Sabrina Jastram

EDSGN 468 –Section 005

May 1st, 2020

Final Project
Design Task: Design a chair capable of holding a person of 300 lbs and then conduct a finite
element analysis to verify/prove that the chair is safe under such a load.

Design Specifications:
● The chair must be able to withhold up to 300 lbs
● The chair should be ergonomically sound
● The chair should be durable
● The chair should be comfortable
● The chair should cost no more than $100 (Note: Use mcmaster.com for estimation)
● The chair should be safe

Cost Analysis:

Structural Fiberglass - 1/8

The table on the left shows the dimensions of the
different parts of the frame. The bars in the design are 1 in by
in thick, 1x1 in square
1 in with a wall thickness of 1/8 of an inch. The total length of
bars
material that would need to be purchased is 675.5 cm, which
Quantity Length (cm) is equivalent to 21. 6 ft. McMaster.com does not carry a 1x1
Legs square steel tube with a thickness of 1/8 of an in. However,
2 53.9 they do sell 1 x 1 square steel tube with a thickness of 0.12
inches. For the purpose of the analysis, we will use this tube to
2 50.8 calculate the prices. This would come out to a total of $97
2 24.1 dollar without accounting for the wooden seat and back
support. For this reason, I changed the material of the frame to
2 20.3
structural fiberglass. According to McMaster, 25 ft of 1/8 in
Connectors thick, 1x1 in square tube of structural fiberglass would cost
3 55.9 $84.50.
Back Support
2 38.1
Seat Connector
2 57.7
TOTAL: 657.5
 The seat and back are made out of pinewood. I would need a 4ft x 2ft
x 1in piece of pinewood. I could not find pinewood with these dimensions but
buying 3 pieces of 4ft x 4in x 2in would cost $7.10 dollars. The wood can be
ripped and then connected to create the appropriate dimensions.

Adding the $84.50 for the fiberglass square tubes and the $7.10 for the
pinewood planks, the total price ends up being $91.60

FEA Analysis:

Figure 1. Force of 300 lbs is applied to the seat of the chair

Figure 2. Displacement

Figure 3. Von Mises Stress

The FEA analysis shows the performance of the chair under a 300 lbs. load. The maximum
displacement is of 0.0119 in and the maximum Von Mises stress is of 346 psi. The chair will not break
since the yield strength for the plexiglass frame is 7977 psi. The Von Mises stress is therefore a lot lower
than the yield strength meaning it should be durable. The chair is designed to reduce stress on the
frame by using the rounded edges and chamfers.