Design and analysis of structural elements of H-frame press

Abstract

Automobile manufacturers nowadays release new models or new variants of their vehicles in a very short span of time. As a result, for every new product, the manufacturing equipment has to be modified or updated to suit the production requirements. This leads to development of new customized manufacturing equipment for production. Thus along with the new variants, there is an increase in the fixed cost related to production due to investments in the development of the machines. To reduce fixed cost involved due to development and fabrication of the machine, it is necessary to minimize the material utilized during fabrication of the machine. Hence it is important not to overdesign the equipment with respect to strength and deformation. General practices include procedures like modifications in design of the previously used equipment to suit the new equipment followed by fabrication of the new equipment. This can lead to increase in material consumption and thus overdesign of the equipment with respect to the same. This study deals with the design and analysis of the structural elements of a press. This press is used to assemble two thrust bearing races in the motorcycles steering tubes connected to the frame of the motorcycle. The design of the machine is customized to withstand loads for the specific application. The approach of the design process is concurrent instead of iterative design. The process tackles each structural element in a way to determine the best suitable dimensions to maximize strength and minimize material, thereby optimizing the design.