Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://cris.hit.ac.zw/handle/123456789/9

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Conceptual Design Framework for Developing a Cylindrical Robot Manipulator for Material Handling in Zimbabwean Small to Medium Enterprises: A Finite Element Approach
(Int'l Journal of Advances in Mechanical & Automobile Engg. (IJAMAE);, 2014) Masike, Rujeko; Garikayi, Talon; Tigere, Godfrey
In many small to medium engineering companies in Zimbabwe the need for material handling devices has become a necessity. There is lack of machinery that could increase production rate, improve product quality and reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining safe working environments. Material handling is a bottle neck during production due to lack of proper equipment and plant layout thus this research seeks to improve the material handling system through the conceptual design of a framework for the application of a cylindrical robot. There are many robots in the market that will improve material handling effectively. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework that has a structured approach for developing cylindrical robots based on finite element analysis methods that will be used by small and medium engineering enterprises (SMEs).This will enable the SMEs in developing nations to maintain competitive prices on products with minimal work accidents. The research explores the current literature and design approaches used to develop cylindrical robots. The paper also provides detailed methodologies to be used for structural analysis, component simulation and performance evaluation of the machine through finite element analysis (FEA). The framework provides suitable guidelines for designers to make appropriate decisions from the initial design stage to the commercialization of the design. The authors conclude that the preliminary framework be applied to formalize design steps for sim ilar material handling machinery implementation in the SME sector.
Design of an Automated Vibration Monitoring System for Condition Based Maintenance of a Lathe Machine (Case Study)
(Conference: 2016 International Conference on System Reliability and Science (ICSRS, 2016-11-21) Chikuruwo, Mary Nyaradzayi Hughslar; Maregedze, Laurence; Garikayi, Talon
This article presents an automated vibration monitoring system for a lathe machine. This study was motivated by the fact that machine production time was wasted during planned maintenance when, most times, the machines did not require any maintenance at all. Also, the periodic intervals used did not depict the correct ageing of the machine components which resulted in unexpected failure of the machine. Planned maintenance schedules are done with the assumption that the machine is going to breakdown after a certain period of time. The aim of this research was to come up with a vibration monitoring system for a lathe machine, which included incorporating an electronic circuit in the system, use of liquid crystal display for improved user interface and use of vibration sensors to determine the vibration level of the machine. Experimental research design was used to determine the acceptable ranges of vibration amplitudes in order to classify the amplitude into 4 groups namely: extremely rough, rough, acceptable and smooth. The designed system produced consistent vibration amplitudes for both machining and nonmachining operation. The system used different indicators linked to the main processor of the circuit which monitors the machine real-time performance. It was capable of alerting the user when the vibration amplitude was out of range and also to switch off the machine when the vibration threshold was exceeded. The vibration monitoring system helps in damage control and enables preventive measures to be taken before damage occurs.