MINI PROJECT

FEM ANALYSIS OF SCISSOR

JACK
By

NISHA SINGH
(Registration No 2015CC11)
MTech I Semester (Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing)

A Mini Project report submitted

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the course of

FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Submitted to

Dr Mukul Shukla
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT)

Allahabad, UP, India, 211004
December 11, 2015

Fem Analysis Of Scissor Jack

DECLARATION

I (NISHA SINGH) hereby declare that this project report is wholly my own work and has
not been submitted anywhere else for academic credit, either by myself or another person.
I understand what plagiarism implies and declare that this report embodies my own ideas,
words, phrases, arguments, graphics, figures, results and organization except where
reference is explicitly made to another work.
I understand further that any unethical academic behaviour, which includes plagiarism, is
seen in a serious light by MNNIT Allahabad and is punishable by disciplinary action as
stipulated by the institutes rules and regulations.

Name Nisha Singh

Regtn. No: 2015CC11
Signature:.................................
Date: 11-Dec-2015

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge with appreciation the numerous and valuable comments,

suggestions and contribution made by Dr Mukul Shukla. I also acknowledge the help and
consultation provided by Nivedika who gave me compiling this project.

I would also like to acknowledge the useful resources of the MNNIT Central Library or
Ansys help centre.

(Nisha Singh)

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ABSTRACT
It is a numerical method for solving problems of engineering and mathematical physics. It
is based on the idea of dividing a complicated object into small and manageable pieces. In
this report I had study on analysis on scissor jack. From the early 1940s to the present,
enormous advances have been made in the application of the FEM to solve complicated
engineering problems. At present FEM/FEA is the most widely applied computer
simulation method in engineering.
In this report a study on scissor jack of structural steel is presented. A Scissor jack is a
portable device consisting of a screw mechanism used to raise or lower the load. Proper
size, strength and stability are essential requirements for the design of the screw jack from
safety consideration.
Scissor jacks are simple mechanisms used to drive large loads short distances. The power
screw design of a common scissor jack reduces the amount of force required by the user to
drive the mechanism. Most scissor jacks are similar in design, consisting of four main
members driven by a power screw. In this report, a unique design of a scissor jack is
proposed which is very easy to manufacture. Each member, including the power screw
sleeves, is made of the common c-shape.
Numerical analysis of the stress levels occurring in the scissor jack. Model of scissor jack
was prepared in an environment Catia V5R20. A simplified geometry for numerical
calculation imported into the program Ansys workbench 15.0, in which the analysis was
performed. FEM analysis was performed for the case when the scissor jack was at
maximum lift height. Level occurring stresses were compared with respect to the yield
strength and tensile strength. The study also shows the level of displacements occurring
under maximum load of the system. The results of numerical calculations have provided
the necessary information concerning the degree of effort of mechanism. With the FEM
analysis it was possible to determine the critical zones in the scissor jack.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION....................................................................................................................1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................2
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................3

1: INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................7
1.1.

Introduction ..........................................................................................7

1.2.

Applications .........................................................................................8

2: TECHNICAL DETAILS................................................................................................9
2.1. Introduction..............................................................................................9
2.2. Project background....................................................................................11

3: MODELING OF SCISSOR JACK..................................................................................12

4: FEM MODELING ..........................................................................................................13

5: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS............................................................................18

6:
CONCLUSIONS..............................................................................................................19
6.1. Conclusions...............................................................................................19
6.2. Future Directions .......................................................................................19

REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................2
0

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Fem Analysis Of Scissor Jack

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1-1: CATIA design of scissor jack..... ..7

Figure 3-1: Catia model of scissor jack...............................................................................12

Figure 3-2: Force application on ansys model.....................................................................12
Figure 4-1: Meshimg...........................................................................................................13
Figure 4-2 total deformation.................................................................................................14

Figure 4-3 directional deformation......................................................................................14

Figure 4-4 equivalent elastic strain.......................................................................................15

Figure 4-5 Equivalent von mises stress...............................................................................15

Figure 4-6 safety factor against maximum equivalent stresses...........................................16
Figure 4-7 safety factor against maximum shear stresses...................................................16
Figure 4-8 safety factor against maximum tensile stresses.................................................17

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2-1: Structural Steel Composition........................................................................................
Table 3-1: Structural Steel Isotropic Elasticity..............................................................................

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.1General Remarks
Automobile jacks are used to lift the vehicle at certain level from the earth surface. These
jacks are readily available in the market for different tonnage capacities. Among all of
them, the scissors jack is mainly used to lift the medium weight vehicles. A typical
example of scissor jack as shown in Fig1.

