Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Jason Satira, Justin Valenti, Eric Hill, Pavara Ranatunga, Jay Joneja

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Contents
Semester Goals ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Trike Construction and Design ...................................................................................................................... 4 Detailed Design Work and Testing ................................................................................................................ 9 New Drive Train Attachment .................................................................................................................... 9 Bearing Calculation ................................................................................................................................... 9 Propeller Angle Calculation..................................................................................................................... 10 Drivetrain Weight Build up ..................................................................................................................... 11 Tube Shatter Testing ............................................................................................................................... 12 Spring 2014 Goals ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Chain Tensioner ...................................................................................................................................... 14 New Drive Shaft Configuration Construction.......................................................................................... 15 New trike top tube .............................................................................................................................. 15 Bearing Mount .................................................................................................................................... 15 Machined DS mount ........................................................................................................................... 15 New drive shaft and hub ..................................................................................................................... 15 New Seat ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Adjustable pedal position ....................................................................................................................... 16 Any Remaining Time ............................................................................................................................... 16 Prop Testing ............................................................................................................................................ 16 Semester Schedule.................................................................................................................................. 16

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Semester Goals
This semester the drivetrain group set the following list of goals to ensure that work was being completed in an efficient manner and stayed on track: Build a new trike and test the drivetrain on the current keel design Determine the angle the propeller should be mounted with respect to the wing Weight build-up of all drivetrain components Carbon tube shatter testing Build team members skills and complete learning factory machining certification Support the propeller group with testing

Additionally during this semester the group took on the additional challenge of designing a new drive shaft mount to reduce the weight and drag in comparison with the previous mounts that the group had found to be an inefficient use of material.

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Trike Construction and Design

The main goal for this semester was to design a new trike. The criteria for designing the new trike were that it must be easily disassembleable, able to be easily modified, and use the actual components that will be used on the Zephyrus. To make the trike easy to disassemble, fiberglass clamps and number of strategically placed bolts were employed. In doing this, the trike was able to be easily taken apart so that it can be moved and stored. Second, to make the trike easily modifiable, modular sections were designed to be easily swapped out. If there is any need to put new pieces on the trike they can be easily attached. The trike was also made of carbon fiber tubes, which are easy to modify without using learning factory machinery. Finally the trike was built using the actual components that would be going on the HPA, for example the carbon fiber seat. The semester was started by building a new keel to the current design configuration. First the carbon tubes were sanded down fit the contour on the piece it is being attached to. Then the tubes were attached together using carbon fiber cloth in a wet layup. Then heat shrink wrap was applied over the attachment points shrunk to ensure a solid joint. These joints were made using identical layup patterns to the joints on the aircrafts keel to help us identify any possible issues that may be encountered later.

After building the keel, the rear wheel needed to be attached. A steel tube was made to fit inside of the bottom tube on the keel. Then spacers were made to allow the fork to be secured into the steel tube. To stabilize the rear wheel from twisting, a small carbon tube was lashed onto the fork perpendicular to the wheel. Then two more carbon tubes were attached each side of the fork. These were then connected to a fiberglass clamp attached to the keel. At the time the rear wheel was designed to be removable for easier transportation. However, it was later discovered that the keel with

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013 rear wheel was small enough to still be easily maneuvered with the wheel on and thus it has not been removed since.

The drive shaft then needed to be mounted to the keel. A wooden top member was chosen to attach it to the trike since it would allow for the shortest construction time because the bearings and a driveshaft were already made for this configuration. To attach the wooden top beam to the keel one tube was attached at the end of the keel at an angle to fit inside the slotted keel tube and the second vertical tube was positioned inside of the vertical member of the keel. Securing these tubes with bolts the mount can be easily detached from the keel without much effort. The group also attached two bearings at the front of the mount to hold the driveshaft. Tape was then used to center the driveshaft in the bearings, once centered the gap was filled with thick mix to form a secure and flexible spacer.

