Bucket Drum design Rassor project

grabcad

I'm Mario Pereira, a Mechanical Engineer and Professor of Material Science and Engineering in Montevideo, Uruguay. I'd like to express my gratitude for the opportunity to design a concept for NASA. The idea is really thrilling! Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I couldn't work with a group of students on this project while also teaching parallel courses. In the future, I'll make sure to incorporate such challenges into our curriculum to provide valuable practice in design. This type of project is essential for learning how to design. My approach was not revolutionary, but rather focused on manufacturing and assembly at low cost. Easy assembly and rapid replacement of components are crucial because it's too difficult to create a unit that can last 5 years without the bucket drum failing. The components were designed to occupy minimal storage space. The bucket drum consists of four identical modules, four rotors, two lateral covers, three internal covers, eight blades, two bushings, two radial bearings, three collars, and a hollow steel shaft for transmission. Bevel gears with shrink fitting assembly are used on the hollow shaft. Due to time-consuming simulations using the Explicit Dynamics Ansys module, which is challenging to achieve even with a student license, I couldn't get a DEM student license. Therefore, I estimated the volume capacity through geometrical analysis. Materials and Manufacturing: * Blades (cutting tools) are made of manganese steel through machining. * Rotors and covers are made from 6061-T4 aluminum 15-gauge (1.4 mm) sheet metal via cutting, blanking, embossing for reinforcement, and stamping for the bushing housing. * Bushings and shafts are made of steel through machining. Bucket Drum Properties: * External maximum diameter: 445 mm * Width: 340 mm * Maximum volume: 32 lt * Effective volume capacity: 18 lt * Overall mass: 5,076 kg Attachments: * STL file of the assembly * STEP file of the assembly and some components * Video of dismantling