EXAMPLE OF DESIGN PROCESS

AND DR and O

Design of Trailer for Motorcycle

Contributor : Cahyo Martosudirjo

Content of the Discussion :

1. Problem Statement
2. Alternative Design
3. Decision from Alternative Design
4. DR and O of the Critical Components
Problem Statement
Population of small motorcycle in Indonesia
is around 40 millions with additional new
motorcycles of around 5 millions per year.
The motorcycles are mostly produced by
Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and various local as
well as Chinese and Indians brands.
There are needs in adding the capacity to
transport goods since the motorcycles are
also used to run small businesses. The
challenge is to design the additional capacity
as requested by the costumer
Costumer Request
No. Request Criteria
1 The width is relatively unchanged Must
2 Has good stability and handling Must
3 Can be installed and uninstalled easily Must
4 Function of the motorcycle remain the same Must
5 Esthetics Must
6 Fail-safe design Must
7 Has protection against rain and dust Wish
8 Can be used for various brand of motorcycle Wish
Existing Products

Motorcycles
Baggage

Tricycle

Motorcycles
Trailer
Tricycle

Difficult to install and uninstall (-)

Large transport capacity (+)
Wide dimension (-)
Agility is low (-)
Motorcycles
Baggage

Easy to install and uninstall (+)

Agility as motorcycle is maintained (+)
Small transport capacity since the size is
small (-)
Motorcycles
trailer

Can be installed and uninstalled (+)

Can be used as ordinary motorcycle (+)
Moderate transport capacity
More costly than motorcycles baggage (-)
Dimension is smaller than tricycle (+)
Decision from the Alternative
Products/Designs

Motorcycles
Baggage
Tricycle

Motorcycles
Trailer
Patent and Legal Aspect
There are 5 US patents concerning
motorcycles trailer
Government Regulation concerning
Traffic Law, including the regulation for
Vehicle Trailer
Major Critical Components

Additional Motorcycles Frame

Motorcycles
Trailer
Hitch
DR and O of the Additional
Motorcycle Frame

Must
Has excellent configuration

Aesthetic

Able to tow 100 kg load

Can be produced using

conventional machine
Wish
Low cost

Easy to install
DR and O of the Hitch

Must
Has 3-rotation axis

Able to tow 100 kg load

Can be easily install and uninstall

from the motorcycles frame
Fail-safe

Wish
Low cost
DR and O of the Motorcycles
Trailer
Must
Has a 100 kg load capacity

Compliance with the vehicles trailer

regulation
Wish
Can be produced easily

Low cost

Has protection against rain and dust

Prototype Configuration
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Content of the Discussion

1. DR&O of the Load Cell

2. Exercise for Alternative Design
3. Engineering Analysis
4. Production Processes
5. Performance Test
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell

Configuration and its elements

Bottom Cover
and Connecting
Element

Upper Cover Strain Element

EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Resistance strain gage used for sensing element

Working principle :
R/R = Sg.a

The principle was found by

Lord Kelvin, approximately
140 years ago
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Design Requirements and Objectives (DR&O) are:
1. Must have a load capacity of 5 kg (50 N).
2. Must have a linear relationship between the load
and output signal.
3. The output strain in the strain element should be
high so it can be detected easily by the strain
gage (sensor).
4. The strain element should be able to sustain the
load (maximum stress should be less than the
yield stress).
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Two contrary requirements are faced in the design of
the strain element. The bridge of the strain element
should produce high strain and at the same time it
should not fail when the load is applied.
The problem is how to determine the dimensions of
the bridge of the strain element. For this purpose,
finite element method is used as a tool for the
engineering analysis.
For creativity exercises, you will be requested to
propose alternative designs for the strain element.
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Engineering Analysis

Finite Element
Modeling and
its
computational
result
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Engineering Analysis

The detail
computational result
shows the strain at
the bridge of the
strain element where
the strain gages are
located and glued
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell

Main dimensions of the strain element

EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Production processes of the strain element

1. Machining according to
the specified dimensions
2. Threading for the upper
connecting element (M6)
and for the bottom cover
(M20)
3. Wire cutting to make the
bridge for the strain gage
locations (shown in this
drawing)
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Production processes of the bottom cover and
connecting element

1. Machining to the specified

dimensions
2. Threading M20 at the bottom
cover and M6 at the
connecting element
 EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell

Performance Test
A good
linear
relationship
Strain

between the
load and the
strain from 2
to 100 grams
(at very low
loads)
Load ( grams)
 EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell

Performance Test
A good linear
relationship
Strain

between the
load and the
strain from 2
to 450 grams
(at low loads)

Load ( grams)
 EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Performance Test
Excellent linear
relationship
between the load
and the strain.
Strain

Test
FEM
The strain from
the test results is
higher than the
computational
Load ( grams)
values, why ?
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Evaluation of the Design

Further evaluation reveals that the dimension at one of the bridges

of the strain element was not correctly cut during the wire cutting
process
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Evaluation of the Design
Since one of the bridges in the strain element was cut
longer than the specified design, it produces higher strain
than the calculated values (using finite element method)
and causes the difference between the test and the
calculated result.
From the practical point of view, it will not cause any
problem since the most important performance of the load
cell is the linear relationship between the strain and the
load. However, it may be interesting to compare the test
result with the new computation using the incorrect
dimensions.
 EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Evaluation of the Design

Test
FEM
Strain

The new FEM

result based on the
dimensions of the
incorrect bridge is
only slightly
different with the
Load ( grams) test result
EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY
Design of Load Cell
Summary (lesson learned):
1. Not all design is a new innovation
2. D,R and O, configuration design,
performance, engineering analysis and
production processes should be
considered concurrently
3. Room for improvement is always
available