Rear Tube Attachment

Forward Tube Attachment and Driveshaft to bearing Mount

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013 The seat was then attached to the keel using thick mix applied to the fiberglass reinforced foam mounting blocks on the rear of the seat. Next the pedals were attached using the pedal mount that had been designed in previous semesters, that was made from non crush foam. Its shape was specifically designed to withstand the torsional loads put on it by the pilot. It was found to be very difficult to construct, and to achieve the tolerances that would be required to attach it without excess filler being needed. During the wet layup on this component it was nearly impossible to secure the bearing sleeve in the foam with just carbon fiber cloth, the majority of the load is therefore traveling through carbon rovings wrapping around the sleeve and the vertical keel tube, eliminating the need for the foam in front of the bearing sleeve. After all of the difficulties posed by this attachment method it was finally attached, and found to be very rigid and able to support the force of pedaling, however if this design is ever considered to be rebuilt, these fabrication and design issues must be addressed.

Pedal Mount design

Actual Pedal mount

With the completion of the keel and rear wheel attachment, the steerable front wheels were attached to the trike. This steerable front wheel assembly is able to be completely separated from the main body of the trike. The front wheel steering system involved a carbon frame that has two bicycle wheels with their forks attached using carbon rovings. Two metal steering arms, one for each wheel were then placed above the wheels and a spherical bearing was secured to each metal plate. A hollow aluminum rod was then secured at each end to one of the spherical bearings on the steering arms. The left steering arm featured a slot to allow the front wheels to be aligned with respect to one another. In the center of this rod was the forward slotted steering bracket which was attached using thick mix and Kevlar rovings. The center control bracket was bolted to the forward slotted steering bracket with a bolt in the center and at the ends two spherical bearings connected the center control bracket to the push rods.

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

On the main body of the trike, a steering system for the pilot was placed under him to allow the pilot to have two steering rods, positioned one on each side of him. The mechanism itself was a wooden bracket with PVC pipe bushings in which the steering rods were attached to inner pipe section. The inner pipe had the freedom to rotate when the steering control rods are moved. The rods were put through the two cut notches in the bracket. The bracket itself was secured using two bolts going through the bottom tube of the keel, and stiffened with thickmix filling the gaps on the sides. The movement of the pushrods was carefully determined to allow for maneuverability at low speeds, yet limited in control throw to make high speed runs safer. The steering rods were then bolted to two hollow push rods at one end and epoxied to the spherical bearings on the main steering bracket at the other end. On the right steering rod a hand brake from a bicycle was attached and this brake would stop the back wheel.

Steering control arms

Steering arm bracket

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013 When all parts were finally completed and assembled, the trike was able turn to right by pushing forward on the left steering rod and pulling backward on the right steering rod. Turning left could be done by doing the opposite. Braking was effective and easy by simply using the handbrake on the right steering rod. The entire structure of the front steering system was able to be detached by taking out a bolt through the bottom tube and taking out the two bolts through push rods to center control bracket. When it finally came time to use the trike to test the propeller and overall functionality, it had to be disassembled into three parts to fit in the elevator. The three pieces included the top beam, the keel with the rear wheel and the front wheels with the steering brackets. The trike had to be reassembled outside and quick test of riding it down a hill to test the steering and seeing if it would support a human rider was then done. After this, the propeller was attached and was then spun up to see if under human pedaling power the trike would be able to move. This test was successful and the group was able to move the trike using the propeller spinning under human power, once a makeshift chain tensioner was added. The test also gave insight onto a few improvements that could be applied to the trike. These included better securing the top beam since ratchet straps were required to stiffen then structure enough to spin the prop. The steering stability at high speeds and the effectively of chain tensioning also required design improvement. In order to stop the pedaling induced movement of the top beam, the front keel tube was braced with another carbon tube that attached on the other end to the front right steering section carbon structure. The chain tensioner that was purchased was inefficient and fragile. A makeshift moving chain tensioner was made from it as a temporary fix to allow for further development. A permanent solution is still in progress. The steering was improved to give a more stable feel, by reducing the play in the forward slotted steering bracket. With these improvements made the trike is ready for more testing.

