Advanced Engineering Technologies

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Advanced Engineering Technologies

• November 24, 2008
• Period 3
• Michael Whited, Michael Chappell, Kyle Kadlec,
  Matt Bogus, Nick Malburg, Jackie Burtka, Aaron
  Ebejer

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Hull and Frame Crew
Michael Whited and Nick Malburg
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Problem Statement

• For this project, we were faced with the task of
  designing a hull that will provide a sturdy base
  for our amphibious vehicle. This vehicle will be
  driving in both water and on land therefore, the
  hull had to be sturdy enough to support two
  axels, while allowing the vehicle to affectively
  maneuver in water. In order to allow our vehicle,
  estimated at 450 pounds, to float, we concluded
  that it would have to displace over 8 cubic feet
  of water. The surface of the hull has to be
  flawless so that it will not allow any water into
  the base of the vehicle. Also, the hull must
  provide areas for both the axels and the jet to
  adequately propel the vehicle on either land or
  in water. In addition to all of these other
  obstacles, the hull must be designed so that it
  will provide minimal drag in the water. In the
  end, it is essential that the hull be build
  correctly in order to prevent any damage to the
  other components of the vehicle.

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Problem Statement Cont

• Along with designing a hull, our group was in
  charge of designing and creating a frame that
  would be mounted on the hull. The main challenge
  in building an effective frame is that it must be
  build strong enough to support an extremely large
  payload however, it must also be small enough so
  that all of the other components of the vehicle
  have enough room to be places around the frame.
  The frame will also have to be mounted in the
  hull and, therefore, must be less than 108 long
  and 54 wide. Also, to be most effective, the
  frame will have to be made out of a durable, yet
  light weight material. Whatever the frame is made
  out of will also have to be water resistant to
  prevent rust and water damage. Once both the hull
  and the frame are assembled, they will serve as a
  strong, durable base for the rest of the
  amphibious vehicle.

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Design Statement

• In order to create the most effective hull that
  would provide little drag when the amphibious
  vehicle is in the water, we decided to base the
  hull design on the hull of a jet ski. We then
  created three separate hull designs that each had
  their strong points the Basic Hull would require
  little work to build, the Extended Hull would
  provide a greater surface area to allow for
  better buoyancy, and the Hull with Wheel Wells
  would exert minimal drag after the addition of
  wheels. After rating each design on our design
  matrix, we chose the Extended Hull due to the
  fact that it was the most effective and the most
  practical design.

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Design Statement Cont

• To build the hull, we will first create a mold
  out of Owens Corning insulation foam (2 thick).
  Once the mold fits the specifications of the
  design, we will begin to add the fiberglass
  layers. Fiberglass is both sturdy and water
  resistant, two of the most important
  characteristics when building a hull. As a group,
  we decided that 5 layers of fiberglass would be
  used to build the hull. Although 3 or 4 layers
  might be adequate, we dont want to take any
  chances and with the extra budget, it should
  prove to be a worthwhile investment. After the
  layers are in place, the final step is to cover
  the fiberglass with an epoxy that will give it a
  smooth, water resistant surface.

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Design Statement Cont..

• The frame design was the easier of our two tasks.
  Rather than sketch multiple frames, we worked
  together to design one frame that can adequately
  mount both the land and water components.
  Stainless steel will be used to build the frame
  because it is extremely strong and rust
  resistant. We used two square bars to support the
  engine and the front axel, along with one square
  bar to support the back axel. We also decided to
  put in a 2 x 2 metal plate toward the back of
  the frame in order to support the drivers seat.
  Finally, we will bolt the frame into the hull and
  cover the area which the bolts extend outside the
  hull with an air-tight seal. This seal will
  prevent any water from entering the hull through
  small cracks around the bolts. After the
  assembly, we will have created a sturdy frame
  that will easily support our estimated 450 pound
  payload.

