Design reviews nurture success for AME capstone project
Members of Team 25036 analyze a 3D model of a hydraulic mining shovel component in Caterpillar’s Virtual Reality Cave.
David Rumph
Seniors completing Interdisciplinary Capstone projects face two reviews at critical moments in their yearlong journeys to Craig M. Berge Design Day. During the preliminary and critical design reviews, conducted during the first semester of the capstone course, student teams present their projects to a panel of expert engineers, their team sponsor and faculty mentor.
Team 25036 is working with company sponsor Caterpillar on a hydraulic mining shovel. The students are redesigning the slew ring cover, a vital component that keeps essential lubrication grease meant for the shovel’s rotation axis from spilling out and being lost.
The shovel model they’re working with is capable of picking up 60 tons of material in one pass, so keeping the slew ring cover attached properly is a hefty task – one that requires the use of structural adhesives instead of welding. The team’s first choice for an adhesive proved ineffective, but thanks to feedback from the preliminary design review, the project was back on track in no time.
“The most important action item was to have an alternative adhesive after coming up with our primary one,” said David Rumph, a mechanical engineering senior and the team's project leader.
Dive deeper into how design reviews nurtured Team 25036's project.