Date of Award

2021

Degree Type

Capstone Project

Abstract

The objective of this project is to redesign and improve upon MAGSEAL's demagnetizer device. The current machine suffers from overheating capacitors and continuously under-performing below the required duty cycle of production. To begin addressing the issue, a literature search was conducted to understand the demagnetization of permanent magnets; specifically, AlNiCo 5 which is the primary material of MAGSEAL's ring magnets. Research was also conducted to understand the electrical components including capacitors, inductors, and electrical connections. Additionally, existing patents relating to demagnetization machinery were researched to assess whether any designs fell under already claimed intellectual property.

Throughout the duration of this project, planning tools and methods were utilized to organize actions and ensure effective usage of the team's time. From provided guidance of MAGSEAL, design specifications were created which aided in the strategic approach of meeting the project requirements. Concept generation utilized the requirements leading to various designs which were then modeled. The most promising concepts were compiled, and a prototype was created to assess the effectiveness of the new generation machine. Most prominently, the cooling solution was iterated three times throughout the fall 2020 semester, each time yielding better results and aiding the refinement of a more robust design.

The cooling solution was completely revamped during the spring 2021 semester, when the team made the decision that the isothermal cooling enclosure would be too ine cient and unreliable. The new cooling enclosure design along with the custom-made wiring harness have led to many measured performance gains. These improvements have demonstrated that the device can meet the required duty cycle under production conditions while operating below the thermal factor of safety (FOS) of 52 Celsius. It was demonstrated that the machine was able to sustain continuous 5-second discharge and 30-second recharge cycle for over 60 minutes while maintaining capacitor surface temperatures below 30 Celsius{a substantial increase over the legacy MAGSEAL device. This full duration test showed that the new generation demagnetizer named MAGFLUX performed exceptionally well during testing. Initial demagnetization tests of varying diameter AlNiCo 5 ring magnets showed a first pass yield (FPY) of 57%. The FPY would increase with an additional pass through the device, which with the new generation is possible due to the robust ability to allow additional discharges.

The chassis was also improved through the usage of aluminum t-slot framing and UHMW polyethylene paneling which holds electrically insulating proprieties. Additionally, the overall machine chassis was designed to exclude the inductor from the chassis' internal compartment to reduce heat soak of other components. The circuit of the legacy demagnetizer was deteriorated and inefficient. These factors led to the prominent issues of capacitors continuously overheating and drawing excessive current while in operation. As such, the subsystems of the demagnetizer were redesigned and added functionality of machine monitoring and convective cooling were implemented within the MAGFLUX demagnetizer prototype.

Comments

Sponsor: MAGSEAL

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