Produktutvikling: ergonomisk støtteverktøy for hydraulisk bolting

Abstract

This thesis is about product development and manufacturing based on ideas gathered from personal experience from the industry. By performing bolt inspection at the top flange in a wind turbine, where the operator manually holds the heavy torque wrench, an idea was formed to find a solution where the job could be done safer, faster and more comfortably. Both group members were interested in coming up with a project where they could be working with the theoretical aspects of development, design and calculations in combination with the physical manufacturing of a final product. The scientific approach of this thesis is based on Action based research, Case study research and Product Development Process (PDP), where the group have mainly depended on the principals and methods of the product development process. Through brain storming, discussions with other bolting operators from the work in the wind turbines and more formal interviews with the most experienced field engineer in Hytorc Norge, data was gathered to start the process of finding the key attributes of the support tool. After having generated and discarded different concepts, a final combination of attachment bracket and lift mechanism concepts were chosen. The design was based on using existing standard parts, such as the steel pipes used for the different tube sections of the body and piston, and the spring used to drive the piston. The first part that was chosen was the spring driving the piston, and from there the group could start choosing the other components. If the tool were to be designed without taking the dimensions of the standard components into account from the start, it would likely turn out very difficult or even impossible to manufacture. It would be a hard realization to find out that there are no springs available with a sufficient spring constant in the needed diameter and length after all other dimensions were set. Taking this approach has made a design that is highly over-dimensioned for buckling and plastic deformation, but it is a design that can be made with existing parts available on the market. Through the project the group has been working a lot with Autodesk Inventor. In the beginning for making the first drafts for the concepts, to in the end doing the full assemblies and final revisions of the drawings. Mechanical strength calculations have been made by a combination of “hand calculations” in MathCad Prime and Ansys Mechanical for buckling analysis and other calculations. For the manufacturing, a lot of different tools and techniques have been used. Additive layer manufacturing has been used for prototypes and final parts. For the remaining steel parts, everything has been manufactured by CNC machines. By making use of use of Marcus’ experience with machining, the CNC programs used has been created by the group itself. The manufacturing and the testing and refinement processes each had their unforeseen challenges. The group has done a lot of modifications and found creative solutions to the different challenges that iii arose. Dealing with these real-life challenges is a part of what makes this kind of thesis special. There are a lot more complications to doing actual manufacturing than to making a model to do analysis on in Inventor 3D-space. After a lot of work and modifications a final product was formed. The project has been very interesting and educational. New tools and techniques have been learned, and the process has given a lot of perspective regarding all the factors that needs to be taken to account to create a wellfunctioning product. Both the group and Hytorc were pleased with the final product. A demonstration of the work scenario and the finished tool can be seen on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/826654158

This thesis is about product development and manufacturing based on ideas gathered from personal experience from the industry. By performing bolt inspection at the top flange in a wind turbine, where the operator manually holds the heavy torque wrench, an idea was formed to find a solution where the job could be done safer, faster and more comfortably. Both group members were interested in coming up with a project where they could be working with the theoretical aspects of development, design and calculations in combination with the physical manufacturing of a final product. The scientific approach of this thesis is based on Action based research, Case study research and Product Development Process (PDP), where the group have mainly depended on the principals and methods of the product development process. Through brain storming, discussions with other bolting operators from the work in the wind turbines and more formal interviews with the most experienced field engineer in Hytorc Norge, data was gathered to start the process of finding the key attributes of the support tool. After having generated and discarded different concepts, a final combination of attachment bracket and lift mechanism concepts were chosen. The design was based on using existing standard parts, such as the steel pipes used for the different tube sections of the body and piston, and the spring used to drive the piston. The first part that was chosen was the spring driving the piston, and from there the group could start choosing the other components. If the tool were to be designed without taking the dimensions of the standard components into account from the start, it would likely turn out very difficult or even impossible to manufacture. It would be a hard realization to find out that there are no springs available with a sufficient spring constant in the needed diameter and length after all other dimensions were set. Taking this approach has made a design that is highly over-dimensioned for buckling and plastic deformation, but it is a design that can be made with existing parts available on the market. Through the project the group has been working a lot with Autodesk Inventor. In the beginning for making the first drafts for the concepts, to in the end doing the full assemblies and final revisions of the drawings. Mechanical strength calculations have been made by a combination of “hand calculations” in MathCad Prime and Ansys Mechanical for buckling analysis and other calculations. For the manufacturing, a lot of different tools and techniques have been used. Additive layer manufacturing has been used for prototypes and final parts. For the remaining steel parts, everything has been manufactured by CNC machines. By making use of use of Marcus’ experience with machining, the CNC programs used has been created by the group itself. The manufacturing and the testing and refinement processes each had their unforeseen challenges. The group has done a lot of modifications and found creative solutions to the different challenges that iii arose. Dealing with these real-life challenges is a part of what makes this kind of thesis special. There are a lot more complications to doing actual manufacturing than to making a model to do analysis on in Inventor 3D-space. After a lot of work and modifications a final product was formed. The project has been very interesting and educational. New tools and techniques have been learned, and the process has given a lot of perspective regarding all the factors that needs to be taken to account to create a wellfunctioning product. Both the group and Hytorc were pleased with the final product. A demonstration of the work scenario and the finished tool can be seen on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/826654158