2017 Team 8 – GE Pinned Singlet Nozzle
Project Overview
For GE power systems, the time that they put into making a part for production is directly related to how much revenue you lose. Basically time equals money, and everybody likes to save money. This is what they aim to do by changing the current welded nozzle Singlet design to a design that will utilize press-fit pins to hold the nozzles in place. In doing this, up to 30 hours on each part could be reduced by eliminating the time involved to weld, inspect, stress relief bake out, and then final machining. The stress relief bake out alone is a huge reduction in cost due to the time eliminated in time waiting for the part to cool down as well as the cost for the fuel to burn in the ovens, which for a 18 hour bake out per half. This new design will allow for simply assembly, machining of the pin holes, the time to press the pins with our constructed press, and then final machining and inspection of the part. This current design plan is something that GE has played with in the past but has never really went anywhere but it was also a marketed style of singlet design from a recent competitor Alstom power systems. Due to a recent acquisition of Alstom power systems by GE power systems, the design engineers have again decided they would like to explore this avenue again. A fun fact is that Alstom power systems never once manufactured and sold this pinned-singlet design.
Our task is to design and create a mechanism capable of press forces of up to 30,000 pounds safely, reliably, and with the ability to record the retention force of each pin to verify to specifications, and in the least amount of time.
Team Updates
04/25/2017
Meeting as a team this morning we found issues with calibration for our load cell and therefore we have put full focus working on the calibration for our Maine day presentation. We were able to work on our presentation and hope to have it done for a dry presentation run utilizing our demonstrations in order to get a time estimate.
04/18/2017
The project has completed the CAD drawings, programming, and hydraulic diagram as well as parts list. These will be critiqued throughout the next week if there are any bugs or issues found. This will continue to be where the team is at until our Maine day presentation.
04/04/2017
Our final design has been chosen and the CAD drawings are in the works. The hydraulic diagram has been drawn up and the programming has begun utilizing the load cell that will be used in the final presentation. The team has begun working on the presentation that is due for a Maine day. We hope to have everything needed for Maine day a week early.
03/21/2017
Over spring break the team has worked on their own individual pieces of the project and this week we will continue our weekly meetings to keep each other on the same page. Hydraulic research has begun to piece together the projects equipment needed to supply the force necessary. The original design attempts from before pin pressing are now being looked through to pick a final design to utilize for our Maine day presentation.
03/07/2017
The team was given new deliverable’s from the engineers at GE Bangor. We have been instructed to focus on pressing a pin at the original 30,000 pound request and to stop our pin force testing. This has shifted our project to a theoretical process now and design to meet these requirements will begin over spring break.
02/28/2017
The meeting today was profitable for the team in terms of what direction we must go for our next set of testing in an attempt to gain a data set that we are able to utilize. We have been given a few tasks to complete during our third set of testing by the engineers at GE. Hopefully this will allow us to find our variable that influences our insertion force. Finding a correlation is key to the final presentation of the project. Once this has been found we can make possible design changes to create a more consistent insertion force allowing for repeatably when used in production. The programming has had another breakthrough which now allows for real time exportation to excel with graphing.
02/24/2017
The team has had an awesome week. Beginning on Tuesday with a gage rnr session at GE Bangor the team was able to get results that while still being processed look to be excellent in comparison to the previous testing. Thursday we were able to have our appointment with the AMC and do our pin testing. The results from the new pin dimensions and tolerances show to be much higher forces than what we had predicted prior to testing. The data analysis will need to be completed before comparison with our model to attempt to gain a better understanding on the forces due to the interference of the pins. Our final breakthrough of the week is that our basic programming has been completed and we now have a working data acquisition from a load cell to excel. This week has been a huge step in our project and with a big meeting scheduled for Tuesday 02/28/17 we are all waiting to see where the scope of the project will be heading.
02/14/2017
The meeting today has been cancelled as well with clean up from the massive storm. This is unfortunate as the test block has been completed. The team is going to be working hard to complete a lot of work in the oncoming week. We are excited as a team to get back to work after the weather caused a slump for the past couple weeks.
02/07/2017
The pending snow storm has cancelled our meeting at GE Bangor. The team will be utilizing their time to do research as well as continue to wait for our test block #2 to be machined.
01/29/2017
The team has created a pattern to utilize for our test block #2 and are hoping to have it be able to be machined by GE as soon as possible to allow us to have time for gage rnr and ample time to setup our next meeting at the AMC to do the press test utilizing their load frame.
01/22/2017
Back from the holiday break we are currently working on finalizing the revisions for interim report #2. This revision is our major focus for the week. During the holiday break we utilized our time to begin learning how to program with an Arduino which will be the backbone to the data acquisition and output. With one week under our belts we are getting back into the swing of things.
