Design and Finite Element Analysis of a Manually Operated

Lawn Mower*
1
A. Simons, 1W. Pouliwe, 1G. Quartey
1
University of Mines and Technology, Box 237, Tarkwa, Ghana

Simons, A., Pouliwe, W., Quartey, G. (2017), “Design and Finite Element Analysis of a Manually Operated
Lawn Mower”, Ghana Journal of Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 1 - 6.

Abstract
The preservation of the environment is important as it supports our very existence and this creates the need to develop
products or machines which do not pollute the environment, but help preserve it. There exist two basic types of lawn
mowers: the reel and the rotary. The reel mower is manually operated, cuts at a very slow rate, making it user unfriendly.
Furthermore, reel type mowers are usually expensive and difficult to maintain. The initial and operating cost of the rotary
mower are high because it employs an internal combustion engine or an electric motor in its operation. Additionally, the
rotary mower engine is very noisy, and releases harmful gases into the atmosphere, thereby having negative effects on the
environment. Consequently, a rotary lawn mower design which is environmentally friendly and affordable is considered in
this work. At the heart of this design is a worm gear set which converts the forward motion of wheels to a horizontal
rotation of blades. The blades rotate at 259 rpm and move relative to the stationary blades, causing a scissoring action against
the grass, thus enabling a clean cut. For a push of 502 N, a shearing force of 46 N is generated at the tip of the blades which
is used for the scissoring action. A finite element analysis was performed on the cutting blades assembly to examine the
effectiveness of the design. The results showed that the scissoring effect of the shearing blades was efficient, as they were
able to smoothly cut through a pair of cylindrical grass products.

Keywords: Design, Lawn Mowers, Finite Element Analysis, Simulation

1 Introduction employed also releases exhaust gas into the

atmosphere which is harmful to both humans and
the environment.
Mowing the lawn is important as it keeps the
surrounding tidy and helps prevent the breeding of
mosquitoes, rodents and reptiles. Before the first This work seeks to design an affordable manually
mechanical lawn mower was invented by Edwin operated rotary lawn mower which is
Beard Budding in 1830, grass cutting was done environmentally and user friendly.
traditionally using machetes, hoes, sickles etc. As
technology advanced, techniques of grass cutting 2 Resources and Methods Used
by lawn mowers were constantly improved. There
are primarily two types of mowers namely: the reel 2.1 Proposed Design
mowers and the rotary mowers.
Taking cognisance of the demerits of the existing
The reel is made of blades on a revolving cylinder. lawn mowers, it is imperative to design another
They achieve clean cut by scissors action. As the which is environmentally and user friendly and also
mower moves forward, the rotating blades meet a affordable.
stationary bar called the bed knife, placed parallel
to the ground. Grass is held by the shearing action
of the reel blades against the bed knife (Okafor,
2013). The reel mower cuts at a very slow rate,
making work harder and time consuming.
Furthermore, reel type mowers are usually
expensive and difficult to maintain (Spangenberg,
2000).

On the contrary, rotary mowers are often powered

either by an internal combustion engine or an
electric motor. The rotary mowers are better
because the engines spin the cutting blade at a very
fast rate that ensures smooth cutting. The initial and
operating cost of the rotary mower is high because
of the energy usage. Again, the rotary mower is
very noisy. The internal combustion engine
Fig. 1 Proposed Design
2.1.1 Description of Proposed Design
The proposed design incorporates the features of
both the reel and rotary mowers: it receives its
power from its rotating wheels when it is pushed by

1 GJT Vol. 2, No. 1, September, 2017

an operator. Built in are power transmitting
mechanisms which are between the source of
power and the blade. This makes it possible for the
blade to receive mechanical power for the shearing
action. It employs a rotating blade which rotates
horizontally about an imaginary vertical axis
(similar to the rotary mower) as shown in Fig. 2

