Project title: Design and manufacture of vibrating

parts tumbling and polishing machine.

• A Vibrating parts tumbling and polishing machine is a machine used for mass cleaning and
polishing of small parts and components such as iron bolts, nuts, brass components etc. at
one go a process called tumbling.

• Tumbling or tumble finishing, also known as tumbling or rumbling is a technique for

smoothing and polishing a rough surface on relatively small parts in large numbers. In the
field of metal working it is sometimes called barrelling, or barrel finishing. Metal tumbling
is used to burnish, deburr, clean, radius, de-flash, descale, remove rust, polish, brighten,
surface harden, prepare parts for further finishing, and break off die cast runners.
 Background and objectives
• Background:
• Materials such as metals need surfaces polishing and cleaning before use.
The need for surface processing activities arise from:
1. Rusting and corrosion e.g. steels and copper alloys
2. Post machining e.g. turning and milling leaves burrs and uneven profiles
on parts
3. Requirement of shiny surfaces e.g. in the jewellery or decorative
applications.
4. Massive numbers of small sized parts are often difficult to clean or
polish
Objectives:

• To design and manufacture an offset mass

• To design and fabricate machine frames

• To design and make a work bowl

• To design and make a machine stand

 Methodology
• Identification of the consumer needs: oral interviews and visual
observations were carried out.
• Information search i.e. literature review and engineering theory
sources
• Analysis of possible designs
• Use of concept screening matrix to assess cleaning methods.
• Design of machine components
• Envestigation of machine parameters
 Kinematic analysis
• The model involves a mass spring system with continuous rotating
unbalance.
• Springs of stiffness k, with damping coefficient c, assuming only
vertical motion i.e. single degree of freedom. An offset mass mu, at a
distance e, from the centre of rotation and angular velocity.
 Force analysis and equations
• The forces acting on the machine include:

1. Total weight due to mass m, of the machine frame and tumble bowl
contents

2. Centrifugal force due to the rotation of offset mass mu,

3. Vibration motion due to springs.

 Equations:
• F = - kx: for a mass spring system with the mentioned parameters the
equation of motion is:

• This translates to:

• The amplitude of the excitation depends on both the out-of-balance
mass, and its effective distance from the axis of rotation, as well as on
the rotational speed. The response will be given by:
The amplitude X is given by:

The rotational angle is given by:

ω is the natural frequency, damping ratio and angular frequency ratios are given by:
•   the deflection of the springs is given by:
•δ=

• The offset mass sizing is given by:

• 
• The offset mass = mu =

• The magnitude of the force applied is given by:

•
 Spring design
• assume
  the value of the diameter of the wire
• calculate the mean coil diameter from the equation
•
• Outer diameter coil
• Inner diameter coil
• determine the number of turns from:
• calculate the solid length
• calculate the free length
• =solid length + maximum compression + clash allowance
•
• Spring rate
• Finally determine the pitch (P)=
Design considerations:
• The bowl material must be resistant to wear
• spring deflection must be minimal
• Springs must be able to take loading up to 15kg
• Bolts must be able to with stand vibrations present in the machine
• The materials to be used must be of low cost
• A variable speed electric motor to be used for excitation
• Easy to use control interface to be used
Development of the project:
• Material selection follows after sizing calculations and design
considerations:
• Springs hardened carbon steel with modulus of rigidity and modulus
of elasticity at 80kN psqmtr and 120 kN psqmillimtr respectively.
• Bowl material – plastic to be used
• Machine frames squared tube made of mild steel UTS from 30 – 60
MPa
 Final project
• Since the vibratory concept is chosen therefore the equations above are used to calculate the forces on

springs.

• Vibratory application requires small amplitudes of vibrations and a fast rotating excitation system.

• The total load to be handled is used to calculate component sizing.

• Components that make up the machine include:

1. Work bowl for containing the mixture of media and workpieces
2. Helical springs for maintaining vibrations
3. Electric motor for providing the rotational motion
4. Offset mass for providing unbalance
5. Machine frames and stand
6. The media is the abrasive material that is mixed with the work pieces vibrated in the work bowl. The relative
motion and contact between these components causes the work pieces to be polished and cleaned.
 Conclusion
• The designer successfully designed and manufactured a Vibratory tumbler parts
cleaner and polisher. The Tumbler has a capacity of 10kg per batch and it took
two days to manufacture (16 working hours). Which is affordable to small and
medium workshop owners. The Tumbler fully meets the customer needs and has
few easy to assemble parts. It was well designed according to Lucas Design for
assembly (DFA).

• All the components on the machine are absolutely useful for the function-ability
of the machine. The objective of the research was met timeously, although the
researcher faced some challenges regarding the information to make the
Tumbler. The machine is indeed a multi- purpose as different types metallic parts
including alloys were cleaned.
 Recommendations
• The machine may be improved such that it will be able to handle moisture.
Further research on introduction of continuous and automatic feeding. This will
ensure that the machine is fully automated such that it will work with minimum
human interference. The size and capacity can be increased to meet industrial
demands if the need be.

• The machine may be enlarged so that it can be used to clean and polish large
parts and components. Solar power is another option that can be explored to
power the machine instead of the AC current. This will come in handy as AC
currents shortages are on the increase in Zimbabwe