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LAND SQUAD

• Matt Boguslawski
• and
• Kyle Kadlec

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Land Squad Problem Statement
The focus of the land squad is to design and put
together a system that will allow for our vehicle
to effectively run on land and then work once
again after being completely submerged in water.
This task is arguably the most difficult of the
project because it includes many of the vital
parts of the vehicle and also has to convert
parts that are made to withstand only rain to
being able to be totally submerged. This group is
in charge of many different situations of the
vehicle.
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Land Problem Statement Cont.

• The first section the land squad is responsible
  for is the engine, this brings up many questions
  and things we must be careful of
• Where will we get this engine?
• Will the engine be powerful enough to run both
  the axels on land and the propulsion system on
  water at a sufficient speed?
• What is the max power we can use and not rip
  apart our frame/hull?
• Where is the best position to mount engine?
• Front vs. Rear vs. Mid
• What is the most cost efficient engine?
• What is the maximum area the engine can take up?
• What is the maximum weight the engine can be and
  not be overwhelming to the hull along with all
  the other elements and the driver?
• Which way must the engine spin to make the least
  difficulty when attaching to the propulsion
  system?
• Will it be able to withstand water incase of a
  leak?

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Land Problem Statement Cont.

• The next biggest question is the drive system
• Should we use a traditional transmission?
• How big?
• Number of gears?
• Ratio of gears?
• Manual vs. Automatic?
• Clutch Style?
• Centrifugal vs. Manual
• Or should we create a smaller 1 speed sprocket
  transmission?
• Front-wheel drive vs. Rear-wheel drive
• If FWD
• How do we keep power to wheels when the wheels do
  not make a 90 degree angle to the axel?
• Do we need a differential?
• Car or something smaller like ATV?
• If RWD
• How long must drive shaft be?
• Where in hull do we mount drive shaft?

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Land Problem Statement Cont.

• Lastly we must decide on wheels and steering
  specs
• Rack and pinion vs. Power vs. Go-kart steering
  style
• Cost
• Difficulty of adapting to our needs
• Ease of finding parts
• How far must wheels be from body to ensure there
  is no touching when the wheels are fully turned?
• Size of wheels?
• Drag once in water?
• Weight limits on hull?
• Big enough to be steady on land.
• Tires
• Strength of rubber, depending on the outcome of
  the differential the tires may need to be
  extremely tough.
• Treads?
• Normal grooves?
• Deep-set grooves to add a little power once in
  water?

Also we cannot forget that all holes on the
vehicle must be somehow sealed or else it will
sink. All metal must be as rust resistant as
possible to ensure life of vehicle. All these
things must be taken into consideration when
designing the land portion of the vehicle. If
even one of these things fails than the vehicle
will not run.
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Design Statement

• After discussing and debating each and every of
  the concerns brought up in the problem statement,
  my partner and I have come up with a design that
  we feel will not only work but will be the
  overall best possible product with the knowledge,
  experience, tools and funds we have at our
  disposal. Our conclusion is as follows.
• Our vehicle will be powered by the Rotax
  airplane engine used in prior years for that
  classs go-kart. Using this engine solves many
  questions we cut down greatly on cost because we
  will not need to buy the most expensive component
  of the vehicle. We also know the exact size of
  the engine in full because we have it with us now
  and can plan ahead as far as spacing goes. We
  have tested the engine and found that it does not
  start, but we estimated that only a new spark
  plug and a little tweaking is required to get it
  running. The engine is 28-hp which is very
  powerful for our needs but it is not overboard,
  it is almost a perfect engine for our needs. Due
  to the fact that it is an airplane engine, it is
  a high performance engine and will need to be
  compensated for the high RPMs. this should not
  be a problem though, especially because it will
  help the impeller be stronger, but that is not
  our groups concern.

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Design Statement Cont.

