K-TRON Shear Eliminator

Airlock systems are used to move material between areas with different pressure and minimize the change in pressure when material is moved.Airlock's have a tendency to cause shear in the materials they move.K-Tron Salina has designed an airlock system and shear protector to address the problems of the airlock.K-Tron's system is not totally effective.Using our knowledge of the design process and skills learned from K-State Salina, we attempted to create a system capable of eliminating shear from the airlock system and reduce the burden on the customers.Over the course of the project, we designed a polypropylene piece to eliminate shear.Using 3D modeling and molding, we created a prototype of the part.We conducted tests using a prototype and determined that it reduced shear in some materials but didn't reduce shear in all materials.