Abstract

The Aim of this project is to analyze the factor of safety and calculate amount of weight the robot
assembly and individual parts can handle. For this project, a stair climbing robot has been
designed and fabricated. The design analysis on the shafts, gears, and the nuts have been done
through following factor of safety criteria and is included in the report. The report also contains a
user manual which instructs the reader on how to operate and run the robot.

Literature Review

Shaft failure leads to heavy loss due to stoppage and repairing cost associate with the breakdown.
A shaft is a rotating member usually of circular cross-section (solid or hollow), which is used to
transmit power and rotational motion in machinery and mechanical equipment in various
applications. Most shafts are subjected to fluctuating loads of combined bending and torsion with
various degrees of stress concentration. For such shafts the problem is fundamentally fatigue
loading. Failures of such components and structures have engaged scientists and engineers
extensively in an attempt to find their main causes and thereby offer methods to prevent such
failures. A crane is mechanical equipment for lifting and lowering a load and moving it
horizontally with the hoisting mechanism an integral part of the machine. A crane with a single
or multiple girder movable bridge, carrying a movable trolley or fixed hoisting mechanism and
travelling on an overhead fixed runway structure is known as overhead crane. Material handling
is a vital component of any manufacturing and distribution system and the material handling
industry is consequently active, dynamic and competitive. Overhead crane is used for material
handling purpose and hence it is very useful for any industry.
Failure analysis is [2] the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a
failure and how to prevent it from recurring. It is an important discipline in many branches of
manufacturing industry. Such as the electronics industry where it is a vital tool used in the
development of new products and for the improvement of existing products. However, it also
applied to other fields such as business management and military strategy. Failure analysis and
prevention are important functions to all of the engineering disciplines. The materials engineer
often plays a lead role in the analysis of failures, whether a component or product fails in service
or if failure occurs in manufacturing or during production processing. In any case, one must
determine the cause of failure to prevent future occurrence or to improve the performance of the
device, component or structure. Failure analysis can have three broad objectives.
1. Determining modes
2. Failure Cause
3. Root causes.
Failure mode can be determined on-site or in the laboratory, using methods such as
metallographic and mechanical testing. Failure cause is determined from laboratory studies and
knowledge of the component and its loading and its environment. Comparative sampling or
duplication of the failure mode in the laboratory may be necessary to determine the cause. Root
failure cause is determined using knowledge of the mode, the cause and the particular process or
system. Determining the root failure cause require complete information about the equipment's
design, operation, maintenance, history and environment. A typical failure analysis might include
metallographic and chemical analysis.

The term shaft refers to a rotating machine element, circular in cross section which supports
elements like rollers, gears, pulleys & it transmits power. The shaft is always stepped with
maximum diameter in the middle and minimum at the ends, where Bearings are mounted. The
steps provide shoulders for positioning of gears, pulleys & bearings. The fillet radius is provided
to prevent stress concentration due to abrupt changes in the cross section. Shafts have various
names depending on the application such as Axle, Spindle, Countershaft, Jackshaft, Line Shaft
etc. Ordinary transmission shafts are made of medium carbon steels with a carbon content from
0.150.40 percent such as 30C8 or 40C8, for greater strengths high carbon steels are used such
45C8 or 50C8. For applications where corrosion and high wear takes place, shaft material used is
alloy steel. Common grades are 16Mn5Cr4, 40Cr4Mo6. High cost of alloy steels is
compromised due to the added advantages. Commercial shafts are made of low carbon steels.
They are produced by hot rolling & finished to size by either cold drawing or turning and
grinding. They are further hardened by oil-quenching to achieve the required strength and
hardness. For very large sizes the billets are forged into the bars and finished by usual turning
and grinding. Design of shafts mainly depends on:
1. Strength basis
2. Torsional rigidity basis
Methodology

Conceptual Design:
Initially there were several designs kept under considerations after scouring through multiple
patents and research papers published, indulging in the concepts required for the fabrication of
our robot. Few of them were Rocker bogie Robot and more shown below:
Manufacturing Plan:
While investigating and deliberating over the manufacturing materials numerous factors have
been kept into account which include weight, cost, manufacturability and its constraints, and
factor of safety. Moreover, the working conditions and stress analysis of critical parts are also
major factors for material selection. All these parameters are meticulously observed while
concocting the figures of merit for the material used.

- Plywood Plank:
The following chart is used to deduce the material of which the supporting plank is manufactured
of, this essentially serves as a frame where bearings are fixed and shafts are thereby rotated
through it.