New Bracing Tube Sliding Tensioner

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Detailed Design Work and Testing

New Drive Train Attachment
A new design to attach the driveshaft to the aircraft was develuped this semester, with the goals of reducing the weight and the drag of the attachment. By moving the driveshaft bearings into the fuselage tube the frontal area of the attachement has been reduced. It also reduced the number of components, while increasing the stiffness of the attachment. A conceptual sketch of the new attachment method is shown in the following image.

Bearing Calculation
To determine the correct size bearing that would be able to withstand the cyclic load caused from pedaling a simple FBD was created and solved to allow an easy check multiple design geometries. These equations we then placed in an excel workbook and allowed the bearing size and placement to be optimized. In the end it was decided to use the VA020CP0 Thin Section Bearing. It is .1lb and has a 2 inch diameter inner race and the outer diameter is 2.5 inches. The dynamic load rating is 335lbs and it is rated for a static load of 794lbs. With this rating it would be capable of withstanding potentially high startup loads and large cyclic loads caused form pedaling. Below are the FBD and the governing equations that were derived from it.

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Abbreviations PW CT B1 B2 A B C

Component Propeller weight and hub Chain tension Bearing 1 Reaction Bearing 2 Reaction Distance from propeller to gear Distance from gear to bearing 1 Distance bearing 1 to bearing 2

B1= PW(A+B+C)+CT(B+C) B2= - PW - CT + ((PW(A+B+C)+CT(B+C))/C)

Propeller Angle Calculation

To determine the appropriate angle to mount the propeller with respect to the wing, a number of assumptions had to be made. First the wing was assumed to have an elliptical lift distribution, meaning at the wing root the circulation is governed by the following:

This was simplified to the vertical component of the induced free stream velocity, where r is the distance from the aerodynamic center to the propeller:

Using this the angle, the propeller is to mounted at (theta) is simply found using the following

The weight build up made by the Stability and Control Group this semester placed the propeller 81inches forward of the aerodynamic center. Assuming a V=37.13 ft/s for cruise velocity, it was found

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013 that theta=2.71 down. This down thrust will be built into future bearing mounts for the aircraft, it is assumed to be small enough of an angle that it will not interfere with the chain and therefore will not be built into the trike to allow for easier measurements of propeller performance.

Drivetrain Weight Build up

A weight and balance of all the drivetrain components was done to allow the flight stability and control group to do a weight buildup of the entire airplane. This was critical since the new design of the driveshaft mount has the main fuselage tube being cut off at the vertical member of the keel to reduce non structural weight. Below is a diagram and table showing the estimated weight and location of its center of gravity in respect to the vertical member of the keel.

Abbreviation WH WDS WG1 WG2 WC WP Ws

Component Hub Driveshaft Pedal Gear Driveshaft Gear Chain Pedal and Crank Seat

Weight(oz) 2.5 16 8 6 16 25 5

Location(in) 36 12 1 1 1 1 -34

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013 B1 B2 WF Main Drive Bearing Support Drive Bearing Pedal Attachment 2 2 8.5 0 12 1

Total weight 91oz Center of gravity location is 1.66 inches in front of the vertical member.

Tube Shatter Testing

Testing was conducted to see the effect that wrapping carbon tubes in Kevlar would have on the failure modes of the tubes. To investigate this two carbon sample tubes about 18 inches long were cut from one longer tube and one then had a single ply of Kevlar fabric wrapped around the tube. To break the tubes, a pure compression jig was created using two threaded rods and aluminum end plates to crush the tubes. However, testing was unable to cause a tube to break in this manner, the damage to the tubes was limited to the ends crushing in and cutting in the aluminum end plates.

