Motovated > News > Newsletter April 2009

Hello everyone,

We have a number of events coming up next month, including the SouthMACH tradeshow and the National Manufacturing Week in Melbourne. Come and see Peter Caughey's Motovated Jetsprint Superboat at SouthMACH! You can find all the details below. Also in this issue, we have a very interesting article on the John Britten Motorcycle and the number eight wire culture of New Zealanders.

You can also find another handy design tip, a puzzle and answers to last issue's question. We hope you're enjoying the autumn weather and all the holidays this month (Easter and ANZAC Day).

Greg Morehouse
General Manager
Engineering Analyst

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Upcoming events:

There are a number of trade shows and exhibitions coming up next month, which means more great opportunities to see what's happening within the wider engineering industry.

Motovated will be exhibiting at SouthMACH 2009, the largest manufacturing technology and machinery exhibition in the South Island. We will have Peter Caughey's world beating Motovated Jetsprint Boat on the stand for all those who are keen for a closer look. Our stand number is 32, please stop by and see us!
Greg will be showing our analysis skills on interesting parts or assemblies during the show, so bring your parts with you (on a pen drive or CD) and get them analysed for free! Come along and talk to us, get a free demo, and ask us any questions you may have!
Special SouthMACH offer If you've got a great idea you've been wanting to develop for a while, now's your chance. Come and see us for your free consult, sign up for 8 hours work or more and get the first 4 hours free!
The opening hours for the SouthMACH show are: Wednesday 27th May, 10am - 5pm Thursday 28th May, 10am - 4pm Westpac Arena, Christchurch

Australia's National Manufacturing Week is also being held in May, this year in Melbourne. Motovated will be attending, with Sharyn Laing and Mike Barnes on the ground as our contacts during the exhibition. Mike's background is in mechanical engineering and automation, and Sharyn is our Business Development Manager, so between them they will be more than able to answer your questions or enquiries!

The opening hours for National Manufacturing Week are: Tuesday 12th May, 10am - 6pm Wednesday 13th May, 10am - 6pm Thursday 14th May, 10am - 8pm Friday 15th May, 10am - 4pm Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

Some of the exhibitors logos are shown below...

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Tips & Tricks - designing for impact loads

Impact loading occurs in a wide range of situations, especially in mechanical machinery where there is direct impact or sudden application of the loads. However, as we saw in our previous article regarding weld design, bigger is not always better, and does not always result in proportional gains in strength.

The fundamental rule of impact design is energy absorption, and is based on using the maximum volume of material to carry the loads. If possible this maximum stress should be uniform across every cubic mm of the section. As you will see below, there are some simple things you can do to add margins to your impact strength.

A beam can be designed for constant bending stress along its length by making the cross-section depth variable. The outer fibre is stressed to the maximum value for the entire length of the member, which increases the energy absorption by a factor of 2 compared to a constant cross-section beam!

Designing for impact loads using a variable beam depth (click for more details)

Achieving uniform stress is an area where Motovated Design's professional FEA services pay dividends. Our understanding of these basic principles and advanced tools enable us to improve your product's strength and reliability while reducing costs, weight and warranty hassles.

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The myth of the "Backyard Visionary"

Here is an interesting article by Fraser Scott from designindustry, which shows the absolute necessity for balance between great ideas and strategy in developing a successful product and company. The story of the Britten motorcycle and the man they called "the Backyard Visionary" is delved into, which highlights some important lessons we can learn.

	These include: Protecting your Intellectual Property (IP) A long term focus and strategy Finding a good team to work with in developing all aspects of the design and business strategy Avoiding over-reliance on number 8 wire strengths
John Britten Motorcycle

A quote which sums things up well is:

"Great ideas and creative talent is the starting point, but without strategic rigour, objectivity and − gasp − the sober voices of the left brained number crunchers, organisers and managers, great ideas just go to waste."

This is a great article with some really good comments, you can read the whole article here:

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Outsmart your colleagues...

An engineering job can be completed by 5 engineers in 21 days. If 10 more engineers join the team 3 days after starting work on the job, how many days remain to complete the work?

Note: assume that all the engineers can work concurrently and they all finish at the same time.

Send your correct answer to competition@motovated.co.nz to be in with a chance of winning a $50 Mitre 10 voucher.

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Answer to last issue's puzzle

Check your answer to February issue's question here:

Initially, for the boat to float in equilibrium, the weight of the volume of the water displaced by the boat must equal the mass of the boat and anchor. When the anchor is thrown overboard, the assumptions are that the anchor hits the bottom of the pond (as the anchor is denser than water) and that the water displaced by the anchor itself is small. The overall mass of the boat has decreased, therefore the volume of displaced fluid required for equilibrium decreases. For a pond with no inlet or outlet, this means that the pond level goes DOWN.

For those who see things in equations, the following shows the relationship between the mass and buoyancy force for a floating object:

m = ρ V

where:

m = mass of the object
ρ = density of fluid
V = volume of water displaced by the submerged object

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Last issue's puzzle winner...

Congratulations to Joe McArdle, a Mitre 10 voucher is on its way to you.

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Thanks for your time and support. We look forward to working with you and continuing to provide the best engineering services possible.

Greg and the team at Motovated.

"engineering your vision"