- Shaft:
Furthermore, different types of metals were kept under consideration in order to manufacture the
shafts, the properties desired were:
1) High static strength
2) High fatigue strength
3) High resilience
4) Good machinability
5) Ductility

- Hence, shafts are made of ductile materials such as plain carbon steels, alloy steels, etc. Brittle
materials such as cast iron are not used to make shafts as they are brittle and undergo oxidation.
They may even undergo structural and mechanical failures.
 - Gear Mesh:
Gearbox is required to transfer the torque that is available from the engine suitably to the wheels. The
gearbox is one of the heaviest component in a vehicle which houses different set of gears of different
gear ratios selected according the application. The material used for manufacturing gears should be
sufficiently strong to withstand the torque and different kinds of stresses acting upon it. Making the gear
strong enough and also lightweight is a challenging task which will help in bringing down the overall
weight of the vehicle to come down. It’s a very challenging task as we try to achieve one we will have to
compromise on the other. Many materials can be used to manufacture a gear, but finding the material
which is best for the application is a challenge. There should be a balance between performance as well
as weight of the materials used to manufacture the gears.

In the design of a gear drive, the following data is usually given:

· The power to be transmitted.

· The speed of the driving gear,

· The speed of the driven gear or the velocity ratio.

· The center distance.

The following requirements must be met in the design of a gear drive:

· Sufficient strength of gear teeth

· Satisfactory wear characteristics

· Economical use of space and material

· The alignment of the gears and deflections of the shafts must be within permissible limits

· Satisfactory lubrication of the gears

Hence, gears were manufactured from Aluminum.

USER MANUAL

Individual Components:

- Shaft:
The material used to manufacture shafts is mild steel, having a diameter of 8mm.
2 of the shafts are threaded, while the other 2 are unthreaded.

- Spur gear:

We have utilized gear train comprising of 2 gears and 2 pinions. Gear has 72 teeth, while the
pinion has 30 teeth. The material used for manufacturing gear was aluminum.
- Nuts:

M8 Full Nut (20 Pack) 8mm A2 Stainless Steel Hex Hexagon Nuts

- Washer:

8.4mm x 25mm A2 Stainless Steel

Fabrication:
The process of fabrication started with the design and cutting of wooden frame at a carpenter’s
shop followed by the design of shafts and gears. The standard size of shaft were considered
which were 6 to 8 mm diameter. After evaluating our specifications, the use of 8 mm diameter
shaft was finalized. This was manufactured at a local workshop using lathe machine.
Furthermore, the gears and pinions were manufactured at a local milling workstation after
performing calculations, with 72 teeth and 30 teeth respectively for each of them. Finally, a gear
mesh network was established. Initially we planned on using chain linkage which consisted of
sprockets and chain, to apply torque to the back of wheels, however due to unavailability of
customized sprocket size.
EXPLAIN MOTOR
Operations:

Using 12V DC Battery of any kind, we inverted the power by connecting the
opposite wires (live and ground) to the motor. We did this in order to ensure that
our motor was in sync with the rotation of our wheels’ required direction.
The torque that motor provides rotates shaft, which in turn rotates the gear which
operate in pairs to transmit and modify rotary motion and torque without slip, the
teeth of one gear engaging the teeth on a mating gear. Since the teeth on a pair of
mating gears are arranged on circles, i.e., the gears are toothed wheels, the ratios of
the rotary speeds and torques of the shafts are constant.
These gears transmit power from rotating axle to the wheels that ultimately drive
the main frame.
FoS Estimations:

Bending Moment Diagrams

According to the loading conditions, the rods act like simply supported beams. Taking help from
the Table A-9 we find the above reaction forces and the bending moment diagram.
The loading is applied at a center point on the rod, whereas two reaction forces are developed at
the corners from where the rod has been fixed.
In the next section, calculations have been performed to find out the amount of maximum mass
that can be placed on the rods.

Calculations & Analysis:

The calculations have been performed by analyzing the forces through finite element analysis
using multiple software, but primarily using solid works analysis. The screenshots attached
below depict the stress distribution on the shaft and gears. Some of the images attached are
from reference papers.

Gear:
BILLING INVOICE
QUANTITY DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE TOTAL

1 Arduino Microcontroller (UNO) 600 600

35
1 CNC 3D Printed Shield SG90 180
0 350

1 Servo Motor 210

210

2 Stepper Motor 500

250
A4988 Stepper Motor Driver (6pin
2 300
Connector) 150

4 Linear Bearings 400

100

4 Steel Rods (8mm) 540

135
GT2 16 teeth Aluminum Pulley with
1 770
GT2 Belt 770
- Wood Work 400
- Miscellaneous 500

SUBTOTAL PKR 4570/-

SALES TAX 0/-
SHIPPING & HANDLING 0/-

Original copies of Bills have been attached at the end of this report
References:

[1] Sumit P.Raut, Laukik P.Raut (2014). A Review of Various Techniques Used for Shaft Failure
Analysis: International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science Volume 2, Issue
2, Feb-Mar 2014: ISSN 2091-2730
[2] Hariom, Prof. Vijoy Kumar, Dr. Chandrababu D. (2016). A Review of Fundamental Shaft
Failure Analysis: International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
Volume: 03
[3] NITHIN VENUGOPAL, V. RAMANATHAN. “EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON
PERFORMANCE OF ALUMINUM ALLOY 7068 GEARS IN A MOTORCYCLE
GEARBOX." (2018).