ALCOA Project Design Engineering Design 009 Team 7 12/16/13 Submitted to Wallace Catanach Tim O Neill (tjo5125@psu.edu) Jacob Eaton (jne5074@psu.edu) Andrew McDonagh (apm186@psu.edu) Bryan O Donnell (byo5060@psu.edu)
Bus Design: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cata+bus&form=hdrsc2#view=detail&id=7be9f15 0632757F3EC481F370CF16FB66C363C32&selectedIndex=0 What the Bus includes Needs statement: Made of aluminum Runs on natural gas Light-weight Can fit a large capacity Fuel efficient Corrosion resistant Recyclable
Table of Contents: Abstract 1 Introduction.. 1 Mission Statement 1 Executive Summary..1 External Research.2 Customer Needs Analysis 2 External Research (Benchmarking).. 2 Product Dissection... 4 Info on Bus....... 6 Customer Needs Analysis......... 7 Customer Matrix........... 8 Concept Generation...9 Concept Selection 10 Design: Solid works. 11 Design: 3d Model. 12 Cost Calculator..... 15 Conclusion.........15 References.......16
Abstract: Project Objective: The objective of this project is to design and construct a project in unison with the ALCOA guidelines. ALCOA s goal is to identify opportunities across the campus to take advantage of aluminum s intrinsic properties for the purpose of increasing the efficiency or sustainability of products and product systems. The goal was to take a specific object across on campus and use aluminum products to make it more sustainable and efficient. Before we began this project we did preliminary research on objects on campus we could make more efficient. We looked at two different types of busses and looked how we could improve on them. Our design is similar to ALCOA s All-Aluminum Electric Bus Design.. The first two BYD Electric Bus prototypes have been launched in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China. The all-aluminum space frame and bus design that has reduced the weight of the new BYD Electric Bus body by 40 percent, or nearly one ton compared to the standard bus in Changsha city. They were able to reduce the overall bus weight by 1.2 tons in total. The combined weight savings are expected to help improve the overall range of the electric bus by at least 10 percent. The new bus has a range of approximately 300 kilometers (188 miles) on a full charge. Our goal is to replicate similar results but instead using CATA busses found at State College. We hope to make our bus all aluminum and cut back on the price and make it more efficient. Intro: Human sustainability is one of the main focuses of the 21st century. With the increasing population and decreasing resources society is starting to really focus on energy and the environment. The world is going to run out of fossil fuels so cutting down on the energy use in homes is a great way to reduce energy. The CATA bus are unique because they run on compressed natural gas. By running on natural gas they save money and reduce fossil fuel usage. Mission Statement. Following the eight steps of the engineering design process1. Identify the problem, define the problem, develop possible solutions, select the best possible solutions, model the solutions, test and evaluate the solutions, communicate the solutions, and refine as needed we were able to construct an abstract bus made of all aluminum. Executive Summary: There are various items used every day that could be used more efficiently if they were created differently. Many modern vehicles are made of very heavy metals such as titanium. What our design group proposes is taking the CATA buses used at Penn State and completely remodeling the design by making the exterior of the bus out of aluminum. The aluminum would save money by creating a more fuel efficient vehicle and aluminum is much cheaper than titanium. The design we re proposing would save Penn State thousands, maybe even millions of dollars.
