The purpose of this project is to design a machine that tests the properties of materials inside of a very volatile environment.� The National High Magnetic Laboratory and the group�s sponsor, Dr. Ke Han, would like this machine to be able to work inside a magnetic field of 20 Telsa, a temperature of 4.2 Kelvin, and the machine must fit inside a cylinder that has a diameter of 150 millimeters.� The machine must also be able to exert both a compressive force and a tensile force on the sample it is testing.� Right now Dr. Han has a machine that can only create a tensile force on a sample.� The group used this old machine as a basis for the design of the new machine.� The group came up with three design ideas and, through the use of a decision matrix, chose the idea that required the least amount of change to the old machine while still accomplishing all of the objectives set for the new machine.� Using this new design template, the group made three-dimensional drawings of the new design using Autodesk Inventor 2008 and assembled it in the program.� In order to prove to Dr. Han that the new machine would not fail during use, the group again used Inventor to perform stress tests on the new parts.� The tests showed that the new parts could stand up to the forces required and the next step for the group will be building the new machine.� The group built two of the parts after encountering a few major problems with the project and was able to prove the concept of the new machine.� They were able to prove the machine would input tensile and compressive stress on the sample and, when completed, the machine will do as it was designed.
