System Design and Analysis: Sand Sifter

Background:
As a course-long project for the Mechanical Engineering Design, students were required to work in groups of three to develop and analyze a machine to fit a given opportunity.
The given opportunity was the need for a portable, affordable device for sifting specific grains of sand from a rough stock of dirt. The project was broken down into four design
reports and a final consolidated design brief.

Objective:
To utilize in-class learning in a functional manner and experience the mechanical design process from beginning to end with a focus on engineering calculations and analysis for
each step of the process.

Summary of Work:
- Research on existing solutions and drawbacks
- Design and modeling of system to meet all functional requirements
- Analysis of design using hand-calculations, SolidWorks modeling, and MATLAB

Results:
- Final Design Brief
o Description of background research and analysis
o Proposal of chosen design and defense of said design
▪ Includes sketches and CAD models
o Analysis of all primary components of design
▪ Includes CAD, FEA, and written descriptions
o Analysis of all connections in design
▪ Butt and fillet weld stress and strain calculations
▪ Analysis of shear forces on fastening bolts
o Analysis of power train and gearbox functionality
▪ Calculations to support given gearbox sizing
▪ Analysis of force-torque required by motor Figure 1: 3D CAD model of final design
▪ Suggestion for motor that meets required specifications

Figure 3: MATLAB code for fillet weld calculations

Figure 2: Stress analysis of component using SolidWorks