Objectives of the Study

The main thrust of this study is to simulate the stress analysis in HDPE shredder

blade with different types of material and geometry.

Specifically, this study aims to:

1. Design a HDPE plastic shredder blade considering the following:

1.1 Material Specification

1.2 Blade Geometry

2. Simulate and analyze the stress distribution found on the tip of cutter during operation

such as:

2.1 Stress

2.1.1 Von-Mises Stress

2.1.2 Normal Stress

2.1.3 Shear Stress

2.2 Strain

2.2.1 Normal Strain

2.2.2 Shear Strain

2.2.3 Thermal Strain

2.2.4 Total Deformation

2.3 Fatigue

2.3.1 Life

3. To evaluate the appropriate material and geometry of shredder blade in cutting High

Density Polyethylene Plastic under boundary and loading condition in terms of:
 3.1 Material Specification

3.1.1 Alloy Carbon Steel

3.1.2 Stainless Steel

3.1.3 Tungsten Carbide

3.2 Force to be applied on the cutting fingers

3.3 Blade Geometry

3.3.1 Granulator type

3.3.2 Hook Geometry

3.3.3 S Geometry

Scope and Limitation of the study

The general intent of this study is to simulate and analyze the stress analysis in

shredder blade during its operation. The different geometry to be used in the study will

be a granulator type, hook shape and s shape type of shredder blade considering the

material specification. The material to be used in each geometry will be Alloy Carbon

Steel, Tungsten Carbide, and Stainless Steel.

In this study, the different geometry of the shredder blade will be designed in

SolidWorks 3D. Moreover, SolidWorks Simulation will be used for the simulation of the

study.

The study will also include the simulation and analysis of the stresses found in

the shredder blade and evaluation of stress, strain and fatigue in the shredder blade

caused by boundary and loading conditions such as external force and thermal

condition. The external force to be applied in the shredder blade will vary depending on

the capacity of the hopper. The external force to be applied will be the maximum force
that the shredder blade may encounter during operation. In order to ensure that the

material can handle the loadings, the yield strength of the material shall be higher than

the maximum stress that may occur. The yield strength of the material and the yield

stress found in the simulation will be compared and evaluated in the form of a table.

The geometries of the shredder blade to be used in the study will be a granulator

type, a hook shape and s shape type of shredder blade. Each geometry will be prior to

three materials having different yield strength. However, this study will only cover the

simulation of stress analysis in the shredder blade in cutting High-Density Polyethylene

plastic.

RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE

This chapter presents the research design and procedure to be employed for the

stress analysis in HDPE shredder blade considering different types of material and

geometry that serves as a guideline in this study.

Research Design

The shredder blade design will be simulated and analyzed in this stage through

simulation. SolidWorks will be used for designing the shredder blade as well as for the

simulation and evaluation of the design performance.

The design phase will cover the establishment of the varying conditions to

evaluate the effect on the design performance. The following are the conditions needed

in the design evaluation:

1. Three design options of shredder blade will be generated in Solidworks 3D

software.
 2. The first design option will be a granulator type shredder blade which compose

of cutting knives attached to the cutting fingers. This is prior to single shaft arrangement

of shredder. The second one is the hook type shape and the other one is the s shape

type of shredder blade both are prior to double shaft arrangement.

3. The material to be used in each geometry will be aluminum alloy, stainless

steel, and tungsten carbide which are based on ASTM standards.

Simulation Protocol

The evaluation of shredder blade stress analysis will be done through the use of

SolidWorks both for the design and simulation.

SolidWorks

In this study, the software will be used in designing the suitable shredder

blade considering the given material specifications, system components, safety

mechanism, independent variables and the necessary assumptions that are set. In

order to come up with the desired design, the general design will be constructed in

the basis of ASTM standards. Same software will be used to simulate the stress

analysis in the shredder blade. Upon the simulation, analysis and evaluation will be

done considering the given material specifications, system components, safety

mechanism, independent variables and the necessary assumptions that are set.

Model Assumption and Simplifications

To evaluate the stress analysis of the shredder blade, several assumptions and

simplifications will be taken into account while developing the model:

 1. The stresses acting on each part of the blade are varying depending on the

placement of boundary condition.

2. The shaft is the fixed constraint during the simulation.

The boundary conditions applied during the stress distribution for the analysis

across the shredder blade are force and material specifications. This will be simulated

and analyzed through the finite element solver in SolidWorks.

Data Collection

The methods of determining various parameters involved in evaluating and

methods of recording and analyzing the parameters involved in the stress analysis of

the shredder blade with different types material and geometry will be discussed.

