ME 345

STRENGHT of MATERIALS

PROJECT
“Shelf Design and Analysis”

Özgür Erkan
İNCİRCİ
Merve KOÇAK
Barış SARIOĞLU
Eray CÖMERT
Alper TAKAZ
INTRODUCTION

Identification of need
The need described in the project is to analyze and calculate a
system of shelf design in given restrictions and given materials.

Problem Identification and Project Description

Problem defined and solved in this project is based on the
idealization of a system for given rules and restrictions. Aim of the
project is to analyze a shelf design shown in figure below and to idealize
the system in terms of statics and mechanical strenght.
Besides a pure design project starting from beginning, our project
was to maximize the capacity of a book shelf to carry as much book as
possible which is only fixed from four corners (as shown in figure) and
has a limit of maximum deflaction.
As a simplified idea of need can be represented as;
“Without any calculations on fixing elements (parts, joints
and bolts), designing the maximum capacity shelf, shown in
sketches, with base material of St37 Low Carbon Structural Steel
in given cross-sectional dimensions with a maximum deflection
of 20mm and required minimum diameter of 316 Stainless Steel
cables (on each sides) that will carry the shelf.”

General Information
Shelves are one of the most practical furniture taking place in our
houses, workplaces, basements etc. We all have stuff which leads us to
search adequate places to put and organize them. When the closets and
the basements are not enough to store everything, we seek for other
kinds of creative storage spaces, and at this moment shelves come to
our help.

Since storage is necessity, it makes sense to make shelf a design

statement as well. Building a shelf is not only a process where some
materials compounded each other but also a design process where some
design criteria must be considered.

Criteria and Constrains

The first important thing is that the definition of the problem. 'For
what purpose we will use this shelf' is a good question to answer before
starting the design process. Because the purpose of the shelf defines the
design criteria such as the sizes to satisfy the place requirements, and
the material used in the design in order to satisfy the load requirements.

For example to store some heavy stuff in a basement would require

more durable material, and big sizes to cover them all, rather than
storing some books in a living room. Also supports are determined
according to the purpose; if the aesthetics stand in the forefront rather
than the storage purpose, more refined elements might be selected as
supports.

Another important fact is the service life of the shelf. Shelf must
carry the loadings for many years with small deflections, and also maybe
with a low cost according to the design requirement. As a result the
importance of the material selection of the shelf appears as one of the
fundamentals of design parameters regarding all properties that shelves
must satisfy.

Regarding these criteria and constraints, in our project we defined

the problem as choosing materials of shelf, portable and usable as
possible and using aim of shelf. One of the problem of choosing shelf’s
shape is used at which places. According to place, choosing of shelf
material and design are changeable. If we use at library, it is usable to
choose material steel is logical, but if we use in a house with furniture it
is logical to use wood. There are some pros and cons choosing wood and
steel. Wood is suitable for shelf but it has not strength as well as steel,
and it is not loaded as much as steel. As a result, best choice for a shelf
material as steel, because of it becomes more strength and long-lived.

Alternative Solutions

During our brainstorming we have thought about many ideas as to

make a better project. Here are 3 of the main ideas that we have
considered worth analyzing;

At first making a wooden bookshelf seems more reasonable but

later on from our researches we have realized that there was a reason
most library bookshelves are made from metal. As metal bookcases are
resistant to moisture and fungus, their low-friction shelves are easier on
books' bindings and metal's strength-to-weight ratio can't be beat.
Additionally their cost usually comes in below any other material.
Another idea was to mount the shelf to the wall with a number of screws
without any other support. In fact this way it could have a better visual
than our solution which was to assemble the shelf with the help of a
cable. But by assembling the shelf to the wall with a cable had a huge
advantage.

Another idea that we have mentioned is making the shelf in different

geometries other than horizontal. By this way we thought that we could
have better visual properties. But from our researches it was obvious that
all the producers would recommend horizontal type shelves as they are
more convenient for the usage. So in the end we have decided to go with
a horizontally set shelf.

ANALYSIS & CALCULATIONS

Designing a bookshelf required to choose type, geomety and

material for all process. The protoype is carbon structural steel with 2
stainless steel cable attached to the wall. Geometry is defined for
required weight of the books and material properties of the bookshelf.

Figure 1: Sketch of design idea

50 mm height and 250 mm width is decided for optimum shape

and size of the books. The length is a fucntion of material and number of
books required. St 37 structural steel is choosen for the hollow shaft with
σ = 235 Mpa and E = 200 Gpa and density 7750 kg/m^3
 Figure 2: Cross-sectional view with dimensions of given St37 shelf material

There are 2 forces act on the free body diagram of the specimen.
One of them is weight of the books and the other is weight hollow shaft
itself. Two cables that are connected to wall, sustain those forces as;

Free Body Diagram (fbd))

There are two unknowns for this equation. Length of the shaft and
weight of the books for worst case scenerio. First, material properties
should be considered for maximum lenght for the shaft. Only then max
number of books can be calculated for this geomety and this material

Because weight of books can not be predicted for all cases, one
type is decided and accepted for each book. Approximately 1.5 kg with
300 mm height, 200 mm length and 30 mm width. However the max
number of books is still not defined beacuse lack of information for the
length.
Book mass per unit lenght is calculated as; B = Msingle book / (wwidth of a
single book)

P1 = Area * L * density * g P1 = (2.9x10-3) * L * 7750 *

9.81

P1 = 220*L (Newton)

P2 = B * L * g P2 = (1.5 / 0.03 ) * 9,81 * L P2 = 50

* L * 9.81

P2 =490*L (Newton)

Both equations are function of length and in order to design most

efficent prototype, max length should be found for this geometry and
material type.

