<p>The overall aim of this thesis was to discuss kinematics and muscle function changes due to foot and ankle injury or deformity. The first study aims to characterize gait patterns of subjects with a common lower limb injury, ankle fractures. Using three-dimensional movement analysis with a modified multi-segment foot model, the inter-segment foot kinematics was determined during gait in 18 subjects one year after surgically treated ankle fractures. Gait data were compared to an age- and gender-matched control group and the correlations between functional ankle score and gait parameters were determined. It was observed that even with fairly good clinical results, restricted range of motion at and around the injured area, and less adducted forefoot were found in the injured limb. The second study aims to quantify the effect of subtalar inversion/eversion on the dynamic function of the main ankle dorsi/plantarflexors: gastrocnemius, soleus and tibialis anterior. Induced acceleration analysis was used to compute muscle-induced joint angular and body center of mass accelerations. A three-dimensional subject specific linkage model was configured by gait data and driven by 1 Newton of individual muscle force. The excessive subtalar inversion or eversion was modified by offsetting up to ±20˚ from the normal subtalar angle while other configurations remain unaltered. We confirmed that in the normal gait, muscles generally acted as their anatomical definitions and muscles can create motion in joints, even not spanned by the muscles. The plantarflexors play important roles in body support and forward progression. Excessive subtalar eversion had negative effect on ankle plantarflexion, which may induce a less plantarflexed ankle, less extended knee and more flexed hip after initial contact. This thesis focused on gait kinematics and muscle functions in the foot and ankle area employing both experimental gait and computational simulations. The findings can be regarded as references for evaluating of future patients and for dynamic muscle functions during gait.</p>

<p>Converging cylindrical shock waves have been studied experimentally. Numericalcalculations based on the Euler equations and analytical comparisons basedon the approximate theory of geometrical shock dynamics have been made tocomplement the study.Shock waves with circular or polygonal shock front shapes have been createdand focused in a shock tube. With initial Mach numbers ranging from 2 to4, the shock fronts accelerate as they converge. The shocked gas at the centreof convergence attains temperatures high enough to emit radiation which isvisible to the human eye. The strength and duration of the light pulse due toshock implosion depends on the medium. In this study, shock waves convergingin air and argon have been studied. In the latter case, the implosion lightpulse has a duration of roughly 10 μs. This enables non-intrusive spectrometricmeasurements on the gas conditions.Circular shock waves are very sensitive to disturbances which deform theshock front, decreasing repeatability. Shocks consisting of plane sides makingup a symmetrical polygon have a more stable behaviour during focusing,which provides less run-to-run variance in light strength. The radiation fromthe gas at the implosion centre has been studied photometrically and spectrometrically.Polygonal shocks were used to provide better repeatability. Thefull visible spectrum of the light pulse created by a shock wave in argon hasbeen recorded, showing the gas behaving as a blackbody radiator with apparenttemperatures up to 6000 K. This value is interpreted as a modest estimation ofthe temperatures actually achieved at the centre as the light has been collectedfrom an area larger than the bright gas core.As apparent from experimental data real gas effects must be taken intoconsideration for calculations at the implosion focal point. Ideal gas numericaland analytical solutions show temperatures and pressures approaching infinity,which is clearly not physical. Real gas effects due to ionisation of theargon atoms have been considered in the numerical work and its effect on thetemperature has been calculated.The propagation of circular and polygonal have also been experimentallystudied and compared to the self-similar theory and geometrical shock dynamics,showing good agreement.</p>

All welding processes can give rise to defects, which weakens the joint and can eventually lead to the failure of the welded structure. In order to inspect welds for detects, without affecting the usability of the product, non-destructive testing (NDT) is needed. NDT includes a wide range of different techniques, based on different physical principles, each with its advantages and disadvantages. The testing is often performed manually by a skilled operator and in many cases only as spot-checks. Today the trend in industry is to move towards thinner material, in order to save weight for cost and for environmental reasons. The need for inspection of a larger portion of welds therefore increases and there is an increasing demand for fully automated inspection, including both the mechanised testing and the automatic analysis of the result. Compared to manual inspection, an automated solution has advantages when