Fig. 3 Exploded View of the Proposed Design

Table 1 Components Part List

Fig. 2 Assembly Detail of Proposed Design Part Description Quantity Materials

no.
The transmission mechanism is made up of a chain 1 Chain Drive 1 Steel
drive mounted between the rear axle and the 2 Worm Gear 1 Aluminum
intermediate shaft through which mechanical Casing
power is received by the worm wheel. Worm 3 Upper 1 Aluminum
gearing is employed in between the intermediate Casing
shaft and the blade to change the direction of 4 Lower 1 Aluminum
rotation to provide the mower with horizontally Casing
revolving blades. The shearing mechanism (blade) 5 Rotary 1 Steel
comes in a pair: a stationary blade and a revolving Blade
blade. 6 Stationary 1 Steel
Blade
7 Worm Gear 1 Phosphor
2.1.2 Mode of Operation Bronze
8 Worm 1 Hardened
As the operator pushes the mower against its Steel
weight, the pushing force causes the wheels 9 Rear Shaft 1 Steel
(component 12, Fig. 3) to rotate along the ground. 10 Bearing 6 Mild Steel
Torque is generated from the rear wheels through
11 Frame 1 Steel
the rear shaft (see component 9, Fig. 3). The torque
is then transmitted through the chain drive 12 Wheel 1 Steel
(component 1, Fig. 3). The chain drive is set up 13 Handle 1 Steel
[with a speed ratio of 2:1] to increase the generated 14 Blade 1 Aluminum
torque before transmitting it to the intermediate Guard
shaft (component 15, Fig. 3). The worm gear 15 Intermediate 1 Steel
component 7, Fig. 3), mounted on the intermediate Shaft
shaft transmits the torque to the worm gear (see
component 8, Fig. 3) with a speed ratio of 1:10, 2.2 A Brief Look at Theory
thus, providing the blade with enough revolving
speed and the needed torque to perform the Design calculations were computed in the
shearing action. The shearing action is performed following areas and parameters: Power and Shear
by two sets of blades: stationary and rotary blades. Force, Selection of Chain and Sprocket, Worm
The blades (component 5, Fig. 3) rotate Gear Design, Rear Shaft Design.
horizontally about an imaginary axis slides over the
stationary ones (see component 6). As the rotary 2.2.1 Design Power and Shear Force Calculation
blades move relative to the stationary blades, the
grass is held by the shearing action between the The formulae below were used to find the
two sets (see components 5 and 6, Fig. 3), thus minimum effective force which must be applied to
ensuring a clean cut by scissoring action. the mower for shearing to take place. The shearing
force at the tip of the blade was also calculated.
Fig. 3 shows the exploded view of the proposed
design and Table 1 depicts the component parts list.

2 GJT Vol. 2, No. 1, September, 2017

Rotational Velocity of the Blades 2.2.2 Selection of the Chain and the Sprocket

Nkakini and Yabefa (2014) have stated that a The chain and sprocket were designed based on the
typical operator walking speed is estimated to be following parameters.
0.8 m/s). Also according to Khurmi and Gupta Speed of the smaller sprocket, N = 52 rev/min
(2005), Rated power, P = 0.402 kW
πd N Velocity ratio, V. R = 2
v= (1)
60
where, N = the rotational speed of the wheel. Selection of Chain Type
d = the diameter of the wheel
v = linear velocity of the mower According to Khurmi and Gupta (2005), with a
The blade speed, N is designed to rotate 5 times roller chain required to transmit power of 0.402 kW
the speed of the wheel. Therefore; running at 50 rpm, roller chain No. 10 is selected
which is capable of transmitting a power of 1.18
N :N =1:5 kW at 100 rpm. Thus, taking into account the
service factor which comprises the following:
Power Requirement
(i) The load factor
According to Nkakini and Yabefa (2014), the (ii) variable load with mild shock;
minimum power required to operate the mower is (iii) Lubrication factor (periodic lubrication);
given by: (iv) Rating factor (operating 6 hours per day).
P =P +P (2)
Indeed, the standard parameters of roller chain No.
where, 10 are as follow: p = pitch diameter = 15.875 mm
P = power required d = roller diameter = 10.16
P = power to overcome inertia of the w = width between inner plates = 9.65
mower W = breaking load = 22.2 kN
P = power to overcome grass cutting
resistance Also, from Khurmi and Gupta (2008), the
diameters of the sprockets is given by:
= Wv (3) 180
d = p csc , (x = 1 or 2) (8)
where, W = the weight of the mower = 400 N T
v = operational speed of the mower. where, d = diameter of sprocket x
2 T = number of teeth on sprocket x
= × × (4)
60 p = pitch diameter
where, = shearing force of grass = 11.54 N
(Okafor, 2013) Factor of Safety
= radius of the blade = 0.262 m W
= angular velocity of the blade F = (9)
W
where, F = factor of safety
Pushing Force Required = breaking load
= load on the chain
Pushing force required, F to generate the required
power is given by, Pitch line velocity of the smaller sprocket (v1) is
given by
P =F v (5) πd N
v = (10)
60
Blade Shearing Force
Load on the chain (W) is expressed as
Taking power transmitting efficiency of the chain rated power
drive to be 98% and that of the worm gear to be W= (11)
pitch line velocity
84% (Khurmi and Gupta, 2005), the minimum
power transmitted to the blade (P ) is given by, 2.2.3 Worn Gear Design
2πN T
P = (6)
60 The worm gearing was designed based on the
where, Tb is the blade torque following assumed parameters as a result of design
outcomes (Hall, et al., 1980):
Blade shearing force, (F ) at the tip is given by:
T =FR (7) Center distance (C) = 80 mm
Velocity ratio (R) = 10

