MEGR 2156 - Sophmore Year

This class was the opening of our machine skills. We were given lab times to use the Smithy's down stairs. From there we began making our air engines that we had modeled in Pro-E, the semester before.

AIR ENGINE

The last part of MEGR 1202 we used Pro-E to make a model of an Air-Engine. Then it was time to put that to use. Using the Smithy's down stairs in the Machine Shop we began making the parts for our engines.

At first it wasn't pretty, but over time we all got used to using the machines and once we started getting comfortable with them we began to understand why people use Bridge ports and such over the Smithy's...


My engine did fairly well; it met the requirements which were that it had to run on less than 5psi and had to turn 5000rpm at 80psi. My engine ran at 3.5psi and at 80psi it maxed out at 5600rpm. However I didn't stop there, with my job at an R/C hobby shop I was able to get some nice bearings for the crank to ride on and ended up supplying them to a majority of the class. After those we installed I was able to get my motor to peak out at ~8000rpm.

Crank

Piston

Spring Retainer

Cylinder

Complete Assembly

Personal Design Project

Then it was time to put our engineering knowledge to the test as well as our machining skills. The purpose of this project was to design and build something that we could improve or use around the house or elsewhere.

I decided that I could use something that would hold the shocks from my 1/10th scale R/C car when I am rebuilding them. The way they are designed it is such an pain to bleed them once shock oil is added. You have to sit there and hold them as all the air comes to surface after you move the piston up and down once or twice. My holder would hold all four at once as well.

This would be a great help at the races when I am between rounds and I have other things to fix or adjust on the truck. It would save time and make my life much easier when it comes to building the shocks.

From there it was up to designing the part and then doing some stress calculations to prove that it will work and will not fail under normal use.

All four shocks with fluid only weighs ~150 grams so to be on the safe side I rounded up to about 200 grams. Turns out that in would take an extreme amount of force to shear the hardware that I am using or to deflect the upright a significant amount.

RC10GT2 shock, spring and retainer

Solid model of the assembly

Holder

Holder clamp - Front

Holder clamp - Rear

Upright

Base