it comes to speed, cost and reliability. A comparison of several NDT methods was therefore first performed in order to determine which methods have most potential for automated weld inspection. Automated analysis of NDT data poses several difficulties compared to manual data evaluation. It is often possible for an operator to detect defects even in noisy data, through experience and knowledge about the part being tested. Automatic analysis algorithms on the other hand suffer greatly from both random noise as well as indications that originate from geometrical variations. The solution to this problem is not always obvious. Some NDT techniques might not be suitable for automated inspection and will have to be replaced by other, better adapted methods. One such method that has been developed during this work is thermography for the detection of surface cracks. This technique offers several advantages, in terms of automation, compared to existing methods. Some techniques on the other hand cannot be easily replaced. Here the focus is instead to prepare the data for automated analysis, using various pre-processing algorithms, in order to reduce noise and remove indications from sources other than defects. One such method is ultrasonic testing, which has a good ability for detecting internal defects but suffers from noisy signals with low spatial resolution. Work was here done in order to separate indications from corners from other indications. This can also help to improve positioning of the data and thereby classification of defects. The problem of low resolution was handled by using a deconvolution algorithm in order to reduce the effect of the spread of the beam.The next step in an automated analysis system is to go beyond just detection and start characterising defects. Using knowledge of the physical principles behind the NDT method in question and how the properties of a defect affect the measurement, it is sometimes possible to develop methods for determining properties such as the size and shape of a defect. This kind of characterisation of a defect is often difficult to do in the raw data, and is therefore an area where automated analysis can go beyond what is possible for an operator during manual inspection. This was shown for flash thermography, where an analysis method was developed that could determine the size, shape and depth of a defect. Similarly for laser ultrasound, a method was developed for determining the size of a defect. / <p>Godkänd; 2014; 20140415 (mike); Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen. Namn: Patrik Broberg Ämne: Experimentell mekanik/Experimental Mechanics Avhandling: Imaging and Analysis Methods for Automated Weld Inspection Opponent: Professor Tadeusz Stepinski, Signaler och system, Institutionen för teknikvetenskaper, Uppsala universitet, Ordförande: Professor Mikael Sjödahl, Avd för strömningslära och experimentell mekanik, Institutionen för teknikvetenskap och matematik, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Fredag den 13 juni 2014, kl 10.00 Plats: E243, Luleå tekniska universitet</p>

Why copy the best athletes? When you finally learn their technique, they may have already moved on. Using muscluloskeletal biomechanics you might be able to add the "know-why" so that you can lead, instead of being left in the swells. This dissertation presents the theoretical framework of musculoskeletal modeling using inverse dynamics with static optimization. It explores some of the possibilities and limitations of musculoskeletal biomechanics in cross-country skiing, especially double-poling. The basic path of the implementation is shown and discussed, e.g. the issue of muscle model choice. From that discussion it is concluded that muscle contraction dynamics is needed to estimate individual muscle function in double-poling. Several computer simulation models, using The Anybody Modeling System™, have been created to study different cross-country skiing applications. One of the applied studies showed that the musculoskeletal system is not a collection of discrete uncoupled parts because kinematic differences in the lower leg region caused kinetic differences in the other end of the body. An implication of the results is that the kinematics and kinetics of the whole body probably are important when studying skill and performance in sports. Another one of the applied studies showed how leg utilisation may affect skiing efficiency and performance in double-poling ergometry. Skiing efficiency was defined as skiing work divided by metabolic muscle work, performance was defined as forward impulse. A higher utilization of the lower-body increased the performance, but decreased the skiing efficiency. The results display the potential of musculoskeletal biomechanics for skiing efficiency estimations. The subject of muscle decomposition is also studied. It is shown both analytically and with numerical simulations that muscle force estimates may be affected by muscle decomposition depending on the muscle recruitment criteria. Moreover, it is shown that proper choices of force normalization factors may overcome this issue. Such factors are presented for two types of muscle recruitment criteria. To sum up, there are still much to do regarding both the