Re-Engineering a Semi-Truck Van Trailer for Increased Weight Capacity

MetCel, LLC Engineering, 2013-14

Liaison(s): Jay Hanan, Brian Reed
Advisor(s): Kash Gokli
Students(s): Madeline Goldkamp (TL-S), Ginah Han (TL-F), Lisa Lam, Alex Lammers (POM), Ryland Miller (F), Aarthi Sridhar (S)

The 2013-2014 MetCel Clinic Team reverse engineered and redesigned a semi-truck van trailer to increase its weight capacity while maintaining adherence to all safety and performance requirements. In order to identify areas for improvement, the team characterized the weight of individual components within the trailer using a Pareto analysis. The team also created finite element models to compare different design alternatives using static stress analyses. One final design was selected for physical prototyping and future testing.