Department - Author 1
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Mechanical Engineering
Date
6-2014
Primary Advisor
Jim Meagher
Abstract/Summary
The purpose of this project is to design and build a machine to test a bicycle freehub in a lab environment. The conditions need to imitate the forces experienced by a bike wheel in a repeatable fashion. To do this we designed a machine that can fatigue the freehub in two distinct modes, pedaling and freewheeling. In the pedaling mode the freehub will be repeatable torqued to find how many engagement cycles freehub can endure before failure. The freewheeling test will spin the freehub in its coasting direction to find how the freehub wears during its lifetime. A freehub is ratchet mechanism on a rear bike wheel that transmits torque when the rider is pedaling but spins freely when the rider is coasting. Our tests will create life-like scenarios to fatigue at an increased rate in a lab setting. From this project we hope to compare different freehubs against each other as well as see where the freehub can be improved.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/mesp/217