Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2017

Department

Mechanical Engineering Technology

Committee Chair

Craig Johnson

Second Committee Member

Charles Pringle

Third Committee Member

Roger Beardsley

Abstract

In the world of aircraft manufacturing, cold expansion products literally hold these aircraft together. The problem faced today is that the Little Brute Hydraulic Puller designed and built by Fatigue Technology Inc. is a handheld steel hydraulic cylinder that is heavy and expensive to produce. In a market that demands continuous improvement, there is a constant push to make the product cheaper, better and lighter. In order to accomplish this demand a composite tube will be substituted in the design as the primary pressure cylinder instead of the traditional steel pressure cylinder in order to create a lighter and cheaper design. Two separate designs we have been designed and built to withstand a given test pressure which will correlate to the sample provided by Polygon Composites. The first design is a single acting single cylinder that has caps at both end which extend past the outside diameter of the cylinder and will use bolts to hold the caps together. The second design will be similar however, the caps will thread onto an aluminum sleeve fitted outside the composite cylinder. The purpose of the aluminum sleeve will be to determine if the sample can meet the strength requirements with or without the extra layer. Each cylinder will be loaded until failure and the load will compared to a theoretical value established based on the dimensions of the sample. Both designs will be analyzed to determine their potential weight savings, cost of manufacturing and its potential improvement in machining and assembly time.

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