Truss Alignment Tool
Jason Hedin
Senior Project
Construction
Part 1: Plasma Cutting
The first step in the process of construction was to plasma cut each flat part out of AISI 1018 steel plate. This was done by first modifying each Solidworks part file in order to work with the CNC plasma cutter. This process included removing the holes in each part, and increasing the dimensions of each part in order to account for offsets in the machine.
Due to constant problems with the plasma cutter, this phase of the manufacturing process resulted in many issues. First and foremost, every cut made by the machine was angled, rather than vertical. The solution to this problem was to grind and sand every edge of the part so that the edges were flat. While this seemed to initially solve the problem, it was quickly realized that because of the sanding and grinding, the overall dimensions of every part were now smaller than the design called for. The design was rechecked using the new dimensions, and the results showed that the changes in the tool's overall strength and performance were minimal.
Part 2: Drilling and Reaming
The next step in the manufacturing process was to drill and ream each hole that was to be pinned. The location for each hole was found using calipers, marked, and drilled. Due to the cutting issues mentioned above, the location of each hole was modified slightly to account for the changes in size of each part. This was done so that the tool would still perform as intended, even though each part was slightly smaller than the design. Each hole was then reamed to ensure that each pin would fit perfectly, and rotate smoothly.
Part 3: Welding
After each part was cut and the holes were drilled, they were prepped for welding. This included chamfering the necessary corners, and cleaning each part. Similar to the drilling process, the location of each part was slightly modified to accommodate the size changes in each part. The necessary parts were then welded together to create each sub-assembly.
Part 4: Final Assembly
The last step in the manufacturing process was to connect each sub assembly together using pins. Grade 8 steel pins were used, as they are readily available and strong enough to withstand the shear forces placed on them. The design tree below shows where each part fits into the final assembly.