theoretical aspects as well as the practical implementations before predictions on one individual skier can be made with any certainty. But hopefully, this disseration somewhat furthers the fundamental mechanistic understanding of cross-country skiing, and shows that musculoskeletal biomechanics will be a useful complement to existing experimental methods in sports biomechanics. / Varför ska man kopiera de som är bäst inom sin idrottsgren? När man väl har lärt sig deras teknik så har de antagligen redan gått vidare. Vore det inte bättre att öka sin förståelse så att man kan ligga i framkant, istället för i svallvågorna? Med biomekaniska simuleringar som ett komplement till traditionella experimentella metoder finns möjligheten att få veta varför prestationen ökar, inte bara hur man ska göra för att öka sin prestation. Längdskidåkning innehåller snabba och kraftfulla helkroppsrörelser och därför behövs en beräkningsmetod som kan hantera helkroppsmodeller med många muskler. Avhandlingen presenterar flera muskeloskelettära simuleringsmodeller skapade i The AnyBody Modeling System™ och är baserade på inversdynamik och statisk optimering. Denna metod tillåter helkroppsmodeller med hundratals muskler och stelkroppssegment av de flesta kroppsdelarna. Avhandlingen visar att biomekaniska simuleringar kan användas som komplement till mer traditionella experimentella metoder vid biomekaniska studier av längdskidåkning. Exempelvis går det att förutsäga muskelaktiviteten för en viss rörelse och belastning på kroppen. Detta nyttjas för att studera verkningsgrad och prestation inom dubbelstakning. Utifrån experiment skapas olika simuleringsmodeller. Dessa modeller beskriver olika varianter (eller stilar) av dubbelstakning, alltifrån klassisk stil med relativt raka ben och kraftig fällning av överkroppen till en mer modern stil där åkaren går upp på tå och använder sig av en kraftig knäböj. Resultaten visar först och främst att ur verkningsgradsynpunkt är den klassiska stilen att föredra då den ger mest framåtdrivande arbete per utfört kroppsarbete, dvs den är energisnål. Men ska en längdlöpare komma så fort fram som möjligt (utan att bry sig om energiåtgång) verkar det som en mer modern stil är att föredra. Denna studie visar också att för att kunna jämföra kroppens energiåtgång för skelettmusklernas arbete mellan olika rörelser så krävs det en modell där muskler ingår. Andra studier som presenteras är hur muskelantagonister kan hittas, hur lastfördelningen mellan muskler eller muskelgrupper förändras när rörelsen förändras samt effekter av benproteser på energiåtgång. Några aspekter av metoden presenteras också. Två muskelmodeller och dess inverkan på olika simuleringsresultat visas. En annan aspekt är hur muskeldekomposition och muskelrekryteringskriterium påverkar beräkningarna. Normaliseringsfaktorer för olika muskelrekryteringskriterium presenteras. / Beräkningsbaserad biomekanik inom längdskidåkningen - möjligheter och begränsningar

This dissertation concerns structural topology optimization in conceptual design stages. The objective of the project has been to identify and solve problems that prevent structural topology optimization from being used in a broader sense in the avionic industry; therefore the main focus has been on stress and fatigue constraints and robustness with respect to load uncertainties. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part gives an introduction to topology optimization, describes the new contributions developed within this project and motivates why these are important. The second part includes five papers. The first paper deals with stress constraints and a clustered approach is presented where stress constraints are applied to stress clusters, instead of being defined for each point of the structure. Different approaches for how to create and update the clusters, such that sufficiently accurate representations of the local stresses are obtained at a reasonable computational cost, are developed and evaluated. High-cycle fatigue constraints are developed in the second paper, where loads described by a variable-amplitude load spectrum and material data from fatigue tests are used to determine a limit stress, for which below fatigue failure is not expected. A clustered approach is then used to constrain the tensile principal stresses below this limit. The third paper introduces load uncertainties and stiffness optimization considering the worst possible loading is then formulated as a semi-definite programming problem, which is solved very efficiently. The load is due to acceleration of point masses attached to the structure and the mass of the structure itself, and the uncertainty concerns the direction of the acceleration. The fourth paper introduces an extension to the formulated semi-definite programming problem such that both fixed and uncertain loads can be optimized for simultaneously. Game theory is used in the fifth paper to formulate a general framework, allowing essentially any differentiable objective and constraint functions, for topology optimization under load uncertainty. Two players, one controlling the structure and one the loads, are in conflict such that a solution to the game, a Nash equilibrium, is a design optimized for the worst possible load.

