - 1.036x10-3 m2 = 5.265x10-4 m2. To find the stress induced due to the loading of the devise I have taken the mass of a heavy bicycle, 15 kg and applied a safety factor of three, therefore making it 45kg. Using the equation; σ = F/A, therefore σ = 45 x 9.81/ 5.625x10-4 = 855 KN m2 or 855 KPa. The CES database lists the 6000 series alloys of aluminium of having minimum yield strength of at least 95 MPa, this proves that the material selection is well within limits for this application. c), Components and purpose of a literature review – As I understand it a literature review is expected to be analytical piece of work rather than a descriptive list of read documents? It is performed in order to achieve a balanced and up to date overview of a particular topic and subjects associated with that topic. A literature review is often carried out prior to a project proposal as it can identify any gaps in knowledge that can be addressed via further research and offer some direction in which the project could go. A literature review is also useful in that it can identify previous research that may clash with that being proposed, after all there is no benefit in performing research that has already been done? Critical analysis of literature is useful in that it can help to galvanise ones own opinion of a topic. Referencing and citations are an essential component of a literature review, not only to protect oneself from plagiarism but also so that others are able to find the articles that have helped to form the review. Question 3 a) Since beginning the proposal for the project I have begun to revisit the work I did for the T307 project, as this is to be the base for the T450 project. I was not satisfied with the design submitted for T307 so I am therefore committed to revising this. I have started to make some preliminary sketches in my project log a to visit online suppliers of materials, I have used the dimensions of materials available to perform some preliminary calculations as shown above. I have created a Gantt chart at the front of my project log, this is useful as it provides me with goals and milestones to fulfill, I can also tick these off as I complete them to monitor progress. I have also joined the local central library, this has been useful in so much as I was able to take out a book on engineering principles, but however I was disappointed to find there were no books on product design so will therefore have to research the internet for articles and associated books to purchase. I came to the module late due to unforeseen problems associated with my work, this has put me back about 4 weeks, therefore my preparation as not been as thorough as I would have liked going into TMA 01. a) I initially contacted my tutor by email from work to explain that I would not be able to submit my project proposal due to a damaged computer and very constrained internet access and that I would submit as soon as I got home, which was accepted. I spoke with my tutor when I arrived home and discussed the proposal and my dissatisfaction with my T307 project, this discussion cleared up my reservations and I was advised to proceed with building upon the T307 project. I emailed a copy of my T307 project along with my project proposal for T450 and this was approved. I since sought an extension to the submission of TMA 01 which was approved and also spoke with my tutor about my difficulty in finding technical articles published relating to my product, my tutor has advised me to instead look at articles associated with product design and engineering principles associated with the mechanical and material properties of the product. References Childs, Peter R N ( 2003) Mechanical design, Second edition, Butterworth-Heinemann. Open university T211 CD ROM Open university , Technology project support CD ROM Timings, Roger (2008), Mechanical Engineers Pocket Book,Third edition, Newnes. Von Stamm, Bettina (2003) Managing innovation, Design and creativity, Wiley. Appendix Fig 1, References Baradaran, R., J.M. Berrisford, G.S. Minhas, and L.A. Sazanov. (2013). Crystal structure of the entire respiratory complex I. Nature 494: 443-448. Read More