3 GJT Vol. 2, No. 1, September, 2017

Speed of the worm gear (ng) = 42 rpm τ
τ=
Endurance strength of Phosphorus bronze = 55 F
MPa
Tooth profile = 20o full depth involute where, τ = Ultimate tensile strength
F = Factor of safety
Worm Gear Design Parameters
2.3 Application of Theory to Proposed
By American Gear Manufacturers Association Design
(AGMA) recommendations, the pitch diameter of
worm gear, Dw can be approximated by: Table 2 Values of Parameters from Design
C . Calculations
D ≈ (12)
3.48 Parameter Description Unit Value
where C is the centre distance in meters. Rotational Rpm 51.79
NW
speed of wheels
For axial module of the gear (ma), Linear velocity m/s 0.8
D V
of mower
m ≈ (13)
3π Nb Speed of blades Rpm 259
Power to W 320
Efficiency of the Worm Gear overcome
Poi
inertia of
According to Budynas and Nisbett (2011), the mower
efficiency of the worm gear driving the worm is Power to W 82
overcome grass
calculated by the following computation: Pct
cutting
The sliding velocity (V in ft/min) is given by resistance
π×n ×D Pr Power required W 402
V = (14)
12 cos(α) Pushing force N 502.5
Fr
where, required
D = mean diameter of worm in inches Minimum W 331
The coefficient of static friction (fstat) for Vs > 10 power
Pb
fstat/min is given by, transmitted to
blades
f = 0.103 exp(−0.110V . ) + 0.012
Tb Blade torque Nm 12.204
With the gear driving the gear set, the mechanical
Force N 46.58
efficiency ( ) is given by, Ft
transmitted
cos ∅ − f cot α Number of - 27
e = (16) T1
cos ∅ + f tan α teeth (pinion)
Number of - 54
T2
According to Budynas and Nisbett (2011), to teeth (sprocket)
ensure that the gear will drive the worm, Diameter of m 0.137
D1
f < cos ∅ tan α (17) pinion
Diameter of m 0.275
where, f is the coefficient of static friction D2
sprocket
between the two materials. ∅ is the normal FS Factor of safety - 20
pressure angel and α is the lead angle. Pitch line m/s 0.373
velocity of
2.2.4 Rear Shaft Design V1
smaller
sprocket
Finding the diameter of the shaft, according to W Load on chain kN 1.080
Khurmi and Gupta (2005), WB Breaking load kN 22.2
the equivalent twisting moment, Te is given by Pitch diameter mm 31.5
DW
(Worm Gear)
= + (18) Axial module mm 3.34
where, M = maximum bending moment, ma
(Worm Gear)
T = torque transmitted VS Sliding velocity ft/min 180.78
Mechanical - 0.83
eG
Again according to Khurmi and Gupta (2005), efficiency
πd τ Coefficient of - 0.16
T = (19) Fstat
static friction
16
where, d = diameter of shaft Bending Nm 50.7863
τ = allowable shear stress M Moment (Fig.
4)
Twisting Nm 91.744
But, Te
moment

