Research Paper
Year: 2020 | Month: September | Volume: 7 | Issue: 9 | Pages: 374-385
Design and Construction of a Low Cost Plastic Shredding Machine
Briggs M. Ogunedo, Beneth C. Chukwudi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imo State University, Owerri
Corresponding Author: Briggs M. Ogunedo
ABSTRACT
The challenge of plastic waste pollution has made it imperative for a systematic approach to environmental waste management. Hence, plastic recycling takes the centre stage due to the numerous associated benefits it offers. Therefore, this study focused on designing and constructing a plastic shredding machine which will assist small and medium scale entrepreneurs in plastic recycling industry. The machine utilizes 3.7kW of mechanical power to produce a torque of 28.49Nm and a shredding force of 1424.5N. With this force, it is able to shred 150kg of plastic in 6.98minutes with an efficiency of 97.8%. Motion simulation analysis run on the machine shows that during operation, the maximum values for buckling amplitude, and deformation of the shaft are 0.1902 Ampres and 0.01634mm respectively. Also the von Mises stress result showed that all regions of the shaft are far below the yield strength of the shaft material, and the FoS corroborated this result with all regions above 1; having a minimum value of 157.7. This shows that the machine will not breakdown even when running at twice its loading capacity. Furthermore, at a production cost of ₦109,840.00 the machine is 21.96% cheaper than the current market value of ₦140,750.00, hence the aim of producing a cost effective, durable and efficient plastic shredding machine was achieved in this study.
Keywords: plastic shredding machine, plastic waste pollution, environmental waste management
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