Figure 1-1: CATIA design of scissor jack

The jack consists of base plate, bottom and top bracket, power screw, nuts, links, crank etc.
The channel shaped bottom bracket is centrally fixed on the base plate either welding or
joined by bolt and nut. Two links are connected; one on each end of bottom bracket, other
end of the links is joined with two nuts. Also, the top side of two links is tied with nuts and
top bracket.
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Fem Analysis Of Scissor Jack

The four links are joined by link pins in the holes of nuts and brackets. The screw rod engaged
with nuts. When screw is rotated the nuts are moved either towards of the centre or away from
the centre. When the jack is in top position, the distance between the nuts are minimum, where
as in the jack in bottom position the distance is maximum. The scissor jack is a symmetrical
object. So all the loads are equally distributed in each side of the jack.

1.2Introduction
The purpose of this study was to develop the level of displacements occurring under
maximum load of the system and to determine the critical zones in the scissor jack.

1.3Applications
Scissor car jacks usually use mechanical advantage to allow a human to lift a vehicle by
manual force alone. The jack shown at the right is made for a modern vehicle and the
notch fits into a hard point on a unibody. Earlier versions have a platform to lift on a
vehicle's frame or axle.

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Fem Analysis Of Scissor Jack

CHAPTER 2
TECHNICAL DETAILS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.1. Introduction
The scissor jack design consists of four main lifting members, four connection members, a
power screw and a base. Four lifting members, base plate & top plate are all primarily cshapes with ideal pin connections. Lifting members, base plate & top plate have additional
details to account for the contact surfaces. The power screw is single threaded with a
collar. All members are made by structural steel. The following is a summary of the
design features for our proposed scissor jack.
Main Lifting Members:
These members are made from simple c-shapes. The web of the members is cut
out near the pin connections to allow proper service ability of the scissor jack at its
maximum and minimum heights.
The flanges of the channels are to wrap around the flanges of the sleeve members.
The lifting members are greater in length and are subjected to compression. Lifting
member flanges on the outside of the sleeve flanges is to compensate for slenderness ratio
by increasing the moment of inertia of the lifting members.
Sleeve Members:
The sleeve channel is so the flanges are subjected to tension instead of
compression. The bending moment from the power screw creates tension on the inner
edge of the sleeve and compression on the outside edge. Tension along flanges on the
inside prevents the possibility of localized bucking in the flanges from compressive forces.
Contact Members:
The members, that make contact with ground and the service load, have additional
flanges to provide a stable base for the mechanism while servicing the load. It has an
attached plate atop to provide sufficient contact area. Most scissor jacks have ridges which
lower the area of contact.

This causes stress concentrations which can damage the

underside of a car.

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The Power Screw:

The Power Screw is single threaded with a collar. The collar is assumed to be
frictionless and the power screw has been designed to be self-locking. The primary raising
method is through the power screws hook coupling which is common to most scissor
jacks. Incorporated into our proposed design is an option for a secondary raising method.
The collar on the power screw doubles as a bolt with a hexagonal head. In a situation
where the main hook coupling becomes inoperable, a standard socket wrench can be used
on the hexagonal nut to raise the mechanism.
Material composition: Material is selected structural steel.
The contents of Structural Steel are given in Table 2.1:
Table 2.1: Structural Steel Composition.
Composition
Carbon, C
Manganese, Mn

Percentage
0.15 to 0.30%
0.50 to 1.70%

Copper, Cu
Molybdenum, Mo

<0.20%
0.08 to 0.25%

Density: 7850 kg /m3

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion: 1.2*10-5 C-1
Specific Heat: 434 J kg-1 C-1
Thermal Conductivity: 60.5 W m-1 C-1
Resistivity: 1.7*10-7 ohm m
Compressive Yield Strength: 2.5*108 Pa
Tensile Yield Strength: 2.5*108 Pa
Tensile Ultimate Strength: 4.6*108 Pa
Young's Modulus: 2*1011 Pa
Poisson's Ratio: 0.3
Table 2.2: Structural Steel Isotropic Elasticity

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2.2 Project Background

Model: Top channel, bottom channel, Base and Cap modeled with shell elements and
bearing, Trunions, Base Rivet, Cap Rivet and Screw.
Loading: The point load of 2,355 kgs applied on the top surface of the cap (23210 N
applied on the top surface of cap by using rigid) after that unloading (for permanent set
analysis) the point load to 1.47 N.
Boundary Conditions: Bottom face of the Base is constrained to all the DOF and mating
parts are connected with rigid links.