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2.3.1 Bending Moment Analysis
The bending moment analysis was also performed
on the rear shaft to determine its size and strength.
The combined bending moment diagram is shown
in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 Combined Bending Moment Diagram of
Rear Shaft
3 Results and Discussion
3.1 Finite Element Analysis and Simulation
A finite element analysis was performed on the
cutting blades to demonstrate the effectiveness of
the blades in cutting the grasses. The analysis was
done in ANSYS 17.0 Workbench simulation
environment using the explicit dynamic option. For
simplicity of the simulation, just a section of the
blade assembly was used as shown in Fig. 5. Two
cylindrical objects were used to represent the grass
products. As calculated earlier, a rotor speed of
259 rpm was used on the revolving blade in the
direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 5. In the
analysis settings, the running time of the rotating
blade was set to 0.01 seconds, and the maximum
number of cycles was set to 2 million cycles.
Fig. 5 Simulation Geometry Setup
A graphical representation of the simulation result
is shown in Fig. 6.
5 GJT
Fig. 6 Graphical Result Revealing the Shear Stress
distribution at the end of the simulation
Fig. 7 Deformation of the Grass Products
Graphs showing the variation of the deformation of
the grass products in Fig. 7 were as shown in Fig.
8. It was observed from the deformation graphs that
the revolving blade engaged grass product 2 before
engaging grass product 1. From time step 0.001 to
0.0078 seconds, there was a smooth deformation of
grass product 1. Grass product 2, however,
recorded a smooth rise in deformation up to time
step 0.005 seconds then an abrupt change in the
rising pattern to a highest value of 28.35 mm at the
end of the simulation time step. The smooth cut of
grass product 1 was because it had the earliest
contact with the stator blade due to its geometrical
position from the centre of rotation. It however
took sometime before the rotor blade engaged the
stator blade with grass product 2, because of the
blade curvature. Also, due to the radial position of
grass product 2, its linear velocity just before it
impacted the stator blade by the rotor blade, was
higher compared to that of grass product 1. Higher
impact forces were therefore exerted on grass
product 2, thereby receiving higher deformation.
This means that the farther the grass is away from
the centre of rotation of the rotor blade, the easier it
is to be sheared. This scenario also explains the
behaviour of the shear strain graphs shown in Fig.
9.
Vol. 2, No. 1, September, 2017
 Khurmi, R. S. and Gupta, J. K. (2008), Theory of
Machines, S. Chand and Company Publishers,
Ram Nagar, New Delhi – 110055, 1071pp.
Nkakini, S. O. and Yabefa, B. E. (2014), “Design,
Fabrication and Evaluation of a Spiral Blade
Mower”, European International Journal of
Science and Technology. Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 165
– 172.
Okafor, B. (2013), “Simple Design of Self-
Powered Lawn Mower”, International Journal
Fig. 8 Deformation Patterns for Grass Products of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 10,
1 and 2 pp. 933 – 937.
Spangenberg, B. (2000), “Importance of Mowing
Often Overlooked” Stateline Yard & Garden
Weekly Horticulture News for Northeastern
Illinois. www.extension.illinois.edu.Accessed:
March 10, 2017

Authors
A.Simons is an Associate Professor of
Mechanical Engineering and a Consulting
Engineer currently working at the University
of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana. He
holds the degrees of MSc from the Belarusian-
Fig. 9 Shear Strain Experienced by Grass Russian University, Magilev, Belarus, PhD
Products 1 and 2 from St. Pertersburg State Mining Institute
(Technical University) St. Petersburg Russia
and NDT Level II From Trinity NDT College Bangalore, India.
4 Conclusions He is a member of America Society of Mechanical Engineers.
His research and consultancy works covers Heat Transfer, Fuels
A manual rotary lawn mower has been designed and Internal Combusting Engines, Machine Design,
Maintenance Engineering, Accident Vehicle Assessment,
with its blades capable of generating a shearing Factory Technical Audit and Non Destructive Testing (NDT).
force of 46 N at the tip and rotating speed of 259
rpm.
W. Pouliwe is a Mechanical Engineer and
holds BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from
The mower requires a minimum push force of 502 the University of Mines and Technology
N. (UMaT) Tarkwa, Ghana. His research area
covers Design and Manufacturing
The finite element simulation demonstrated that the Technology.
cutting blades were effective in shearing the grass
and that the design poses less health threat to the
user and it is environmentally friendly. G. Quartey is a Mechanical Engineer and
currently pursuing MSc. Mechanical
Engineering Programme at Jomo Kenyatta
References University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kenya. He His research area is Design and
Manufacturing Technology.
Budynas, R. G. and Nisbett, j. K. (2011), Shigley’s
Mechanical Engineering Design, 9th edition,
McGraw – Hill Company Publishers lnc., 1221
Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020,
1088 pp.
Hall, A. S., Holowenko, A. R. and Laughlin, H. G.,
(1980), Schaum’s Outline of Theory and
Problems of Machine design, S. I. edition,
McGraw – Hill lnc., New York, 344 pp.
Khurmi, R. S. and Gupta, J. K. (2005), A Textbook
of Machine Design, Eurasia Publishing House
(PVT) Ltd, Ram Nagar, New Delhi – 110055,
1230 pp.

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