Many studies were done to create the design of our bus. For example, titanium has a density of 4.51 g/cm 3 while aluminum has a density of around 2.70 g/cm 3. Therefore, aluminum weighs about half as much as titanium. The new lightweight buses would use much less natural gas because the gas would have to propel half the weight. A study was done in China, where aluminum buses have already been put into use. These electric aluminum buses saved China s public transportation millions of dollars and could do the same thing for this university. Creating these buses could definitely pose several problems. Creating these new buses would be a huge expense at first, but would save money in the future. One other issue that aluminum has is that it s hard to weld and to create certain geometric shapes. If these issues are overcome, aluminum CATA buses could actually be used here at Penn State. External Research: Benchmarking Fuel Weight Material Fuel Tank Capacity Capacity (sitting) Capacity (standing) Total capacity New Flyer celsior Bus Natural gas 26,000 lbs Steel 100 gallons Up to 40 people 43 people 83 people http://omnitrans.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/rb_012.jpg
Fuel Weight Material Fuel Tank Capacity Capacity (sitting) Capacity (standing) Total capacity New Flyer Midi Bus Natural gas 19,500lbs Steel 75 gallons Up to 35 people 31 people 66 people http://www.newflyer.com/pix/news%20center/bus%20pictures/midi/midi_04.jpg Prior to the design stage, preliminary research on other buses similar to the CATA buses was conducted. Several structures were examined to determine which technologies were applicable to this project, and how to best combine them to meet customer needs for a potential client. We wanted our remake of the CATA bus to fulfill all the needs that our competitors complete. In order to create a bus that could meet the project requirements for ALCOA, a wide variety of materials were researched and considered. We choose to change the bus from all titanium and steel to mostly all aluminum. By doing so we were theoretically able to cut down the weight by approximately 30.3%. By doing this we bus is able to get more mpg because it requires less energy because the weight was reduced. The current price of aluminum as of Nov 26, 2013 was $0.79 per pound while titanium was 8.40$ per pound. By using aluminum instead of titanium we reduce the cost by about 10 times. The New Flyer celsior DE40 bus costs $571,737. With our design the cost of the bus would be $514,653. That would be a savings of about $57,000 due to the saving with using aluminum. A cost model was shown for each part on how the weight was reduced for the four major parts that make up the bus. Another plus of using aluminum is that aluminum is 100% recyclable and requires little energy. The process involves simply re-melting the metal, which is far less expensive and energy intensive than creating new aluminum through the electrolysis of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), which must first be mined from
bauxite ore which is very cost inefficient. It only requires about 5% of the energy it does to create new aluminum. Product Dissection: CNG Fuel Tanks: There are currently over three million vehicles world-wide that are powered by CNG fuel. The tanks that hold this CNG fuel are normally made out of aluminum or steel. Our bus will use aluminum tanks. The fuel will be stored in the tanks at 3,600 psi at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The tanks are normally manufactured to last the entire life of the vehicle and have a thermallyactivated pressure relief device that protects every tank in case of a fire. The tanks that we will use have an aluminum liner as well as a carbon fiberglass composite wrap. This allows the composite wrap and the aluminum to split the stress that the tank will endure. Picture from PowerPoint emailed from CATA director
Bus Frame: The average bus frame weighs approximately eight hundred pounds when it is constructed out of titanium. If the frame was replaced with aluminum, it would weigh roughly 478.9 pounds. This is a weight reduction of 321.1 pounds which is a reasonable decrease. This would increase fuel efficiency by decreasing the amount of weight needed to be pulled by the engine. http://web.altairhyperworks.com/reducing-the-weight-of-a-bus-frame-by-17-percent/ Engine: The CATA bus uses a Cummins ISL engine. It is a straight-six diesel engine. These engines have 280 horsepower and makes 900 pound-feet of torque at 1300 rpm. The engine weighs 1,685 pounds. As they are now, these engines are made of cast iron and steel. If we replaced these materials with aluminum, the engine would be more light weight and be able to transfer heat more efficiently. Using the densities of iron (7.874 g/cm 3 ) and aluminum (2.70g/cm 3 ), it can be figured that this replacement would reduce the total weight of the engine to 580 pounds. http://www.equipmentworld.com/files/2013/02/isl-g.jpg
Global Marketplace: CATA bus transportation is currently used on only one other campus which is Michigan State University. Michigan State has a similar system in which many loops run around campus. In Michigan the two majors types currently running were the New Flyer celsior and C40LF. Our bus design would work perfectly in collaboration with their system. Implementing our buses would allow them to reduce the weight by 30% and save energy. Not only could our buses be implemented at Michigan State but our buses and the design could be used at any transport system. Info on location: The Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) is a mass transit agency that provides bus transportation within State College, Pennsylvania State University. By 2009 CATA took over all bus transportation on campus and it became free transportation for routes. The routes are the same routes today, the blue loop, white loop, green link and red link. CATA currently operates 59 buses. In 2012 CATA made a fleet upgrade in which 28 brand new 40' New Flyer celsior CNG-powered buses were implemented. All of the celsior buses are 40' and replaced nine 35' buses. This replacement plan will also allow CATA to make a net gain of 3 40' buses in their fleet, as only 25 buses are being replaced. Our design is to take this new design and improve it by adding the aluminum elements to reduce weight and energy. In 1993 CATA took steps to go green and by 2005 became the first transportation agency on the East Coast to have replaced its entire fleet with one that operates solely on clean compressed natural gas. Making CATA not only green but also an innovator for other companies. Customer Needs Analysis: After brainstorming possible ideas and features we wanted to include in our bus we decided to use a needs matrix to make sure we met all of our customer needs. We had a variety of needs ranging from durability, weight, style, recyclability and cost. We then ranked these later on in our selection criteria and picked the best options.
