Document Type

Undergraduate Project

Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2023

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Engineering Technology

Committee Chair

Charles Pringle, PE

Second Committee Member

Dr. John Choi

Third Committee Member

Chris Berkshire

Abstract

With a substantial rise in Carbon Fiber use across all industries, the need for a way to recycle the waste has grown as well. A group of Mechanical Engineering Technology students at Central Washington University funded by the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology (JCATI) have created a machine to recycle waste wing trimmings from the Boeing company’s airplanes. This machine consists of 5 different sub-assemblies being the oven, crusher, gear train, conveyor, and shredder. The purpose of this project was to decrease the deflection in the crusher caused by bulging in the housing and movement of the bearings. To decrease the deflection in the two areas a new frame and housing was manufactured to allow room for the CWU machined bearing blocks and bracing. Bearing blocks allow for adjustability of the shaft position and locks them in place. The driving factor for the addition of bearing blocks is the 9000-pound shear modulus of the carbon fiber which causes the previous crusher to spread apart. To ensure the design changes would stiffen the machine and not deflect statistics was used to analyze each piece as a beam. Once the machine was completed it was found that the shafts did not deflect more than five hundredths of an inch, the total deflection was three hundredths of an inch. Additionally, the housing when operating deflects four hundredths of an inch which is less than the max of .0625 inches allowed. The machine now reliably recycles the wing trimmings and produces raw carbon fiber.

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