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CHAPTER 3
MODELING OF SCISSOR JACK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------In CATIAV5, the power screw part file and the entire model of jack are created using
bottom-up approach. The individual components are drawn and stored in part file. The
components are brought together and assembly in assembly design workbench by applying
suitable parametric assembly constrains to them. Then the jack assembly and screw model
are converted to STP file for the purpose of analysis in ANSYS.

Figure 3-1. Catia model of scissor jack

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Fem Analysis Of Scissor Jack

Figure 3-2 Force application on ansys modelCHAPTER

FEM MODELING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The structural analysis is used to determine the displacements, stresses, strains, and forces
in structures caused by loads. The STP File model of power screw is opened in ANSYS
Workbench 15.0 environment. In Pre-processing stage, the input datas like Youngs
Modulus and Poissons ratio are given and choosing proper element for this model.
Free meshing is applied to the screw model. Boundary conditions are applied to the base of
the scissor jack. Finally, the Loads are applied axially. In post processing stage, we have
observed structural behavior of screw analyzed to get individual stresses, displacements,
etc.
Meshing is done on scissor jack model in fig 4-1

Figure 4-1 Meshimg

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The scissor jack induced total deformation is shown in Fig.4-2

Figure 4-2 total deformation

The scissor jack induced directional deformation is shown in Fig.4-3

Figure 4-3 directional deformation

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The scissor jack induced Equivalent elastic strain (von-Mises) is shown in Fig.4-4

Figure 4-4 equivalent elastic strain

The scissor jack induced Equivalent Stress (von-Mises) is shown in Fig.4-5

Figure 4-5 Equivalent von mises stress

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Maximum equivalent stresses are shown in fig.4-6

Figure 4-6 safety factor against maximum equivalent stresses

Maximum shear stresses are shown in fig 4-7

Figure 4-7 safety factor against maximum shear stresses

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Maximum tensile stresses are shown fig 4-8

Figure 4-8 safety factor against maximum tensile stresses

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CHAPTER 5
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------In FEA approach, I have chosen proper element and good meshing is done. By applying the
same load on the power screw model, thereby, the behavior of the screw is analyzed
successfully.
Force applied: - 23210N

Maximum stresses (von-mises):-6.5883*10^8Pa

Displacement:-0.00058384mm
Directional deformation:-0.00027252mm
Directional deformation is maximum on the jack screw.
As the result shows in analysis provide different factor of safety, maximum equivalent
stress, total deformation, directional deformation, shear stress, tensile stress, von mises
stress etc. on each part, which provides the direction of removing extra material, cost
reduction and better strength of this jack system.

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CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS
_________________________________________________________________________

6.1. Conclusions
This proposed design of scissor jack after its stress analysis concludes that:

This is a common jack for the variant (satisfying the product requirements).

The proposed jack has the reduced weight (by changing the manufacturability).

Designing this new jack reduces the no. of parts for simplifying the assembly
process.

Only rivet joints are induced (Removal of welding to avoid distortion).

The modeling of screw rod and scissor jack in CATIAV5 and analyzed the same model in
ANSYS WORKBENCH 15.0.From this, I has been concluding the induced stress values
and displacement values are coming closer to each other.

6.2. Future work

As a development the web part of the arms can be replaced by stiffening ribs to reduce the
overall weight. The top and base plates can be made foldable to make the unit more
compact. Permanently mounted jacks on the vehicle can be developed so that tire change
can be completely automated.

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REFERENCES
1.

Design And Analysis Of Scissor Jack, www.ijmerr.com/v4n1/ijmerr_v4n1_36.pdf

2.

Experimental

Stress

Analysis

Of

Toggle

Jack

Using

Fea

Approach

https://www.scribd.com/doc/97545909/Experimental-Stress-Analysis-of-Toggle-JackUsing-Fea-Approach
3.

Numerical Analysis Of The Stress And Displacement Level Caused By Axial Load

P=15000 N In A Car Scissor Jack Bd-02b2, www.acs.pollub.pl/pdf/v11n1/3.pdf

4.

Y. Nakasone and S. Yoshimoto, Engineering analysis with ANSYS software, 1st ed,

Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006.

5.

Joseph E.Shigley, C.R.Mischke, Mechanical engineering Design, TATA McGraw-Hill

Publishing company limited, New Delhi.

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