Graduation Year

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.M.E.

Degree Name

MS in Mechanical Engineering (M.S.M.E.)

Degree Granting Department

Mechanical Engineering

Major Professor

Alex A. Volinsky, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Autar K. Kaw, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Craig Lusk, Ph.D.

Keywords

Concrete block pavers, Pavers manufacturing, Concrete mixture, Hydraulic press paver production, Cleaning mechanism, Waste management

Abstract

Now-a-days, the major challenge that’s being faced by the concrete industry is the cleaning of concrete handling equipment. Concrete consists of aggregates, which harden with time, and the transportation of concrete mixture within the plant is a significant problem. This will not only increase the overall maintenance cost, but will lead to loss of raw materials, affect the rate of production, and reduce the lifetime of concrete handling equipment.

The present study focuses on the design and implementation of an adaptive cleaning mechanism in the concrete industry and its importance in achieving efficient cleaning, which is tested to verify its performance in the Paver production plant. The goal of this study is to provide practical evidence about the importance of adaptive cleaning mechanisms for industrial applications.

The first chapter gives a detailed introduction about pavers and the production process, the cause of material loss that occurs during transportation of wet concrete mixture inside a paver plant, and its effect on handling equipment and work environment. The second chapter explains design and working of the paver machine push bar mechanism, which can be implemented in a hydraulic press production process of pavers. The third chapter includes analysis and results of the mechanism obtained using Solidworks and Autodesk Inventor followed by observations that are achieved based on practical application of this mechanism in a paver production plant.

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