Machine Design – Case Study

The following figure shows a child’s toy called a pogo stick. The child stands on the pads, applying half her
weight on each side. She jumps up off the ground, holding the pads up against her feet, and bounces along
with the spring cushioning the impact and storing energy to help each rebound. Assume a 60-lb child and
a spring constant of 100 lb/in. The pogo stick weighs 5 lb.

1. Find the natural frequency of the system, the static deflection of the spring with the child standing
still, and the dynamic force and deflection when the child lands after jumping 2 in off the ground.
2. Design the cantilever beam sections on which she stands to survive jumping 2 in off the ground.
The material should be selected with justifications, you can look for tools that help in selecting
type of material based on certain constraints and requirements (i.e. CES Cambridge engineering
selector of materials). Define the beam shape and size it appropriately.
3. Design the cantilever beam sections on which she stands to survive jumping 2 in off the ground
with an appropriate safety factor that you have to choose and justify your choice. Define the beam
shape and size.
4. Design the cantilever beam sections on which she stands to survive jumping 2 in off the ground
with a proper dynamic safety factor and for a finite life of 5x104 cycles. Define the beam shape
and size.

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5. Estimate the abrasive-wear rate for the tip, which impacts the ground, assuming a condition of
dry, loose abrasive grains (sand). Express the wear rate in number of jumps to remove 0.02 in
from the diameter of the tip based on the selected material for the bar.
6. Design the helical compression spring to survive jumping 2 in off the ground with a proper
dynamic safety factor and a finite life of 5x104 cycles. Determine the fundamental natural
frequency of the system.
7. Any added recommendations/suggestions that can improve your design or limit it to a certain
child-weight or a certain number of cycles (life-time) will be highly appreciated. Child may stand
on a soft material that can be added on the upper surface of the beam and to the part of the bar
where the child hold it or put his hands on the bar.
8. At each time you do any change in the dimensions or the material you have to check for the impact
of such change on all the previously calculated parameters or the previously checked design.
9. You can also draw the different views of the toy and a 3D sketch, you may use AutoCAD or
SolidWorks.

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