For my senior design project at UT, I was tasked to build a dummy server rack with a controllable center of gravity for DELL, so they can run vibration and drop tests on a server frame without destroying actual servers. I learned about the lifetime of the design process, how to work with my teammates and communicate with clients, and SOLIDWORKS design. This is one of the first projects in which I followed a rigorous design guideline (idea generation, decision matrix, design, testing) and used a Gantt chart.
Full model of adjustable CoM rack.
Section view of how the weights are attached to the rack.
Manufacturing drawing of the full rack assembly.
Rough center-of-mass validation testing using sample parts manufactured at UT Austin.
Sample parts used for mass validation and clearance testing.
Stress concentrations of the rack under a full load.
Fully manufactured pieces delivered to Dell.
