ENGR 1620 Hanger Project Portfolio

Authors: Kevin Brown (kgb6fu)

Marysia Serafin (ms2te)
Yujian Li(yl7kd)
Matt Asper(msa2uc)
Kane Lee(kl8jc)
Deliverable #1
Dimensioned Drawing
Kevins Lego Orthographic Drawing

Marysias

Matts

Yujians

Kanes

Discussion of Finite Element Analysis

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a method of predicting how a
material, or piece will react to real-life situations. It works (in general) to
determine the stresses and strains in response to a force at points in the
material.
The mesh is an important tool that breaks the material/part into
sections to calculate the responses in each section. This is necessary because is
allows for a more accurate understanding of the materials properties, rather than
generalizing them.
FEA can be used for solid mechanics; structural, thermal, and
electrical analysis; and dynamics.

Design requirements for the hanger

Given:
Needs to be at least 6 inches long
Can have no more than 2 cubic inches of material
Suggestions/Examples:
Should probably be designed like a truss bridge or construction
crane
Should hold as much weight (downward force in FEA) as possible
When breaking, the hanger should probably fail/shatter
everywhere at once to prevent any localized weak points

Hanger Project

Requirement List
:Hanger(ABS plastic material)

1st Version 10/11/2015

Date Updated

Requirements

Source

10/11/2015

Overall Function:
Professor Reimers
Create a
hanger that can hold
as much weight as
possible
Structure:
Must use no
more than 2 cubic
inches of ABS plastic
total
At least 6
inches long from the
center of its mounted
bolt
One side of
the hanger must be
able to fit into a 4*0.25
slot from the stand
and the other side

must be able to fit into

1*0.5 slot from the
weight hanger
Have 2 and 4
bolt holes with a
diameter of 0.26
Design
Should
probably be designed
like a truss bridge or
construction crane
Should hold as
much weight
(downward force in
FEA) as possible
When
breaking, the hanger
should probably
fail/shatter
everywhere at once to
prevent any localized
weak points

Deliverable #1 submitted by Kane Lee on time in another file:

DELIVERABLE #1

Finite element analysis is the use of computer software to test and predict the effect of physical
factors on a product. Finite element analysis works by breaking down the object into many small
elements and testing each element with mathematical equations. These individual elements are
collectively known as mesh. By finding the behaviors of each elements in a mesh, FEA allows
engineers to predict the behavior of the whole product. FEA can be used to predict many effects
on a product without physically simulating it, such as stress, vibration, heat transfer, and
electrostatics. By using FEA to predict the attributes of the product, engineers can save the cost
and time that would otherwise be used in physical simulation.

ENGR group

Requirement List
Cantilevered Hanger Structure

Date Updated

Requirements

1st Version
10/11/2015

Overall Function: Support as much weight as possible as a

hanger.
STRUCTURE

Must have 2-3 bolt holes with diameter of 0.26

Source


10/11/2015

Must allow weights to be hung from at least 6

inches in the horizontal direction from the center of

mounting bolts
Must not break or drop the weight
MATERIAL

Must use ABS plastic material

Cannot use more than 2 cubic inches of the

material
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Finite Element Analysis." Software. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.autodesk.com/solutions/finite-element-analysis>.

Reimers

Deliverable #2
Marysias Hanger Design

This design was able to hold 22.481 pounds before it broke, which was where the upper bolt
met the upper curve, where the lower bolt met the lower curve, and the junction between the
second and third triangle cut-outs on the lower curve. It was just below the maximum volume, at
1.999 cubes inches. The distance from the bolts to where the weights were hung from is 6
inches. It therefore met the design requirements as it had two bolt holes, was under the
maximum volume, and the minimum distance away from the bolt holes. However, it was not the
strongest design. If redesigned the piece would be at an upwards angle to the bolt holes to
attempt to hold more weight before fracture, in order to make the piece itself more resemble a
truss, instead of just attempting to incorporate them into the design. Previous design

alternatives for this had straight edges instead of curves, however, with this design they made
the part thinner in certain places and more prone to snapping.

