Stress Analysis of a Shredder Blade for Cutting Waste Plastics

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mechanical Engineering Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

This paper presents a procedure for static stress analysis of a given shredder blade with three cutting edges used for cutting Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste plastics. SolidWorks was used for generating the blade geometry and shape. This procedure gives detailed steps for calculating the distributed applied cutting forces at the edge of the blade. The blade material is selected to be low carbon steel with known physical and mechanical properties. Finite Element Analysis with ANSYS is then implemented for calculating the induced stresses and strains throughout the blade structure. 3D modeling of the blade was imported to the ANSYS Finite element –type “SOLID 185” was implemented for the present stress analysis. Meshing of the 3D model has been implemented with smart mesh density (level 3) It was found from attained results that the maximum stress resulting from the applied cutting forces is well below the allowable stress of the blade material.

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