Published Paper Details:

In many mechanical systems it is required to amplify the torque to operate the devices, especially in cases where the control input is in the form of hand wheel that is operated manually to either lift or lower heavy loads as in application of hoists , non-linear broaching, load positioning application, remote metering and counting. In all above systems the control force which is supplied as input is not sufficient to operate the control the mechanism and hence a torque booster is needed. The proposed mechanical torque booster applies the principle of capstan . Mechanical torque booster uses a capstan is simple mechanical amplifier-rope wound on motor driven drum slips until slack is taken up on the free end . Force needed on free end to lift the load depends on the coefficient of friction and number of turns of rope . The kinetic energy of the drum is transferred via the rope to the output shaft and thus amplified power and torque is obtained at the output shaft. The project aims at the concept development of the torque booster system , the gear train to obtain the desired motion of the drums spinning in opposite direction is attained through the system design. The components of the system will be designed using theoretical methods and the strength of the components will be validated using analysis. The components of the system will be modelled using Unigraphix Nx-8 and the analysis of the components will be carried out using Ansys workbench 16.0. The system will be manufactured and testing will be carried out to derive the performance characteristics of the torque booster. Two different materials of rope namely cotton and leather will be tested and the comparative performance evaluation will be presented in the report.