Today’s rules and regulations regarding emissions from combustion vehicles are very strict and the travel range per tank and/or charge, especially for electric vehicles, is a crucial factor which will always be considered by the customers. Hence, automotive manufacturers strive to boost fuel and battery economy. This can, to a great extent, be done by improving the aerodynamics of the vehicle for lower drag. The conventional CFD process for aerodynamic development is relatively time consuming and there is rarely enough timeor resources to find the optimal design in all regions of the vehicle. Hence, the adjoint solver was investigated to make the aerodynamic development process more efficient by providing sensitivities of the geometry with respect to drag force. The adjoint solver was investigated both through a literature review as well as by performing CFD and adjoint simulations. The CFD and adjoint simulations were performed using Fluent 2019 R1 and the realizable k-ε turbulence model. It was found that it is important to monitor surface sensitivities during the solution in addition to the adjoint residuals to assess convergence of the adjoint simulation. It is also recommended to analyse regions of high residuals in the domain to ensure that they are far away from the surface(s) of interest. Investigations regarding different stabilization schemes as well different meshes for the adjoint solver were performed. It was concluded that the residual minimization scheme (RMS) is the preferred stabilization scheme. It was found that a coarser mesh can be used to reduce localized transient behaviour if the adjoint solver has trouble converging. It was found that a simplified model of a fully detailed car geometry is necessary to reduce the complexity and the resolution of the mesh to be able to use the RMS and to avoid local instabilities. A proposed CFD and adjoint procedure with guidelines and recommendation was developed.

In this Licentiate of Engineering thesis, a method is proposed that identifies the mechanical properties of arteries in vivo. The mechanical properties of an artery are linked to the development of cardiovascular diseases. The possibility to identify the mechanical properties of an artery inside the human body could, thus, facilitate disease diagnostization, treatment and monitoring. Supplied with information obtainable in the clinic, typically limited to time- resolved pressure-radius measurement pairs, the proposed in vivo parameter identi- fication method calculates six representative parameters by solving a minimization problem. The artery is treated as a homogeneous, incompressible, residual stress- free, thin-walled tube consisting of an elastin dominated matrix with embedded collagen fibers referred to as the constitutive membrane model. To validate the in vivo parameter identification method, in silico arteries in the form of finite element models are created using published data for the human abdominal aorta. With these in silico arteries which serve as mock experiments with pre-defined material parameters and boundary conditions, in vivo-like pressure-radius data sets are generated. The mechanical properties of the in silico arteries are then determined using the proposed parameter identification method. By comparing the identified and the pre-defined parameters, the identification method is quantitatively validated. The parameters for the radius of the stress-free state and the material constant associated with elastin show high agreement in case of healthy arteries. Larger differences are obtained for the material constants associated with collagen, and the largest discrepancy occurs for the in situ axial prestretch. For arteries with a pathologically small elastin content, incorrect parameters are identified but the presence of a diseased artery is revealed by the parameter identification method. Furthermore, the identified parameters are used in the constitutive membrane model to predict the stress state of the artery in question. The stress state is thereby decomposed into an isotropic and an anisotropic component which are primarily associated with the elastin dominated matrix and the collagen fibers, respectively. In order to assess the accuracy of the predicted stress, it is compared to the known stress state of the in silico arteries.  