Desktop Lathe
Spring 2014
Role: Mechanical Engineer
Team: 7 Students (Mechanical Engineering)
Skills: Rapid Prototyping, CAD, Design for Manufacturing
Tools: Machine Shop, Waterjet, Solidworks
My team built a desktop lathe designed to machine aluminum with 50 micron repeatability, survive a fall from desktop height, and continue to machine to a +/- 50 micron accuracy after a sledgehammer blow to the spindle. My main focus was the design of a flexure to define the movement of the tool carriage. I manufactured multiple parts of the lathe using the CNC mill, waterjet, and general machine shop tools in the MIT Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity.
Carriage Flexure Functional Requirements
1. Have a stiffness within specified range
7. Stiffness and support to withstand drop test.
Flexure Loads and Deflections
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error in rails
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Lower bound for thickness in vertical flexure - displacement in terms of (Fr) is less than 5 micron
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Upper bound - avoid yielding due to displacement of rails
Add supporting.guard material on side of flexure
Advantage: protects flexure against impact
Issue: mounting to carriage, less flexible
Solution: Cutouts?
Added fillets at base