Kevlar tube in compression test fixture

It was then decided to try to break the carbon tube in bending by inserting a section of mandrel into each end and bending them. The tube did fail; however, it failed at the location the mandrel was inside the tube leading us to suspect that the position of the mandrel helped to lead to the mode of failure. This is since tube sheared off perpendicular to the length of the tube in a clean cut at the mandrel tip. We later found that this cracking pattern seems to be the dominant mode of failure from the number of tubes that were accidently broken in lab this year. -12-

Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Tube in bending fixture with Plexiglas shielding

Cracked tube on trike during construction

To further test the tubes resistance to impact loads, they were struck with a hammer to see the size and propagation of the cracks that would form. In the carbon tube, impact strikes would lead to long longitudinal cracks that would propagate from the edges of the impact crater, and a jagged and splinter covered surface would remain. However crack propagation in the Kevlar wrapped tube was limited to the impact crater and the Kevlar kept a safe non-jagged surface finish on the tube.

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Note the crack propigation in the carbon tube, where in the kevlar tube the cracks are limited to the impact site and the tube remains safe to the touch

Spring 2014 Goals

Next semester the following goals are being set: Assuming smooth design and development of the new driveshaft and mount the drivetrain will be ready to begin being implemented on the aircraft towards the end of the semester.

Chain Tensioner
Because of the 90 degree twist in the chain between to pedals and the drive shaft, the chain has a tendency to derail. So, a chain tensioner is needed to be added to both keep tension on the chain and keep the chain on the gears. Currently, there is an inefficient tensioner free floating in the chain. This design has been selected because it actively controls the tension in the chain by changing its location in the chain based on the tension in the drive and return side of the chain. This active chain tension management has proved to be a very reliable and simple solution from testing and thus is being developed further next semester. To improve this design, the slides will be replaced with sprockets on bearings to reduce the frictional losses to a minimum. Return Side Tensioned Side

Note the drive chain on the tensioned side remains straighter than the return side of the chain which is having its slack taken out
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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

New Drive Shaft Configuration Construction

New trike top tube Currently, there is a 2x3 piece of wood spanning the top of the trike. The front end of this piece of wood extends out past the front of the vertical tube. This allows the drive train to hang from the wood. This whole set up will be replaced by a 4 inch inner diameter tube. This new setup will allow the end driveshaft be supported by bearings inside the tube, creating a more streamlined design that will mimic the new aircraft configuration.

Driveshaft in current hung configuration

Bearing Mount Because the inner diameter of the new trike top tube is 4 inch and the outer diameters of the bearings are 79mm, mounts need to be fabricated to fill the gap between these diameters. A mount will be made for each bearing. The mounts that will go on the Zephyrus need to be angled to account for the down thrust angle. To get the exact angle, these should be 3D printed/CNC milled. The mounts for the trike do not need this angle and will be made straight. Machined DS mount The inner diameter of the bearings may not match the outer diameter of the drive shaft. So, again, mounts may need to be fabricated to fill this gap. These can be milled at the learning factory. New drive shaft and hub Due to the redesign of the drivetrain attachment, a new drive shaft and hub needs to be made. This new drive shaft needs the gear to be on the middle to allow the end of the tube to be mounted into the bearings.

New Seat
Since the seat that was made for the keel was used for the trike, a new seat will need to be made. This seat will be made to the same dimensions and using the same construction as the current seat with the exception that the mounts will be built into the seat to reduce weight.

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Drivetrain Final Report Fall 2013

Adjustable pedal position

To allow the pilot to pedal in the most comfortable and efficient position, the pedals need to be adjustable to compensate for different pilots and pedal and shoe combinations. This system will be designed and built next semester around the pedal components that the pilot prefers.

Any Remaining Time

All time that remains towards end of the semester will be devoted to outfitting the Zephyrus with the most up-to-date drivetrain components and ensuring their full functionality and compatibility with other aircraft systems.

Prop Testing
Currently, the trike is operational. This allows the propeller to be tested at any time. New methods will be explored to allow us to measure performance, and optimize the drivetrain to the pilot and the propeller.

Semester Schedule
To allow us to achieve our goals for this semester the following Gantt chart has been prepared to set a schedule to guide our work.

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