• Our biggest challenge turned out to be deciding
  between a FWD or RWD system. As far as difficulty
  goes RWD would be the easiest to make and apply,
  it would only need a simple drive shaft to a
  solid rear axel. The problem with RWD though is
  that when we go from land to water on a ramp
  there is no problem, the front will hit the water
  first and float and then the rear wheels would
  propel it into the water. The problem comes when
  going from water to land, if all the power is in
  the rear 2 wheels, there would be no way to get
  contact between the rear wheels and the ramp
  because the front wheels would work as bumpers
  and keep it from getting out of the water. The
  only way we could make it work would be to use a
  special type of tires that have treads that our
  screw shaped and hope they can exert enough force
  to push it up the ramp. Not only would this waste
  time and gas, but it would take a considerable
  amount of thrust to push the vehicle and all its
  weight up the ramp.
• For this reason we have decided to use a FWD
  system with a front mounted engine. We will mount
  the half shafts off our sprocket transmission,
  which will be explained later. At the end of each
  shaft will be a Constant-Velocity(CV) joint that
  will keep power to the wheels even while

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Design Statement Cont.

• in a full turn. Also with the engine in the front
  this will add more weight to add traction to the
  ground when coming out of the water.
• For a transmission we decided a traditional
  transmission used in automobiles would be too
  big, expensive and all together unnecessary.
  After researching different methods to get around
  a multiple speed trans, we decided upon a 1 speed
  sprocket setup, this is the same as used on most
  mopeds. Instead of multiple gears we will use a
  chain that is on 2 sprockets with a manual clutch
  that we will use to engage the system.
• Lastly the easiest decision was the steering. We
  decided that a power steering setup would be too
  expensive and also unnecessarily difficult for
  gear project. We decided that all that is needed
  is a rack and pinion setup. At the end of the
  steering column there will be a gear that meets
  with a rack gear. When the steering wheel is
  turned, the gear will turn the rack and push the
  tie rods in and out, causing the wheels to turn.

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Water Crew

• Michael Chappell
• Jackie Burtka

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Problem Statement

• In the water group, our main goal is to
  successfully propel the vehicle on the water. We
  must also make sure the engine will run again
  after the vehicle has been on land.
• We will work with the land group to find ways to
  seal off all holes so that there is no leak into
  any engine. It must work together with the
  placing and weight of the land engine.
• We need to work with hull and frame group to
  shape where it will be placed in the frame. We
  must also work with them to find how the system
  will be attached and connected to the drive
  system.
• We must make sure the system does not weigh down
  the vehicle by finding out the maximum weight
  possible and making sure it stays under that. If
  the weight is too high, the vehicle could sink
  once it gets into the water.

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Design Statement

• First, we came up with different options we could
  use. The first was the jet propulsion already in
  the jet ski and the second option was a
  propeller. Using the matrix we created, the jet
  propulsion looked to be the better of the two
  options. The system already there saved us time
  and cost, it is simple to use and work with, and
  it should remain durable. If we decided on the
  propeller system, it would have taken time to
  make and money to spend on parts. It would have
  worked, but we figured it would not be as durable
  because if the propellers hit something, like a
  rock, they could break off. We must look at how
  the vehicle is going to work and make adjustments
  according to that. Working with the frame and
  hull group we will find out how we will mount the
  engine in place. Working with the land, we make
  sure all holes are sealed and compare the weights
  of the engines to check that they will not cause
  the vehicle to sink in the water. There was not
  much of figuring to do since we are using the
  system that is already in the jet ski.

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Matrix
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Cost List
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Front view
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Side View
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Side (Continued)
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Top
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Isometric View
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Impeller Representation
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Basic Hull
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Extended Hull
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Hull w/ Wheel Wells
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Design Matrix
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Frame
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Top Isometric
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Bottom Isometric
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Bottom View (Rotated)
54
108
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Front View
18 in
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Frame
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Welded
Bolts
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Final Parts List 1
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Final Parts List 2
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Final Parts List 3
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Total Cost

• 2065.64