1

WENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Car Jack Minor Report

Mechanical Design and Simulation Midterm Project

Shiv Patel
10/22/2014

Executive summary

A car jack is one of the most frequently used machine when working with cars.
Intellectual property of a prototype car jack was bought and analyzed through reverse
engineering. A simulation tool to evaluate and predict the stress was created using
Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and SolidWorks. The prototype car jack is to be adapted
to be both functionally, and structurally superior to other products on the market.
The rated maximum loading for the car jack is 4000 lbs. The factor of safety is
set at 2, with the material being 1020 Steel. After further analysis, it is found the car jack
fails to satisfy the design requirement of the factor of safety of 2. Upon finding the car
jack will fail, other materials that would pass the design requirements were chosen.

Table of Contents
Contents

Page

Executive Summary
List Of Figures
List of Tables
Description of system under study
Detailed Performance Specs
Theoretical Analysis
Max Loading positions graphical
results
Design Check
FEA Simulation results
Exploded Views of Assemblies
Drawing Packages
Conclusions
References

2
3
3
4
4
5
9
11
12
13
13-25
26
27

List of Figures
Figures
Top Plate FBD
Bottom Plate FBD
Link Bar FBD
Rivet Pin FBD
Threaded Rod FBD
Horizontal Force vs Link Angle
Axial Force vs Link Angle
Normal Stress vs Link Angle

Pages
5
5
6
6
6
9
9
10

List of tables
Tables
Implementation Techniques
Implementation Results
Max Load summary

Pages
8
8
10

Statement of problem:
A company decided to purchase another companys intellectual property of a
prototype car jack. The company plans on utilizing this technology to develop a detailed
simulation of a car jack and to adapt the prototype it just bought, to be the most superior
car jack in the market. The goal of the project is to reverse engineer the prototype car
jack and develop sufficient simulation based design data to secure funding from
investors for a new car jack marketable to auto manufacturers.

Detailed Performance Specs:

The rated maximum loading on the top of the jack with 4000 lbs thru the entire
range of motion (0-70 degrees). Where the degrees are a measurement of the angle
between the link bar and horizontal. The coefficient of friction between thread rod and
nut is .15. The jack is made out of 1020 Steel, and has a design requirement of a factor
of safety of 2. The objective is to analyze the loading on the jack using theories of failure
for static loads of ductile materials, checking if the jack passes the design requirements.
In the case of failure (factor safety less than 2) select a proper material.

Theoretical Analysis

Free Body Diagram:

Figure 1- Top Plate F.B.D

Figure 2- Bottom Plate F.B.D

Figure 3- Link Bar F.B.D

Figure 4- Rivet Pin F.B.D

Figure 5- Threaded Rod F.B.D

Equilibrium Equations:
Top Plate:

= 0 ; 2 2 = 0
= 0; 4 = 0; =

Bottom Plate: = 0; 4 = 0; =

Link Bar:

= => =

= ((2 + 2 ))/

= 0; + = 0; =
= 0; + = 0; =
= 0; () + (); =
Rivet Pin:

()
()

= 0; 4 = 0; = 4 = 4 ()
= 0; 2 2 = 0
=

( + )
=

2( + )

( )
=

2( + )

= ()

Implementation Techniques
*All calculations were based on an Excel Spreadsheet.

Theta
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70

Theta
(rad)
0.1745
0.2618
0.3491
0.4363
0.5236
0.6109
0.6981
0.7854
0.8727
0.9599
1.0472
1.1345
1.2217

HA (N)
25227
16601
12221
9539
7705
6353
5301
4448
3732
3115
2568
2074
1619

RA (N)
25616
17187
13006
10525
8896
7755
6920
6291
5807
5430
5136
4908
4734

AB (Mpa)
304
204
154
125
106
92
82
75
69
64
61
58
56

Table 1- Implementation Techniques

Theta
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70

F (N)
100908
66403.63
48885.32
38156.78
30818.03
25410.75
21204.63
17792.8
14929.93
12458.65
10272.68
8296.919
6476.05

TR (N/m)
113.15
74.46
54.82
42.79
34.56
28.49
23.78
19.95
16.74
13.97
11.52
9.30
7.26

TL (N/m)

