Optimizing Can Crusher Design for Maximum Stress Resistance

[mohamad omar]

Hey there,
We are designing a rectangular duct composed of 4 metallic plates fastened together by bolts(or welded), where we will compress approximately 30 drinking cans, we are facing a problem by determining:
1- The thickness of the metallic plates that form the walls of the duct.
2- The thickness of the steel plate that is fixed to the hydraulic piston which will compress the cans.
To compress 30 cans, we need a total load of 180KN.
The duct's inner dimension are 30x30 cm.
Clearence between the sheet plate and the rectangular duct is about 5mm.

check the drawing for details.
much thanks

 

[DaveC426913]

Hey there,
We are designing a rectangular duct composed of 4 metallic plates fastened together by bolts(or welded), where we will compress approximately 30 drinking cans, we are facing a problem by determining:
1- The thickness of the metallic plates that form the walls of the duct.
2- The thickness of the steel plate that is fixed to the hydraulic piston which will compress the cans.
To compress 30 cans, we need a total load of 180KN.
The duct's inner dimension are 30x30 cm.
Clearence between the sheet plate and the rectangular duct is about 5mm.

check the drawing for details.
much thanks

OK. So what have you done to solve it so far?

 

[mohamad omar]

Ok dave, i thought of a method today which goes for deriving an equation for combining 3 stresses to get the maximmum stress, you know our case is similar to pressure vessel design, but the shape we are discussing is rectangular and not cylindrical.
What do you think ?