King Fahd University Petroleum & Minerals

Mechanical Engineering Department

ME 303 Mechanical Systems Design/ ME 308 Machine Design II LAB

Term 231

Design of a Portable Car Lifting System

The design team is requested to design a portable car lifting system that will be utilized by a
car repair shop to provide their services on site. The lift structure should be strong and robust
to lift sedan passenger cars. The lift should be able to move or lift the whole car at once (all
four wheels) safely and hold the car in the lifted position. A safety mechanism is necessary at
any time to protect the operator working under the car if the lift has failed. The system should
be powered using electrical motor; any mechanism can be adopted except pressurized
hydraulics.

1-Customer Needs:
1. lifting sedan passenger car.
2. Lift generate adequate space for the operator on rolling try to go under the car
3. Quick in raising and lowering
4. Energy Efficiency
5. Easy to assemble and operate by one person.
6. Should resist tip over in case of inclined road.
7. Vertical position should be lockable quickly.
8. The system must be portable, easy to carry in a pickup truck.
9. Safety mechanisms and systems must be there to protect the operator in the case of lift
failure.
10. Structure must be stable and robust.

2-Design Constraints:

11. Power supply for the system is single phase 220V at 60 Hz.
12. Utilized motor rated power should not exceed 1 hp.
13. Minimum duty cycle is 10,000

3-Design specifications:

14. Based on the provided needs and constraints, each team must identify the system
specifications that satisfy needs and constraints.
15. A comparison with existing systems specification to identify superiority of developed
design over existing systems.

4-The students are expected to deliver the following:

a) Identify system technical specification (Week#2, must be approved by the lab
instructor)
b) Three different concepts with comparison and selection justification. (Concept must
be approved by the lab instructor) Due Week #3
c) Design analysis of the best concept with all calculations and assumptions.

Proposed by Dr Fadi Al-Badour,

Course Coordinator Dr. Fadi Al-Badour
pg. 1
 d) Proper design/selection of structure and mechanical elements; i.e. bearings, gears,
gearbox, materials, power screws if needed.
e) Technical set of CAD drawings of all parts and assembly (Use Solid Works).
f) Structural stress analysis (using Solid Works)
g) Structural deflection and simulation (motion)
h) Bill of Materials
i) Discussion of manufacturing issues.
j) Explicit average costing of parts
k) Cost estimation of manufacturing and assembly.
l) Prototype is not required but animated model using Solid Works is a bonus.

3- Learning outcomes:
 Apply design knowledge gained from lectures and other ME courses (i.e. ME 201,
ME 218 ME 301/307, ME 302/308/309, ME 322/323 etc).
 Develop student individual creativity.
 Improve students’ investigation on a new topic with further search & reading.
4- Grading:
• 30% Technical Report (Progress Report + Final Report)
• 20% Complete drawing file single parts and assembly (Progress Report +Final
Report)
• 25% Exam (15% Poster presentation + 10% oral/written Exam)
• 15% Peer Evaluation
• 10% Class Participation (attentively listen and follow the instructions, spend entire lab
duration on design activities, committed to accomplish tasks/project, and maintain
discipline)
5- Presentation:
The students are expected to present the innovative idea of their project and the final product
with its characteristics and how it fits with the given specifications. Only one A1 size Poster
will be allowed and one student representing the group will present the Project in 3 minutes
in front of a committee.

Project course coverage:

 Structural design
 Welding and joining
 Lifting mechanism, any method can be adopted except hydraulic systems.
 Rolling bearings
 Gears
 Shaft design
 Locking mechanisms

Schedule of the tasks

Week 1: Introduction to machine design lab, policies, & grading

Week 2: Introduction to the topic & background/reading
Week 3: Concepts Analysis
Week 4: Force and Stress Analysis (frame)
Week 5: Welding and joining (including screws and fasteners)

Submission Progress report 1

Proposed by Dr Fadi Al-Badour,

Course Coordinator Dr. Fadi Al-Badour
pg. 2
 Week 6: lifting system
Week 7: Gears (Stress analysis)
Week 8: Bearings calculation/selection.
Week 9: Shaft Design
Week 10: Design Review

Submission Progress report 2

Week 11: Safety and locking systems

Week 12: Overall design
Week 13: Final adjustment and tuning – all dimensions in drawings
Week 14: Submit final report + Presentation of the project using A1 size Poster within
3 min for each group in the Atrium of Building 63.

Instructor: Key observation over the period of the project

 Assisting and monitoring closely students as they progress
 Ask each group to specify initial tasks for each team member and map corresponding
achievements at the end of the project. The minutes taken in a common logbook will
show tasks decide, actions taken, responsibility and corresponding time. Any delay or
non-achieved tasks can be seen by the instructor in his regular inspection of the
logbook.
 Each student in his group has to experience the position of team leader for a short
period equally divided between members (syllabus request).

Proposed by Dr Fadi Al-Badour,

Course Coordinator Dr. Fadi Al-Badour
pg. 3