Date of Last Revision
2023-05-02 23:50:59
Major
Mechanical Engineering
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Spring 2017
Abstract
In our project, we are assigned to develop a hand tube bender that is able to bend medium, high pressure, and standard 1/4” and 3/8” tubing. The bender also shall be capable of being used with two hands without the aid of a bench vise and have provisions for use in a bench vise for convenience. The bender shall not damage the tube during bending and induce a maximum of 8% ovality in the bent tubing. In addition, the cost of the bender shall be less than the existing hand tube bender and be resistant to rusting from ordinary use.
The first step of our plan is to develop our conceptual designs by brainstorming and analyzing the function structure diagram of the hand tube bender in order to give us an idea how the bender works. Moreover, we created an objective tree to fulfill the expected needs of both customers and the manufacturer. We also developed our morphological chart based on our function solutions from function structure diagram and created four different possible designs for our project. Each design that we developed will be used in the weighted design matrix with specific criteria we developed in our objective tree so that we are able to choose the best design that is most suitable for our criteria. After selecting a single design, we will continue our project by developing our embodiment design. In our embodiment design, we start to add our design with the detailed layout of functions and connecting methods. We will also calculate the force and give an estimated cost for our bender so that we could calculate the total cost to produce the bender.
In the second part of our project, we continued our plan by selecting a material for all components of our design. The materials chosen are based on their ability to fulfill the requirements of the project. After which we developed our prototype design in 3D CAD software in order to have a visual model that we can validate and improve upon. We continued our project by manufacturing prototypes and testing them. We performed three distinctive tests for validation of our prototypes. A bending test was performed to measure the ovality of the bent tubing and the maximum torque to bend. Secondly we tested the strength of the benders by attempting to bend hardened drill rod. Finally, a salt spray test was performed to validate the corrosion resistance of the benders.
Research Sponsor
Swagelok
First Reader
Dr. Jae Won Choi
Second Reader
Dr. Gopal Nadkarni
Recommended Citation
Hutama, Chapin; Bills, Seth; McConnell, William; and Brown, Tyler, "Swagelok's Hand Tube Bender" (2017). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 552.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/552