Kanes

This design held up to approximately 50 lbs before breaking at the top and bottom bolts, which
is where I expect it to break at the actual test. The volume of the hanger was 1.952 cubic
inches, and the horizontal distance between the whole and where the force is to be applied is
6.2 inches to fit the required dimensions. There are 3 bolt holes with 0.26 inch diameter, and the
end of the hanger has dimension of 0.9x 0.9X 0.12 to be able to fit with the weight. I tried to
make the shape as simple as possible so that the stress would be distributed evenly. By making
the middle hole large and the reducing the width as much as possible, I was able to enlarge the
side surface area.
Yujians Design
The maximum weight the design can hold is around 20 lbs before the structure collapse which
happened at the front end of the hanger object and the lower support arc. Its total volume is just
below the volume limit, which is 1.999 cubic inches. And there it is 6 inches horizontally away
from the center of the bolts. I believe at most it can hold around 19 lbs weight without break.
The main challenge of my design process is volume. In order to meet the requirement, I had to
exclude some parts of the solid design in order to minimize the volume which certainly
weakened the entire structure. In order to improve the weight, shorten the length and try to
create more triangular holes on the object can help to support the structure better.

Matt Aspers Design:

This design was able to hold 43 lb of force before breaking at both the lower and upper bolt, and
this was done by using about 1.9 3 of material. This was probably due to the fact that the the
upper and lower surfaces were not thick enough to prevent the hanger from bending under the
pressure. Once this structure began bending, the bolts then succumbed to unmanageable
torque which ended up breaking the design. Due to the simulations, I predict this design to hold
around 40 lbs before bending significantly, then the design will break at about 45 lbs.
Kevin Browns Design
Orthographic View

Von Mises Stress

Safety Factor

This design uses 1.972 in^3 of material (ABS Plastic) and has a 15.52 ksi max force on the Von
Mises Stress Analysis scale with 100 lbforce applied. The edges were filleted to increase the
strength and the indentations were made to reduce the amount of material used.

Final Design

Out of the above designs, we decided to use Kanes hanger because it held the most weight
from the stress simulator. The designs of these hangers were mostly similar in that they all had
relatively triangle shape and the use of holes to reduce the volume. However, the design that we
chose had large side surface area, simple shape (trapezoid), and extra hole to divide the stress.
Deliverable #3
1. Although we predicted that our hanger would hold up to 50 lbs, the hanger only
held up to 13 lbs. The difference is pretty big, and we think it was the result of not testing
for the bending of the hanger sideways. In order to maximize the surface area, we
minimized the thickness, and as a result the thin side of the hanger easily swayed to the
side. The test that we applied had a condition that the force applied and the orientation
of the hanger is perfectly vertical, and that is not really realistic for real-life testing. If we
had tested for the bending of the hanger, we would have gotten a more accurate
prediction and we would have applied changes to the design, such as making a thicker
hanger than what was constructed.

2. The hanger did not fail in either the place or manner that we had thought it would.
The hanger did not have a notch in it to place the weights. While this allowed for the
volume to be spread out elsewhere, there was no stable spot on the hanger to hang the
weights. As a result, when the weights were placed on the hanger they caused it to
sway. A notch would not have prevented the piece or the weight hanger from swaying
completely, but it wouldve reduced the amount of torsion the entire piece experienced.
On the other hand, because the entire designs thickness was compromised, the force
was acting over the hanger at a point instead of a surface which causes more pressure
due to P=F/A. As a result, the hanger swayed to one side drastically, causing it to
fracture due to unaccounted for torsion. As this was unaccounted for, the piece broke not
where it was expected to, at the bolts, but in the middle.
3.

Design Requirement

Met?

Comments

No More than 2 cu. in. of ABS

plastic

Yes

The design consisted of

approximately 1.952 cu in of
ABS plastic

Used between 2-4 bolts

Yes

The design had 3 bolts

End of the design can slip

over the 1 X 0.5 slot in the
weight holder

Yes

The design has a piece that

projected out on the end
which could hold the weight
holder

The weight holder was at

least 6 from the center of the
stand.

Yes

The design held the weights

more than 6 from the stand it
was supported by.

4. If we can run another cycle of design, we would probably first change the
dimension of the hanger to make the width thicker. Also, from observing other groups
hangers, it might be a good idea to take away the material used between the top and
bottom holes, because the stress is applied mostly to the holes anyway and it can also
save a lot more volume space applying to other parts. It may be a good idea to design
the hanger to bolt into both sides of the stand to further avoid torsion. Finally, at the end
of the hanger, we would make a notch slot to hold the weight holder, to minimize the
distortion of the force to the side of the hanger.