Mechanical Engineering Design Assignment - Supplementary Design Report

Supplemental Assessment Design Brief - For this assessment, you must design a universal joint to transmit load between two rotating shafts. The joint must couple 2 sections of aluminium tube with outside diameter (OD) 2.54mm and wall thickness 1.6mm (tolerance +/-0.32mm). A schematic representation of a universal joint is given in Fig. 1, however your design should vary significantly from this.

Design Brief - The design must:

• Connect two aluminium tubes (25.4mm x 1.6mm).
• Support a torque of at least 6Nm.
• Support an axial load of at least 20N.
• Operate at an angle of up to 45° from straight.
• Be cost efficient to manufacture.
• Be as light as possible.
• Not exceed 200mm in any dimension.
• Have good durability (safety factor).
• Consider environmental implications.

Report: The design must be presented in a report which will make up 100% of the supplementary assessment. The report must contain:

• A design specification
• A minimum of 3 concept designs (grades will be awarded for innovation).
• A preferred concept design based on ranking the different designs.
• Design evolution using stress analysis (Solidworks Simulation).
• Isometric and 1^st angle technical drawings of the design.
• Materials and manufacturing specification.
• Environmental considerations.
• Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA).

Please use the supplied coversheet template and report guidelines.

Supplementary Design Report Guidelines -

The supplementary design report should include all the detail of your design for it to be manufactured. It is also important that the report looks professional and is well presented. Any figures, tables and equations used in the report should be numbered and referred to in the text. The report should have page numbers and a table of contents at the beginning.

The report should be a maximum of 8 pages and contain:

• Cover sheet.
• Contents (with page numbers).
• Design specification.
• A minimum of 3 concept designs including images (sketches are fine for these).
• A concept ranking exercise
• A description of design evolution of preferred concept using stress analysis (Solidworks Simulation).
• Materials and manufacturing specifications - for every part.
• Engineering drawings: Isometric view (full page) and First or third angle projection - include all relevant dimensions (full page).
• Environmental considerations - for every part.
• Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA).