Battery Box Design Refinement
After generating a couple simple concepts, two general ideas were decided upon and looked into further. These general ideas are:
- Box with one vent at the rear
- Box with two vents, one in the front and one in the rear
QFD
In order to decide between these two ideas, a simple QFD selection matrix was used to quantitatively evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each design. Furthermore, for each of the two above ideas, different materials were considered. These materials include:
- Kevlar
- Fiberglass
- Wood
The QFD used in this down select considered: price, ease of manufacturing, and weight. The QFD used to down select the design of the battery boxes that was used is seen below in Figure 5.1.
Figure 5.1 – Initial design selection QFD
Because of the lack of funds and time, the most simple and least expensive boxes are greatly desired. From the above QFD, it is decided that the three designs that should be pursued are (in order of effectiveness):
- Wood with one vent
- Wood with two vents
- Kevlar with one vent
3D Model
To gain a greater understanding of each of these designs, the three designs were modeled in ProEngineer WildFire 3.0. Because two of the designs are of the same construction, one model would do for visualization. The two designs that are now being considered are seen below in Figure 5.2 and Figure 5.3, respectively.
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| Figure 5.2 - Battery Box w/ 1 Vent by Ryan Jamison | Figure 5.3 - Battery Box w/ 2 Vents by Ryan Jamison |
From generating a QFD and modeling two options from the QFD in ProEngineer, three designs are being considered for further selection and study. These designs are:
- Wood with one vent
- Wood with two vents
- Kevlar with one vent
Of these three designs, one will be selected to pursue further and finally develop and use on the University of Utah Solar Car.
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