The comparison of the predicted and the in silico decomposed stress states show a close agreement for arteries exhibiting a low transmural stress gradient. With increasing transmural stress gradient the agreement deteriorates. The proposed in vivo parameter identification method is capable of identifying adequate parameters and predicting the decomposed stress state reasonably well for healthy human abdominal aortas from in vivo-like data. / In diesem Lizentiat der Ingenieurwissenschaften wird eine Methode zur Identifikation der mechanischen Eigenschaften von Arterien in vivo vorgestellt. Die mechanischen Eigenschaften einer Arterie sind mit der Ausbildung kardiovaskulärer Krankheiten verknüpft und deren Identifikation hat daher das Potenzial die Diagnose, die Behandlung und die Überwachung dieser Krankheiten zu verbessern. Basierend auf klinisch möglichen Messungen, die üblicherweise auf ein zeitaufgelöstes Druck-Radiussignal limitiert sind, werden sechs repräsentative Parameter durch Lösen eines Minimierungsproblems berechnet. Die sechs Parameter sind dabei die Eingangsparameter des zur Hilfe gezogenen konstitutiven Schalenmodells welches eine Arterie als eine homogene, inkompressible, restspannungsfreie und dünnwandige Röhre beschreibt. Weiterhin wird angenommen, dass die Arterienwand aus einer elastindominierten Matrix mit eingebetteten Kollagenfasern besteht. Um die in vivo Parameteridentifikationsmethode zu validieren, werden in silico Arterien in Form von Finite Elemente Modellen erstellt. Diese in silico Arterien beruhen auf publizierten Materialparametern der menschlichen Abdominalaorta und dienen als Pseudoexperimente mit vordefinierten mechanischen Eigenschaften und Randbedingungen. Mit diesen Arterien werden in vivo-ähnliche Druck-Radiussignale erstellt und anschliesend werden ihre mechanischen Eigenschaften mit Hilfe der Parameteridentifikationsmethode bestimmt. Der Vergleich der identifizierten und der vordefinierten Parameter ermöglicht die quantitative Validierung der Methode. Die Parameter des spannungsfreien Radius und der Materialkonstanten für Elastin weisen hohe Übereinstummung im Falle gesunder Arterien auf. Die Abweichung der Materialkonstanten für Kollagen sind etwas gröser und der gröste Unterschied tritt beim axialen in situ Stretch auf. Für Arterien mit einem pathologisch geringen Elastinbestandteil werden falsche Parameter identifiziert, wobei die Parameteridentifikationsmethode eine krankhafte Arterie offenlegt. Weiterhin werden mit Hilfe der identifizierten Parameter und des konstitutiven Schalenmodells der Spannungszustand in der Arterienwand berechnet. Dieser ist dabei aufgeteilt in einen isotropen und einen anisotropen Anteil. Der isotrope Anteil wird mit der elastindomierten Matrix und der anisotrope Anteil mit den Kollagenfasern verknüpft. Um die Genauigkeit des berechneten Spannungszustandes beurteilen zu können, wird dieser mit dem Zustand in den in silico Arterien verglichen. Im Fall von Arterien, die einen geringen transmuralen Spannungsgradienten aufweisen, entspricht der berechnete Spannungszustand dem in silico Zustand. Mit zunehmendem transmuralen Spannungsgradienten lässt die Übereinstimmung nach. Für die gesunde menschliche Abdominalaorta ist die entwickelte in vivo Parameteridentifikationsmethode in der Lage, basierend auf in vivo-ähnlichen Messsignalen, adäquate Parameter zu identifizieren und einen zufriedenstellenden Spannungszustand zu berechnen. / I denna licentiatavhandling föreslås en metod för att identifiera mekaniska egenskaper hos artärer in vivo. De mekaniska egenskaperna är kopplade till utvecklingen av hjärt-kärlsjukdomar, och möjligheten att identifiera dessa egenskaper skulle således kunna underlätta diagnostisering, behandling och uppföljning av dessa sjukdomar. Den förslagna metoden använder kliniskt mätbara tryck-radie-signaler och löser ett minimeringsproblem för att bestämma sex parametrar som beskriver kärlets mekaniska egenskaper. Artären modelleras som ett homogent, inkompressibelt och spänningsfritt tunnväggigt rör där kärlväggen utgörs av en elastindominerad matris armerad med inbäddade kollagenfibrer. För att validera parameteridentifieringen skapas en uppsättning representativa, virtuella artärer med hjälp av finita element. Dessa in silico-artärer baseras på publicerade data för mänsklig bukaorta och används för att generera fiktiva tryckradie-signaler vilka sedan matas in i den förslagna modellen. Genom att parametrar och randvillkor för in silico-artärerna är kända fungerar dessa som en kontroll mot vilka resultatet från parameteridentifieringen kan jämföras. Parametrarna som beskriver den icke trycksatta radien och den elastindominerade matrisen visar god överensstämmelse med de in silico-artärerna för friska kärl. Större diskrepans erhålls för de parametrar som associeras med kollagenet, och den största avvikelsen erhålls för den parameter som beskriver den axiella försträckningen. För artärer med patologiskt lågt elastininnehåll identifieras felaktiga parametrar, men resultatet avslöjar ändå tydligt en sjuk artär. De identifierade parametrarna har också använts för att jämföra spänningstillst åndet i membranmodellen och in silico-artäreren. Spänningstillståndet har delats upp i en isotrop och en anisotrop komponent svarande mot, i huvudsak, den elastindominerade matrisen samt kollagenfibrerna. Resultatet visar en mycket god överensstämmelse för bägge komponenterna hos in silico-artärer med låg spänningsgradient genom väggen. Med ökande spänningsgradient försämras dock överensstämmelsen. Resultatet visar att den förslagna metoden är kapabel att identifiera adekvata parametrar och att förutsäga spänningskomponenterna i en frisk aorta.

This report is a bachelor thesis at Mälardalens University in Eskilstuna on the behalf of Scandinavian pile Driving AB in Sala.Scandinavian pile Driving AB is a relatively small company with high competitiveness that develops and manufactures drilling rigs and foundation mast in its factory in Sala.This report has investigated the development possibilities of Scandinavian Pile Driving AB's machine MD40, which is a smaller drilling rig which is usually used in smaller and special drilling operations. Where the company asks to find out what requirements the market demands and design suggestions on how their new machine can be designed.The work process in this report has strived to follow the six phases of the product development process presented in the book "Product Design and Development" by Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D. Eppinger up to and including Phase 3. Thereby, the work has completed market research in the form of benchmarking of competing companies drilling rigs and interviewing users of the MD40 drilling rig.With this reason, the work could have resulted in 11 concepts where one of the concepts has been transferred to a 3D CAD model with associated drawings. The goal of development has been to minimize the total volumes of the machine, maximize mobility and space controlsystem and make it as stable as possible. / Den här rapportenär ett examensarbete för högskoleexamen på grundnivå, det vill säga 15 hp på 50 procent arbetstakt. Arbetet görs vidMälardalens högskola i Eskilstuna mot Scandinavian pile Driving AB i Sala. Scandinavianpile Driving AB är relativt litet företag med hög konkurrenskraftighetsom utvecklar och tillverkar borriggar och borrmaster i sin fabrik i Sala. Denna rapport har undersök utvecklingsmöjligheter av Scandinavian pile Driving AB ́s maskin MD40 somär mindre borriggsomvanligen används vid mindre och speciella borrningsarbeten. Därföretaget efterfrågaratt ta reda på vilkakrav som marknaden efterfrågar och designförslag på hur deras nya maskin kan vara utformad.Arbetsprocessen hos denna rapport har strävat att följa den produktutvecklingsprocessens sex faser som presenteras i boken ”Product Design and Develepmonent” av Karl T. Ulrich och Steven D. Eppingersfram till och med fas 3. Där med har arbetet fullföljt en marknadsundersökningi form av benchmarking av konkurrerande företags borriggar och intervju med användare av MD40 borrigg.Med den grunden kunde arbetet resulterat i 11 stycket konceptdär ett av de koncepten har blivit överfört till en 3D CAD-modell med till hörande ritningar. Där målet av utvecklingen har varit att minimeraden totala volymen hos maskinen,maximera mobilitetochutrymme regleringssystemoch göra den så stabil som möjligt.

