Department - Author 1
Industrial Technology
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Industrial Technology
Date
6-2011
Primary Advisor
Lou Tonatzky
Abstract/Summary
There is an exhaustive amount of research done on vibration transmissibility. However there is a lack of information about shock transmissibility. There currently is no research or studies to prove how shock affects the contents of a unitized pallet load of products, until now. Millions of dollars in damages are pointlessly thrown away each year due to improper forklift handling of products. Similarly, agricultural products are highly susceptible to damages and bruising which leaves the product undesirable to consumers, leading to its eventual disposal. This paper aims to study exactly how agricultural products are damaged when a unitized pallet load is struck, dropped, or similarly mishandled by a mechanical forklift truck. The study utilized state of the art real time data recorders to analyze a variety of standardized shock tests commonly found in distribution test cycles published by ASTM and ISTA.
Shock values have been recorded and compared to one another to determine exactly how and where products are being damaged. The study compared the shock dampening potential of full and half-sized pallet configurations. The study determined that the half sized pallet configuration has better potential to dampen mechanical handling in all axes than the full sized configuration. Likewise, the study has also determined that shock travels more in the direction that it was sustained. Lastly, the study has determined that the pallet facing the forklift truck is also considerably more likely to experience damaging levels of acceleration than the side facing away.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/itsp/21