Design of an Automated Powder Spray System for Cable Trunk

Tin, Kok Poh (2018) Design of an Automated Powder Spray System for Cable Trunk. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Throughout this Final Year Project, the recessed area of the cable trunk is needed to be sprayed by providing a solution other than manual spraying by the operators and also to design a painting system to eliminate the manual spray process if possible. The researches about the powder coating process, spraying method, problems to be solved and possible solutions’ working principle were conducted to get ready all the knowledges about the title of this project. Additional information after went through the designing processes and data collection were added into the literature review. Every important elements regarding the powder spray system has been found and filtered out to get those useful information and use it in methodology. The concept idea regarding the solution are also included inside. From the literature review and researches, the problem statement is finally had an ideal solution and hypothesis had generated out. The powder will reach into recessed area if the recessed area is perpendicular to the spray gun outlet and also at the same time with different oblique angles by using the rotation system designed. Every stations involved in powder spray system need to be studied in order to know the constraint that have to be considered when designing out the possible solutions. Concept solution is important to determine which design works the best and able to manufacture with materials available. Before doing so, all the dimensions regarding the location of the system wished to design and the constraints are measured and noted. It also provides illustrations and imaginations on the working principle of the prototype design. Hence, modifications can only be made based on the limitations and constraints that existed. The data collected is then transferred to the preliminary design for solution selection. Few options and choices have been drawn to figure out which design to choose. The most important part is the calculation of the distance of the rack path or so called the mild steel rod with the blade gap on swivel to ensure that it is moveable and would not crash at the midway. The final design was drawn out using AutoCad software. All the materials, processes required and equipment needed are known at this stage. Evaluation is important to know whether there is a problem with the simple prototype and also discussed any other limitations for the design being drawn. If the design drawing is approved, then the drawing can pass to production field to proceed for fabrication. The prototype was started for fabrication in the factory follows the material selection, processes required and equipment selection with the supervision from supervisor at IMECSS. The material provided also subject to factory’s availability. Also, monitored the jobs and observed the fabrication and assembly process of the parts if any amendments needed based on the output. After the prototype is done, the whole process is run for the very first time and observe any issues with the prototype. All the essential data and photos were taken as a proof to have a better understanding for the analysis process in the following step for report writing. Then, the system starts with powder spray from the spray gun with the part being hanged on. The adhesion of the powder into the recessed area required to be observed and approved by supervisor in order to proceed the exact full run that pass through all the stations like rinsing, phosphating and heating for curing purpose. From the data collected through the experiment, the results obtained were analyzed whether the hypothesis of the experiment is accepted or not by observing whether the recessed area is being sprayed evenly. The results obtained were then linked to the objective set to see the acceptance of the results. The photo of the part and recessed area being sprayed were taken after go through spraying process. The results were commented with the coverage percentage, possible causes of the imperfect results and any recommendations for the improvement were discussed.