CNC Mill Chip Evacuation System
This is an ongoing team capstone project with the goal of designing a custom CNC chip removal system for the Tormach 1100M CNC mills inside Northeastern’s capstone lab. We are planning on retrofitting an auger conveyor system into the current chip collection area of the Tormach 1100M CNC mill. This auger will evacuate chips and push them up and out of a chute into a 55-gallon drum to make chip removal more convenient for the machinists.
Proof of Concept Design
During the planning phase of this project, I conducted background research and created a budget for our materials. We have a 3,000 dollar budget and in order to budget for a design that is not finalized I had to research many different possible components to get a range of prices for the critical pieces of the design such as the motor and auger. This involved contacting manufacturers, distributors, and other key players to get quotes for materials costs to avoid budget overruns in the worst-case scenario when manufacturing our final product.
Materials Procurement Breakdown
Our completed design utilizes an auger to convey chips out the back of the Tormach 1100M into a 90-degree bend and up a chute to be placed into a 55-galloon drum with the top half cut off as shown below:
Design Overview
During the design process, we were worried about the weight of the motor and the chain tension creating a cantilever on the motor enclosure so I performed an FEA in SolidWorks to verify its integrity:
FEA Results Scaled to Show Displacement
The FEA showed our team that the part would not significantly deform. Additionally, I performed a fatigue life analysis on the bolts that attached the motor to the enclosure. Cycling the motor on and off creates torque and induces cyclic stress on the bolts. Using a modified Goodman equation, the safety factor for infinite life was calculated.
Infinite Life Calculation for Motor Bolts
The final poster for our project and the completed prototype is shown below as well as pictures from Capstone Day and the awards ceremony. I am happy to announce that our project won an award for the most satisfied client!
