Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2016

Department

Mechanical Engineering Technology

Committee Chair

Charles Pringle

Second Committee Member

Roger Beardsley

Third Committee Member

Dr. Craig Johnson

Abstract

When commercially harvesting shellfish specifically clams and oyster, plastic mesh bags are commonly used to place shellfish in after harvesting on beaches. The issues is taking the raw bag material used for harvest and cutting it to a specified length. The material comes on a 2000 ft. spool and needs to be cut to a length of 54 in. Using an existing but out dated machine, a bench mark was made that the new design must be 10% more efficient for the customer to invest money into building the machine. Using mechanical machine design and computer designing software the machine was designed to the customer specifications. The design was a free standing steel frame, powered by an electric motor with a v-belt pulley system to transfer the power. The design featured safety improvement as well a reduction in size. The overall design was an improvement from the current machine being used because it was able to be moved and disassembled easily. By adjusting speed the machine rotated at and cutting process the new machine was estimated to be at least 10% and had the potential to be 25% more efficient. By guaranteeing an improved efficiency the machine was built entirely at Central Washington University and tested with a final efficiency was 20% over the current machine used. The machine highlights the skills and craftsmanship that are present in the CWU Mechanical Engineering technology major.

Comments

Project web site: http://trevorreher.wix.com/engineer

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