ME 4233/6233 Fundamentals of FEA

Mitigating the Effects of Knife Blade Misuse

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Description

Pocket knives are operated outside of manufacturer recommendations on a regular basis. Misuse sometimes leads to blade fracture. This study was completed to determine if a passive design change or end-user correction exists that allows for a knife to be misused, without resulting in blade fracture. Simply, the study aimed to determine if the maximum stress could be mitigated. A finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted that imitated real-world twisting and prying effects on the blade of a Gerber Paraframe Mini – fine edge. It was suggested that prying more than 0.75 in away from the tip and twisting more than 0.375 in away from the tip could salvage the blade before fracture. The blade material was changed from 420 stainless steel to D2 tool steel. This offered very little mitigation and was only suggested for very specific applications.

Disciplines

Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Mitigating the Effects of Knife Blade Misuse

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