This week I spent my time doing some initial hand calculations for sizing the joints that connect the two bogie uprights to one another. I created an excel spreadsheet that can be used to calculate the shear and bearing stresses that bolts and brackets would see. The excel spreadsheet can be seen in figure one.

Figure 1. Bolted Joint Calculations.

Along with this, I started hand writing out position equations for the steering mechanisms. The lower steering arm is going to be treated a four bar mechanism with a driving diad that will be connected to some kind of actuator. The upper steering arm is slightly different in its current configuration, and may require some deep redesign to optimize the linkages for a rotary input rather than the linear one used in the full scale. Tomorrow we are going to work on creating an excel document where all of the equation will be in variable form to which we can change infinitely to try to optimize the design. 

I have also been working on the bogie upright structure. The old CAD models were difficult to work with, and we have enough changes to justify develop a new design from scratch. Most of the mounting points will remain the same, however, some things will be shifted around. The current upright can be seen in figure 2.  

Figure 2. Current Development of Bogie Upright

I am so far pleased with the development of the our design. We know for a most part what we need to do, and we are beginning work to make it happen.