Methods of Determining and Analyzing of Various Parameters

This section comprises the methods in determining the stresses,

strains and the effect of fatigue in a shredder blade caused by the input internal

pressure to be applied in the system. In order to solve this problems, finite element

analysis provide various method in analyzing and evaluating the system. In this study,

mesh generation will be applied wherein the shredder blade can be controlled in terms

of elements size. The shredder blade will be subdivided into fine sizes of about 2 mm

for more accurate result of the process. Each individual element will be analyzed in

order to predict the accurate values of the required parameters such as:

1. Stress

The stress result will be shown by the system in terms of color

contour plot of the minimum stress point to the maximum stress point found in the

system. These values are in terms of MPa and represented by its designated color.
The color of the result is directly proportional to the values of the stress point in the

system wherein the color blue represents the minimum stress produced in the

system due to the applied boundary and loading conditions. On the contrary, as the

color reddens the value of the stress also increases; the maximum stress produced

is also represented by the color red.

a. Normal Stress

To determine the normal stress using finite element analysis, the system

will be applied with an external force perpendicular to the face of the cutting

finger. The perpendicular reaction at the axis of the system will be calculated

through the use of finite element analysis software.

b. Shear Stress

For the determination of the shear stress using finite element analysis, the

system will be applied with an external force perpendicular to the face of the

cutting finger. The tangential reaction at the plane of the system will be

calculated through the use of finite element analysis software.

c. Equivalent Von Misses

In determining the equivalent stress using finite element analysis, the

system will be applied with an external force perpendicular to the face of the

finger. The stress at which the material begins to deform or the yielding strength

of the material will be calculated using the finite element analysis software.

2. Strain

The strain result will be shown by the system in terms of color contour plot

of the minimum strain to the maximum strain found in the system. These values
are in terms of millimeter and represented by its designated color. The color of

the result is directly proportional to the values of the strain point in the system

wherein the color blue represents the minimum strain developed in the system

due to the applied boundary and loading conditions. On the contrary, as the color

reddens the value of the strain also increases; the maximum strain developed is

also represented by the color red.

a. Normal Strain

To ascertain the normal strain using finite element analysis, the system

will be applied with an external force perpendicular to the face of the cutting

finger. The perpendicular deformation at the axis of the system will be

calculated through the utilization of finite element analysis software.

b. Shear Strain

To determine shear strain using finite element analysis, the face of the

cutting finger will be applied with an external force perpendicular to the face of

the cutting finger. The tangential deformation at the plane of the system will be

calculated through the use of finite element analysis software.

c. Thermal Strain

To determine thermal strain using finite element analysis, the shredder

blade will be applied with a thermal condition to the whole shredder blade. The

thermal expansion of the system will be calculated through the use of finite

element analysis software.

 d. Total Deformation

The total deformation of the system caused by the applied boundary

loadings and conditions will be calculated through the use of finite element

analysis software.

3. Fatigue

In order to determine the fatigue analysis of shredder blade using finite element

analysis, the designed system will be subjected to fatigue analysis tool of the finite

element analysis software. For this tool, there are various conditions that needs to be

satisfied in order to determine the fatigue of the system. First, the materials to be used

must have S-N curve; a plot where the magnitude of an alternating stress versus the

number of cycles to a given material needed for the comparison of the actual simulation

result. Second is the configuration of stress component to be used. In this study, the

system will base its fatigue analysis result on the von mises stress which is the overall

stress at each element. Another thing to consider is the mean stress theory to be used.

In this study, the mean stress theory that will be used for ductile material is the

Goodman theory while the Soderberg theory will be used for brittle materials. After the

completion of requirements, the system will predict the fatigue of the designed pressure

vessel. The system will acquire the fatigue analysis result of the system in terms of:

a. Life

The fatigue analysis tool will provide the fatigue life of the system. The

result for the fatigue life will be in terms of the minimum number of stress cycles

before damage occurs in the system. This result will display the color contour plot
 for the available life of the fatigue analysis. The color contour of red to blue will

show the result of red being the minimum number of stress cycle where damage will

occur at a certain point or area in the system while blue being the maximum stress

cycle of the system.

Development of Simulation Model

As the time progresses, the advancement of modern technology greatly

increases. Modern engineering applications for the simulation of a physical

phenomenon using the Finite Element Analysis method are developed for faster

optimization and better design of a product. SOLIDWORKS Simulation is a Finite

Element Analysis Software that will be used in this study to simulate the stress analysis

in a shredder blade. The results that will be obtained from the finite element analysis

software will be compared in terms of the geometry and material of the cutter in order to

determine the most appropriate design in shredding High-Density Polyethylene Plastic.

These data will be in the form of tabular form for the comparison of each shredder

geometry with variation of different material. The simulation results will also be

presented in a form of color contour bar for the representation of the stress, strain and

fatigue for every point in the shredder blade. It will also be presented in a graphical form

for the relationship of the behavior of these results.