3E05 PRESENATATION
Objective
The objective of this project was to design a system capable of transporting the centrifuge through a
confined space and turning ninety degrees without collision. The system cannot fail by any mechanism,
must adhere to industry standards, and should be applicable to various scenarios.
Collection of Spheres
The movement mechanism of this design is similar to the “Simple Wheels” concept. The difference being
that instead of wheels, metal spheres would be cupped underneath the platform. These balls would
serve multi-directional wheels allowing for fluid horizontal movement in all directions. This concept was
meant to be an exercise in creativity.
Indoor Gantry Crane
This design is a hybrid of a gantry crane and a trolley. Gantry cranes are excellent at moving large
objects but are restricted by the necessity of being on rails. This design eliminates that confinement by
adding wheels to the bottom of the structure. This design would have to be pushed or pulled by
something.
Bending Analysis
The analysis of beam bending was done on the top beam. The loading was treated as a point load at the
center of the beam. The equation used is from the appendix of Shigley’s Design for Mechanical
Engineers. The deflection ended up being minimal, only a couple of millimeters. The relationship
between loading, shear and bending were used to construct shear and bending diagrams, which were
used to find the maximum shear and bending stresses. The internal stresses in the beam are described
by these equations. The factors of safety obtained from these equations were acceptable according to
the trends on the previous slide.
Buckling Analysis
The supporting beams on the side will be loaded axially, acting like as columns. The beams can treated
as having one end fixed, and one end free column. The slenderness ratio of the beam is sufficiently large
for Euler’s criteria to apply. The resulting critical load and corresponding safety factor was within an
acceptable range.
Conclusion
The SV Solutions Gantry Crane design exceeds the competing products in meeting the requirements of
this problem. We are confident that this design is the best solution to this problem and is ready to begin
manufacturing.