Date of Award

2021

Degree Type

Capstone Project

First Advisor

Dr. Bahram Nassersharif

Abstract

Our team was commissioned by MagSeal corporation to produce a custom polishing machine that could be used for their magnetic seals. The objective of this machine would be to reduce the overall ergonomic load of a singular finishing process. This process involves reducing the surface of various workpieces from 10-14 Ra down to less than 6 Ra using a 12" roll of polishing paper. The workpieces in question are hollow cylinders made of AlNiCo-5 ranging in outer diameters from approximately 1/2" up to 6" and thicknesses from about 1/8" up to 1/2". Over the course of this academic year, our team approached this problem by breaking it down into numerous completable tasks. First, we researched the topic. We looked for literature that pertained to polishing metals via coated abrasives and for literature on the properties of the workpiece material in question (AlNiCo-5). We also searched for patents of grinding and polishing machines that could serve to inform the development of our product. Next, we brainstorm numerous design concepts. This would help us to have a broad range of ideas to start with before settling on a general structure for the final product. From here, we analyzed all of our concepts to determine which ones would be most effective. We did this by looking at our designs and determining how well they fulfill the customers explicit requests as well as general design standards such as safety and simplicity using Pugh and QFD analysis. With the strengths and weaknesses of our designs made clear, as well as having our three strongest designs arranged to use as references, we moved onto our next step. This step involved developing a prototype CAD model. As we developed the model we identified various parameters and determined what standard engineering solutions would best solve each concern. As decisions were made the CAD model was updated to reflect our decisions. Next, our team met with the machinists at MagSeal to gather their input and implement suggestions that they ordered. We began ordering materials and working with the machinists to build and test our prototype. We determined which aspects of the design needed to be updated or altered and continued by redesigning. At the conclusion of the semester, our team was able to produce a working prototype and provide future considerations if the concept was chosen to be implemented at the facility.

Comments

Document Reference: MCE-402-02H-2021

Magetic Seal Corporation Sponsors: Jared Desrosiers, Nick Daggett

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