Shear – Moment Diagram:

-> P2 = 490*L (Weight of

books)

-> P1 = 220*L (Weight of

shelf)

Solution 1 :

Max Allowable Stress Due to

Bending;

σ = Mmax * y / I

I = b*h3 / 12
I = [ (0.25*0.053) - ( 0.24*0.043 ) ] /
12

I = 1.32 x 10-6 (m4)

Mmax = 710 * L2 / 8

Mmax = 88.75 L2 (Nm)

from shear moment diagrams
 σ max = Mmax * y / I
where; y =h / 2 = 0.025
(m)
I = 1.32 x 10-6 (m4)

σ max = 1.68 L2 (MPa) σ allowable = σ yield / n

where; n:safety factor = 7

σyield for St37 structural steel is found to be σyield = 235 (MPa)

σ allowable = 235 / 7 σ allowable = 33.57 (MPa)

σmax < σ allowable 1,68 * L2 ≤ 33.57

So; L < 4.47 (m)

Solution 2:

Maximum deflection

Desired maximum deflection for design is δ = 20 mm = 0,02 m

d2 v
E.I = - M = -[ V(x) * x ]
dx2

d2 v
E.I = - (710*L)*L
dx2

By integrating the above equation twice we end up with deflection eq.

as;

δ = - 710 L4 / 12 + C1 * L + C2

by appying the initial conditions as;

L = 0→ v=0

δ = 0 = - 710 (0)4 / 12 + C1 * (0) + C2 C2 is found to

be zero
 C2 = 0

L = 0→ dv/dx = θ = 0 where θ is the deflection

angle

θ = 0 = - 710 (0)3 / 3 + C1 C1 is found to

be zero
C2 = 0

So final equation becomes;

δ = (-710 L4) / 12 * E* I

For given; δ = 0.02 m , E= 200 Gpa , I = 1.32

x 10^-6 m 4

89.24 > L4 3.07 > L

With considering two results max length is found to be;

L<4,47 & L<3,07

L is taken to be 3 meters maximum L=3m

Cable Diameter Calculations as;

P1 = 220 * L = 660 N P2 = 490*L = 1470 N

By using P1 and P2 reaction and cable forces were found from fbd;

Figure 3: Free body diagram sketch of left side view of shelf with reaction forces
P1 + P2 = (220*L) + (490*L) P1 + P2 = 2130 N for
L=3

Because the shelf is connected to wall from four points, this load
will be carried out with these forces with as distribution is shown above
pages.

Fy (left) + Ty (left) + Fy (right) + Ty (right) = 2130 N

Fy + Ty = 1065 Fy = Ty = 532.5 N

T = √2 * Ty = 753 N

For 316 stainless steel σ yield = 205 MPa

σ allow = σ /n
yield where n: safety factor (7)
σ allow = 29.28 MPa

σ axial < σ allow σ axial =T/A A = π * d2 / 4

753 < 29.28 * π * d2 / 4

5.72 < d
which minimum diameter is taken to be 6 mm. d=6
mm

CONCLUSION

The idea of the project was to design a bookshelf by making

decisions based on appereance, material and mechanical point of view.
By choosing right parameters and optimazing the components a
prototype was constracted.

The first decision was the type of the shelf. Researches showed that
the cable attached shelf can carry more load than wall mounted. Of
course the difference is not so important for small sizes but the aim was
to carry many books as possible. Also the by using cable method the
choice of mounting the shelf horizontal, vertical or with some angle. The
most usable way is horizontal for this case.

The most important decision was to choose the material for the
shaft. The most common bookshelves are made of wood but all options
were studied. But the project's goal was to carry maximum number of
books and choosing metal instead of wood creats an advantage of
strenght. Also metal is resitant to moisture and fungus and has low
frinction for book bindings.

After deciding metal shaft bookshelf wih cables were decided, the
problem was to find material and check the necessary constrations. Also
the geomety and size were decided for better performance.

St37 low carbon structural steel was determined for shaft by

research and comparing for metal and alloys. Height and width were
decided by optimum bookshelf geometry but length was unknown. Also
the shelf is hollow in order to reduce the weight. The bending moment
effects end of the specimen so removal from the middle does not effect
the strength of material.

Two methods were used to identify the max length of the shaft and
approximately 3 m is determined. By knowing the all geometry, the max
number of books was determined and it was the external force for all the
body. The weight of the shaft is also known by given geometry and
material properties.

Two cables were designed to carry the system and by finding the
total force acting on them 316 stainless steel was decided. The factor of
safety was also considered for both material by comparing needed and
max strength for the material.

The prototype was designed to make an efficient, practical and

steady bookshelf. The appearance and longevity was also important. All
those goals were achieved by analyzing and deciding by calculations and
proper decision making by research and comparison.