Team 12: Tire cage failure analysis Sponsored by Habco Sponsor Advisor: David Plis Faculty Advisor Prof. Yen-Lin Han, Vincent Tanuis, Erich Gustenhoven and Ashley Pospisil
HABCO Incorporated designed and built tire cages for use on Black Hawk helicopters, which are to protect workers from shrapnel in case of an explosion during tire inflation. The cage has been prototyped, tested, and is in production. Through testing, the functionality of the cage has been determined to be safe for use. However, minimal analytical work was conducted on the cage prior to testing, and it hasn’t been optimized. The first objective of this project was to complete the needed analytical study on the existing cage. Using the finite element analysis (FEA) software package ANSYS to study the effects of a tire explosion on the cage allows the design to be modified easily with the goal of decreasing cost, and improving ergonomics while retaining the same level of safety as the existing model. Through the use of the computer aided design (CAD) software SolidWorks, a model of the cage was created. This model has also been tested in ANSYS to determine its accuracy. The second objective of the project was to create a tire cage to be used with truck tires as a back shop design such that the tire could be rolled in and out of the cage. Contained in the new design there was a tertiary goal to make the product as marketable as possible by reducing costs and improving ergonomics. FEA was used to help optimize critical elements of the design. A new door and latch was designed and integrated into the back shop cage as well as a base plate that allows for release of gas pressure. A prototype was manufactured by HABCO. The back shop tire cage design, CAD models and FEA will all be used by HABCO to continue to develop and improve their line of tire cages.
Senior Design Project Program 2011-2012
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