Aluminum frame for the interior Cummins ISL engine. straight-six diesel engine. New Flyer celsior Bus 100% clean compressed natural Gas with tanks All new interior design Needs Matrix Lightweight Fuel efficient Stylish Runs on natural gas Money Saved Modern Durability Recyclable Can be easily maintenance Allows easy replacement of worn parts Corrosion resistant
Concept Generation matrix: Selection Criteria Concept 1 (New Flyer N40) Concept 2 (New Flyer Midi bus) Concept 3 (All Aluminum New Flyer N40) Lightweight + 0 + Fuel efficient Aesthetically appealing 0 + + + + + Runs on Natural Gas + 0 + Modern - + + Easily Maintained Money saved + + + 0 0 + Recyclable - - + Total Score 2 3 8 Continue with concept No Yes Yes
Concept Selection Matrix: Concept 3 Concept 2 Selection Criteria Weight Rate Weight Rate Weight Lightweight 15% 4 0.6 3 1.8 Fuel efficient Aesthetically appealing Runs on Natural Gas 10% 4 0.4 3 1.2 5% 4 0.2 4 0.8 8% 5 0.4 0 0 Modern 12% 5 0.6 5 3 Easily Maintained Money saved 10% 5 0.5 5 2.5 15% 5 0.75 3 2.25 Recyclable 25% 5 1.25 1 1.25 Total Score 100% 37 4.7 24 12.8 Continue with concept - - Yes - No
Design: Solid works
Design: 3D model
Cost model: Average Cata Bus Weight: 26000-28500 lbs Around 75% of bus is made of titanium Metal weight of bus: 19500-21375 lbs Considering the ratio of densities of titanium and aluminum is 4.51 : 2.7, we can calculate how much weight would be lost of titanium was replaced with aluminum. 19500/4.51 = x/2.7 4.51x = 52650 = 11674 lbs 21375/4.51 = x/2.7 4.51x = 57712.5 = 12797 lbs We can then add on the weight of the bus that is not aluminum. 11674 + 6500 = 18174 lbs 12797 + 7125 = 19922 lbs If you subtract the final weight of the buses when aluminum from the total weight of the buses when they are titanium, the total amount of weight lost from the metal switch can be calculated. 26000 18174 = 7826 lbs 28500 19922 = 8578 lbs In conclusion, the bus would lose, on average, 7826-8578 pounds if titanium was replaced with aluminum. Conclusion: We were able to construct our aluminum CATA Bus within the given parameters and were successful in doing so. Our bus compared to the normal bus would be an estimate 30% lighter. By reducing the weight we were able to increase the MPG by and estimate 1.6 extra gallons. Based off the 2012 prices of aluminum and titanium we were able to reduce the cost by about 10 times. This saves about $57,000 per bus. With a bus fleet having an estimate 30 buss that is a savings of $1.71 million. Overall our project was a success and we followed the 8 steps of the engineering process and we hope it our customer enjoys.
References: "Sustainability." ALCOA. ALCOA. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://www.alcoa.com/sustainability/en/home.asp>. "ABOUT CATA." CATABUS. CATA. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://www.catabus.com/>. "Recycle Aluminum." Aluminum.org. The Aluminum Association. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://www.aluminum.org/content/navigationmenu/theindustry/recycling/whyrecycl e/>. "Bus Conductor Design and Applications." Aluminum.org. N.p.. Web. 9 Dec 2013. <http://www.aluminum.org/am/cm/contentdisplay.cfm?contentfileid=57316>. PowerPoint emailed from CATA director *some pictures referenced directly in report