A design and performance improvement of a drum sander with principles of ergonomics and economics

Abstract

Laser-cut steel part often produces scrap cassia under the workpiece, and assembly welding will cause the workpiece to be poorly assembled, causing the workpiece to be weak. It is necessary to have a surface polishing process to remove scrap before welding and assembly. Therefore, this research aims to improve the design and performance of a drum sander. One of our main goals was to make the sander more ergonomic for the users, reduce processing time and worker fatigue, and be economically worthwhile. As a result, our drum sander can reduce the processing time from the conventional belt sander by 84.62%. In addition, we have evaluated the principles of ergonomics by using the Rapid Upper Limp Assessment. The evaluation score is 2, which means the process is acceptable. Moreover, the economic assessment section found that the production cost per unit was 0.046 THB, and the payback period was approximately 0.55 years.