Date of Defense
4-17-2012
Date of Graduation
4-28-2012
Department
Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (to 2013)
First Advisor
Tianshu Liu
Second Advisor
Jerry H. Hamelink
Keywords
Airboat design
Abstract
Airboats are a common recreational vehicle in southern regions of the United States. A functional prototype of an airboat design was constructed utilizing the manufacturing processes and components available to gain knowledge and experience with the design process. The hull, rudder framework, seating structure, propeller shroud, drive train, and drive unit framework were fabricated at a machine shop. Remaining components were purchased, such as the engine, rudders, and propeller. Welders, mills, lathes, band saws, grinders, hydraulic presses, and power tools were employed in the construction. Drive train and drive unit framework was designed and analyzed using RomaxDesigner, a simulation software for gearboxes, bearings, and drive trains as well as Abaqus a Finite Element Analysis program. "Optimization of an Airboat Design", or OAD, was a design project. Benchmarking was conducted by the team members of OAD on traditional airboat designs, on which OAD is based. An in depth project description and the benchmarking results can be found in this report. Ryan Rader, Timothy Caputo, and Adam Leppek are the project team members, all are aeronautical engineering students. As the project sponsor, Ryan will be donating his time and labor at Marion N. Rader Machine Shop to fabricate the airboat components not being purchased.
Recommended Citation
Leppek, Adam P., "Optimization of an Airboat Design" (2012). Honors Theses. 2180.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/2180
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access