Static Analysis of Toy Dump Truck Mechanism

Static analysis of a toy dump truck mechanism made for a group design project in an Introduction to Engineering Design with CAD course

Group members: Lich Tran, Amir Mufti, Aryeh Laks, Matthew Lilley, Alex Levanduski

This program was designed for UMBC's ENME 204 - Introduction to Engineering Design with CAD course. For the design project, our team designed a remote-controlled dump truck. This program was designed to prove that the mechanical linkage used to raise and lower the dump truck bed would be functional.

The mechanical linkage consisted of a pin and slot system, which was the main operation of the dump truck motion. A slot track system was mounted under the dump bed and a pin lever connected the slot system to the servo motor. To calculate the maximum moment required to operate the dump truck mechanism and the maximum forces exerted on the components, the dump truck mechanism is assumed to be in equilibrium and the components are assumed to be rigid. The structure was then analyzed in an explosion diagram. Since the motor is attached to the base and the pin, a moment acts on the pin lever at the point where the pin attaches to the motor that is attached to the base and an equal and opposite moment is applied on the base at the area where the motor is attached to the base. The motor itself is ignored. Even though the pin should be a two-force member and only have a single force that is acting normal to the pin (Pn), it also has a tangential component at one end as the moment makes it turn and push against the slot track of the dump truck bed.

For more information, see the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VZupJ2siHUy7wooiCCv28BlchobU0tgS/view?usp=sharing