Looking for a Gearmotor; How Much Torque to Close this door?

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To determine the appropriate gearmotor for closing a 136-pound door measuring 40 inches wide and 85 inches high, it's essential to calculate the torque needed based on the door's mass moment of inertia and angular acceleration. The door is hinged on the right side and rotates 180 degrees over 60 seconds, resulting in a slow closure speed of 2 degrees per second. Accurate torque calculations must consider factors such as friction, gravity, and safety margins. The moment of inertia is crucial for these calculations, and knowing the axis of rotation is vital for providing effective assistance. Understanding these parameters will lead to a more informed selection of the gearmotor.
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I'm trying to find a gearmotor that applies enough torque to close this door.

Door Mass = 136lbs
Door Dims = 40in width x 85in height
Time to close = 60sec
Door's rotation = 180 degrees

upload_2017-12-21_17-37-37.png


Any tips and advice would truly be appreciated.
 

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Do you have an actual door in mind?

Where is the door hinge axis?

If this is a real door you might simply measure the force needed to close it at the point where you plan to connect the lever arm.
 
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I can't see from the drawing how this could operate as a door closer. Is the gearmotor supposed to have a rotary output?
Is closure speed fixed? 180° open to closed in 60 seconds (2°/second) is rather slow over much of the closure range.
Take care to rescue the angel; crushing one in a door mechanism is considered poor engineering practice.
 
Much more info needed for any kind of intelligent answer:
  • This figure is plan (top) view, correct? If not, specify it so the community can determine the direction of the gravity vector. Gravity may add force requirements.
  • Is the door hinged? If hinged, where is the hinge? Specify it.
  • If no hinged, about what axis does the door pivot? Specify it.
  • door mass ≠ lbs. You better figure that out first.
  • Torque = (mass moment of inertia) x (angular acceleration)
  • (mass moment of inertia) will likely be estimated from inertia primitive formulas and modified with parallel axis theorem. Look 'em both up.
  • (angular accel) is estimated α ≅ Δ(angular velocity)/Δ(time to accelerate)
  • Add a bunch of fudge factors for safety, friction, gravity effects, windage effects, robustness, etc., and that will give your peak torque. Size the gearmotor for that.
 
tygerdawg said:
Much more info needed for any kind of intelligent answer:
  • This figure is plan (top) view, correct? If not, specify it so the community can determine the direction of the gravity vector. Gravity may add force requirements. Yes this is top view
  • Is the door hinged? If hinged, where is the hinge? Specify it. Yes on the right side.
  • If no hinged, about what axis does the door pivot? Specify it.
  • door mass ≠ lbs. You better figure that out first.
  • Torque = (mass moment of inertia) x (angular acceleration)
  • (mass moment of inertia) will likely be estimated from inertia primitive formulas and modified with parallel axis theorem. Look 'em both up.
  • (angular accel) is estimated α ≅ Δ(angular velocity)/Δ(time to accelerate)
  • Add a bunch of fudge factors for safety, friction, gravity effects, windage effects, robustness, etc., and that will give your peak torque. Size the gearmotor for that.
Thank you very much for your help. I kept struggling with finding the torque, using a different equation. That mass moment of inertia is going to help me a lot
 
The moment of inertia won't anyone here wanting to help if we don’t know the axis of rotation for the door.
 
jedishrfu said:
The moment of inertia won't anyone here wanting to help if we don’t know the axis of rotation for the door.
the axis of rotation is the end of the door on the right side
 
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