Adjustable Racking System

Ball Aerospace
December 2017 - May 2018

Due to proprietary information and export controls, I was unable to take any images of my project outside of Ball.

Upon completion of the custom solvent spray workstation in Ball’s paint lab, my attention was turned to the metal finish lab. This lab had an assortment of racks used to cure parts on after they had been processed in the lab. All of the racks had a relatively straight forward design. Each had a set of adjustable rails that allowed them to be used with a variety of parts and casters for ease of movement. These racks were not standardized, difficult to store, and had features that posed a potential drop risk for flight components. After studying the flaws of the existing racking systems, I began the design process of a replacement system. The main areas I focused on in my design were hardware safety, optimization for batch size, and cost reduction.

The main risk to hardware safety in the previous racking system was the mechanism used to adjust the rail height. By implementing a locking pin, I was able to completely remove the risk of the rails being knocked ajar. Using conservative estimates for potential loads, I started the stress analysis of each component. This analysis showed me that the majority of the system would have no issue supporting the required load, but I would have to take a second look at the rails. Because I choose to place a pin through the tubing of the cross rails, a stress concentration was created. I was well aware of this, but had initially chosen an incorrect gauge of tubing. Fortunately, this was a simple fix and I able to use a thicker gauge tube.

Most of the components built for Ball’s various programs are one off. They generally only build a satellite or instrument once, which can make optimization for batch sizes difficult, if not impossible. The main program that had larger production runs was the F-35 antenna suit. The batch size was constant among all antenna housings. By ensuring that the largest antenna housings could fit on a single rack, I reduced the total amount of racks that needed to be made.

While designing this system, I kept in constant contact with the weld technicians who would be fabricating the racks. By consulting them on key design decisions, I was able to reduce fabrication time on the racks and in turn reduce the total project cost.