DRI: Aidan Lehal Salman Rasheed
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The tubes (grey circular) will be welded together using a jig, and the ribs (Orange) will be welded with the same jig.
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Welding Jig
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Welding jig supporting horizontal pipe while aligning rib at designated location.
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Welding Jig supporting two tubes to create a T joint or corner once welded
MDF Mold:
Made out of MDF, slots for ribs to be placed, with hardstops at the front and back to prevent movement.
MDF does not require welding
MDF base can be reused by removing the ribs from the slots and replacing them with new ones (that fit a different panel)
MDF will have to be purchased
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8 Rib Planks (cut to length with slots)
2 Side Planks
2 Hard-stop Planks
20 Aluminum Brackets (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-2-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Double-Wide-Corner-Brace-8-Pack-12434/315016358 )
>150 3/4” Wood Screws
Impact Drill/Drill/Screwdriver
90degree Clamp/Blocks
Shims the same height as the clamp/blocks
Aluminum Extrusions Base (Current Design: 2021-06-
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30)
Based on MDF’s properties, the team was unsure if tolerances between the rib slots and alignment features would be to tight or too loose. Additionally, without a clearly defined way to secure the ribs in place while ensuring all ribs remained parallel to each other, MDF seemed like it would be less precise than required for this application. Moving back to aluminum but opting for an aluminum extrusion base would be ideal because the channels in the tubes extrusions would act as linear slides for the ribs to be aligned correctly, reducing the amount of in house machining we have to do.
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Reusable for any base/project after (no permanent deformations to the tubes)
Durable
Little machining required
Easily adjustable
Welding Welded or fastened L brackets to the ribs, ensures stiffness , and perpendicularity for the ribs
Aluminum Extrusion Cons:
More expensive than MDF
The aluminum extrusion base will be held together by the concealed corner brackets.
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The ribs would be welded to brackets, which 
The brackets are set to the desired location beforehand and tightened in place on the extrusions. Then the ribs would be either welded or fastened to the brackets.
Note: The brackets come with the hardware to attach to both the rib and the extrusion if needed.
The ribs can be welded attached to brackets at multiple bracket points, each colour represents another racket welded colored “X” represents a different row pattern of brackets to be to the aluminum extrusions below. Depending on the amount of welded brackets, aluminum extrusion crossmembers can be added or removed as needed. (e.g. the blue row indicates that each rib has 6 contact points (including ends), and the red row indicates 3 contact points (including ends), etc.).
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