Analys och kontroll av hållfasthet på grenställsarm

The thesis was done in collaboration with EAB situated in Smålandsstenar. In the initial discussion faze on doing a thesis with them there was a need to analyze and ensure the strength of an existing product, cantilever racks. This included performing FEM calculations on a model and comparing the results with physical tests. EAB has two models of cantilever racks, a light duty and a heavy duty. Within the heavy duty model series there are five product variants that differ in both size and load capacity. We will be working with the product variant with a load capacity of 1000 kg/arm which is the variant that is in the middle of the series. When we started work on the thesis we did a literature study and couldn’t find any well defined methodology that integrates both product development and computer aided design analysis. This meant that we had to combine and use both Freddy Olsson’s principle product development and known methods in FEM analysis. In the early stages of our work we also came to the conclusion that we need to compare our FEM analysis results to more than solely normal hand calculations, as these take into account many safety factor that will not be included in our computer aided model. So together with EAB we agreed to perform physical tests that will be similar in setup as our FEM analysis, leading to more comparable results. FEM analysis was conducted in CATIA V5 Generative Structural Analysis and physical tests were carried out at EAB in their test facilit