FR (N)
55.67
36.64
26.97
21.05
17.00
14.02
11.70
9.82
8.24
6.87
5.67
4.58
3.57

Table 2- Implementation Results

377.17
248.20
182.72
142.62
115.19
94.98
79.26
66.50
55.80
46.57
38.40
31.01
24.21

Shear Force
FL (N)
(Mpa) (bolt)
185.57
1197.01
122.12
787.71
89.90
579.90
70.17
452.63
56.68
365.58
46.73
301.43
39.00
251.54
32.72
211.07
27.46
177.10
22.91
147.79
18.89
121.86
15.26
98.42
11.91
76.82

Detailed graphical results:

Horizontal Force vs. Angle

30000

Horizontal Force (N)

25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
0.1745 0.2618 0.3491 0.4363 0.5236 0.6109 0.6981 0.7854 0.8727 0.9599 1.0472 1.1345 1.2217

Angle (Rads)
Figure 6- Horizontal Force Vs. Link Angle

Axial Force vs. Angle

30000

Axial Force ( N)

25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
0.1745 0.2618 0.3491 0.4363 0.5236 0.6109 0.6981 0.7854 0.8727 0.9599 1.0472 1.1345 1.2217

Angle (Rads)

Figure 7- Axial Force Vs. Link Angle

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Normal Stress vs. Angle

350

Normal Stress (Mpa)

300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0.1745 0.2618 0.3491 0.4363 0.5236 0.6109 0.6981 0.7854 0.8727 0.9599 1.0472 1.1345 1.2217

Angle (Rads)

Figure 8- Normal Stress Vs. Link Angle

From all the graphical results, and the implementation techniques it is clear that
the force and stress on the jack is at the maximum when theta is equal to 10 degrees,
or .1745 radians. In the graphs, the lines are at the greatest value, when the angle is
equal to .1745 radians. In the excel tables, the forces are at a maximum when theta is
equal to 10 degrees. All the Excel implementations show that the car is under its
maximum load when the angle between the link and horizontal is 10 degrees.

Max Load summary at 10 degrees

Force
Torque to raise
Force to raise

Output
100908 N
113.15 N/m
377.17 N
Table 3- Load Summary

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Design Check
Threaded Rod:
A = 84.3 mm2 (see Picture in Reference section)

25616
=
= 304

. 0000843 2
2
2(100908)
=
=
= 1197.01
2 2(. 0000843)

2
2 = (3042 + 3(1528.92 )) = 2095 MPa
=
+ 3

350
=
= .167

2095

Rivet Pin:
A=300 mm2 (calculated from Drawings)
=

100908
=
= 336
. 0003 2
1
350(2)
336

= .52

Link Bar:
A=66 mm2 (Given)
=

25616
=
= 388

. 000066 2

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FEA Simulation
Threaded Rod:

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Exploded View of Assemblies and Drawing Packages

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Findings and Discussion

The car jack will very likely fail. When the bolt was evaluated on SolidWorks, it
failed really badly. The design requirements were a factor of safety of at least 2. The
minimum Factor of safety when simulated on the bolt, was .16. It was found that the
maximum load on the car jack will be rated at 10 degrees between the links and
horizontal. When 4000lbs are loaded on the car jack, the bolt will have a force of
100908 N with respect to the free body diagrams. That is an absurd amount of force to
put on such a small object. With a yield stress of 350 MPa, 1020 Steel is not an
adequate material. Another stronger material with a much higher yield stress needs to
be utilized for this car jack, such as Graphene. With a UTS of 130GPa, it would be
sufficient enough to support the max load on the jack. If it were used, the minimum
factor of safety would be approximately 49.
Conclusion
The company that purchased the car jack, plans on utilizing this technology to
develop a detailed simulation, to be the most superior car jack in the market. The goal
of the project was to reverse engineer the prototype car jack and develop sufficient
simulation based design data to secure funding from investors for a new car jack
marketable to auto manufacturers. From the simulations it is evidently clear that 1020
Steel is not an adequate material to support the maximum rated load. To pass the
design requirements of the factor of safety, another material needs to be selected, such
as Graphene. Considering the cost of the other materials that would be needed to pass
the design requirements, it would be too costly to manufacture this car jack.

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References
2012, machinerys handbook (29th edition), industrial press,pp.
Shingley, Joseph Edward, 2005, Mechanical Engineering Design, McGraw-Hill, New
York
Bhandari, V.B., 2007, Design of machine elements, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, IN