Arduino Photos: Photo 1 Photo 2
12/06/2016
During our meeting with the AMC on 11/30/2016 we were able to get our test pins pressed within our block. This allowed us to obtain data that we found to be useful by making us need another test block for our longer pins. This test block is in the works and we hope to press this block early next semseter.
Our mid-term interim report is set to be due on 12/07/2016 so this has been a big focus for our team to add our sections to the report when not working on other classes or data analysis.
11/29/2016
This week we have an appointment with the AMC to setup fixturing as well as the possibility of testing which would give us realistic data. If we are able to press, the data will help with our new pin parameters. We can compare this data set with our model data. The second report is due 12/07/2016 and we will be focusing on updating the initial report for the mid-way report.
11/22/2016
In our meeting today we were given some new specifications from the customer on what they would like to use in the final production part. This changes our apparatus designs, and creates new problems within our project. Our test block of material has been drilled and reamed and testing will begin after Thanksgiving break. We hope to have a full analysis on forces with the pins by the end of the semester and have an easily modifiable model for the forces to press the pins.
11/15/2016
This week we have preformed analysis on overall forces for pressing in our pins. We were also treated with food by our sponsor, GE Bangor. This meeting has given us a solid starting point in the analysis for pressing the pins and designing our apparatus to work for the customer.
11/08/2016
Our initial test block for gage r&r is complete and the six-sigma group which includes Peter and Brett completed along with the help of the engineering staff of GE Bangor. We were given direction to test out machine capability for the possibility of a change in design. This could cause an entire shift in our project.
11/01/2016
We are waiting on our Interim report to come back graded. As well as waiting for the test block to have the gage r&r completed. The gage r&r is scheduled to be preformed on Thursday 11/4/2016. We are begining to create a presentation to get feedback on preliminary designs. These designs will than be singled out and fabrication will begin. Our load sensor has been ordered and quotes for other pieces are coming in.
10/25/2016
We have come up with a few ideas for design through a strong session at GE Bangor. The rest of the week our overall design portion has been on the back burner as the first interim report is due on Wednesday 10/26/2016 and this has been the overall focus for our team. We are waiting another week for our test material block to be done with gage r&r so that we can do load frame testing.
10/18/2016
The past week was quiet coming off fall break, we did not have our weekly meeting at GE Bangor. On Thursday 10/13/2016 Jon and Adam met with John Belding from the Advanced Manufacturing Center on campus about gaining access to a load frame for testing. Our first interim report is due next Wednesday 10/26/2016 and we will be busy over the rest of the week working away to finish this first milestone deadline.
Team Bios
Adam Patrick
Hello, my name is Adam Patrick from Holden, Maine. I am a senior attending The University of Maine and plan to graduate with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology spring of 2017. Outside of schooling my hobbies include hunting, fishing, camping, and mechanics work on both automobiles as well as small engines. I have always had a knack for mechanical systems since I was a kid taking things apart, curious as to how things work. This curiosity of how things work has brought me to where I am as a student in mechanical engineering.
Brett Bergeron
My name is Brett Bergeron. I am a fourth year student at the University of Maine studying Mechanical Engineering Technology. Along with taking courses at the University of Maine, I have also studied at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden. I was able to visit Russia and 11 European countries while studying at Linnaeus University — an experience that I will always cherish. I first became interested in the mechanical aspects of engineering while restoring a 1987 Volkswagen Scirocco with my father while in high school.
Jonathan Clements
Hello my name is Jonathan Clements, I am a senior in the Mechanical Engineering Technology program at the University of Maine Orono. I was born and raised in a town called Newburgh just south of Bangor, ME, and received my high school diploma from Hampden Academy in Hampden, ME. I am fortunate enough to have been able to be employed in the manufacturing industry for 2 years now, working for WHELEN engineering in Charlestown NH and currently for GE Power Systems here in Bangor ME while also working towards my degree in engineering. Ever since I was a boy I have been involved with mechanical devices in one way or another, fixing small engine vehicles in particular. I have found that solving problems is something I am particularly good at which has drove my passion for engineering.
Peter Heang
Hello I am Peter Heang, a first generation Cambodian American, and also a 4th year student studying Mechanical Engineering Technology at the University of Maine. My passion for Engineering began when I was younger, being inspired by my father who was a machine operator at Pratt and Whitney and very mechanically inclined outside of work. Due to my mother and father escaping the tragedies brought on by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia they lacked formal education when immigrating to America and since then, they always placed an emphasis on education for myself as well as my three siblings to follow our aspirations. With the support of my parents, friends, and family, I strive to better myself and be the best I can be.
Contact Info & Other Links
Contact Info:
Adam Patrick: adam.patrick@maine.edu
Brett Bergeron: brett.bergeron@maine.edu
Jonathan Clements: jonathan.clements@maine.edu
Peter Heang: peter.heang@maine.edu
Other Links:
Project Sponsor