The company Falcken Forshaga are manufacturing lifting tools for the steel, paper and concrete industry. The company wants a lifting tool for L-supports which they want to be able to sell to the concrete industry. The reason for this is that todays ways of lifting and rotation of the supports are done by slings which are time consuming to use because the process is done in multiple steps. The reason why the supports are rotated is because they are casted lying down and are transported standing up which means that the supports needs to be lifted and then rotated. The purpose of this project is to simplify the process between casting and transport as well as learn to work on a project at a company. The goal of the work is to design a lifting tool which follows the requirements set by Falcken for the lifting tool and so it can gain CE-mark in the future. To design a lifting tool the product development process was used as it best fits this project. The work started with status analysis to be able to study the steps which occur in the process today from casting to transport. This is today made possible in three steps lift, rotation and movement to make it ready for transportation. A project plan was developed where the project was divided into different parts with goals to always have something to work against which brings the work forward. A risk analysis over the project was constructed at the beginning to analyze potential risks with the aim to minimize them. The biggest risk that was analyzed was that the project will become delayed, to counter this the project plan needs to be up to date as well as to get help if in need. The next step in the process is to list all the specifications and requests from Falcken and summarize them to be able to generate concepts. A second risk analysis was made to analyze the potential risks with or around the lifting tool during lift where the biggest risks is those who involve people getting injured and are the most important to minimize. To generate the concepts the 6-3-5-method was used and resulted in five different concepts which was analyzed further and filtered through an elimination matrix where the best concept was selected. The concept that was chosen and was designed in Autodesk Inventor was a support arm lift which locks in the sides of the L-support and has beams which run along the sides of the support and in underneath the lower edge of the support with plates. The tool is designed to lift in front of the center of gravity of the support which means that when the support is lifted the whole thing will rotate by itself which means that the steps from casting to transport will be done in one step instead of three. To ensure the strength of the construction it is calculated against safety factor of three as well as it is controlled with a FEM-analyze in Creo parametric 5 and inventor 2019 on details with are too complicated to calculate by hand. The tool which was designed meets all the requirement that was set but to achieve a tool which is sellable and is CE-marked more risks must be analyzed according to SS-EN ISO 12100:2010 and its life span has to be calculated via fatigue calculations as well as it must be manufactured and tested.

Optimering av prestanda görs på FEM ½” koppling på Parker Hannifin AB med hjälp av finita element analyser (FEA). De kritiska komponenterna som är styrningen, kulhållaren och nippelhuset är i fokus. En noggrannare materialanalys genomförs för att få mer verklighetbaserande materialdata på kopplingen.  Hela nippelhuset antas härdas efter varit i kontakt med företaget som utför härdningen på komponenten. För att få mer information om materialdata utförs statiska trycktester på en koppling. De uppmätta töjningarna från testerna jämförs med töjningarna i simuleringarna. Sträckgränsen och hårdnadskoefficienten på styrningen och kulhållaren kan justeras något från testerna men resultatet har flera osäkerheter.  Antalet kulor i kopplingen mellan 15 och 12 kulor undersöks efter önskemål från företaget. Analyser om hur en härdning påverkar styrningen görs samt hur nippelhuset påverkas av en ythärdning i form av sätthärdning. Vid härdning av styrningen uppkom de minsta deformationerna och spänningarna. Kulhållaren visade tydligt på mindre deformationer och spänningar om antalet kulor minskas från 15 till 12 kulor i kopplingen. För att minska kulintrycket på nippelhuset rekommenderas att ythärda komponenten med en 27 % hårdare yta än den nuvarande. På grund av uppskattade värden på materialdata på ythärdningen behöver mer information införskaffas. Detta för att kunna avgöra vilken tjocklek på ytans härdning som krävs för 12 kulor i kopplingen. / Optimizing the burst pressure with finite element analysis is done on the FEM ½” coupling at Parker Hannifin AB. The critical components which is the ball cage, guide and plug housing are in focus. A more accurate material analysis is done to make a more real-based data of the material in the coupling.   After being in contact with the company that performs the hardening of the component, the entire plug housing is assumed to be hardened. For more information about material data, static pressure test is performed on a coupling. The measured strains from the tests are compared to the strains in the simulations. The tensile strength and hardness coefficient on the guide and ball cage can be adjusted slightly from the tests, but the result has several uncertainties.  The number of balls can be reduced, numbers of balls between 15 and 12 are investigated at request from the company. Analysis of how hardening of the material for the guide is done and hardening of the surface for the plug housing.  The smallest deformation occurs when hardening the guide. The ball cage clearly demonstrated minor deformations and stresses as the number of balls is reduced from 15 to 12 balls in the coupling. To reduce the burst pressure on the plug housing, it is recommended to harden the surface with a 27 % harder surface than the current. Due to estimated values of material data on hardened surface, more information is needed to determine the thickness needed on the surface of the hardening when having 12 balls in the coupling.