Hera Materials Projects
I’m really grateful for my time at Hera Materials. I learned a ton, got to do meaningful hands-on engineering work, and worked with a truly great team. Below is what I can share about my summer there, with plenty of smaller projects along the way.
Doctor Blade
In order to keep a consistent, 2-mm thickness of the material, we fabricated a doctor blade. This height could be adjusted for each formula. Wheels were attached to the sides to ensure a datum from the belt itself rather than the frame of the conveyor. 80-20 was taped to the front to act as a temporary weight, preventing any deviation from 2-mm.
It was a super quick and dirty way to validate that additional spreading after dispensing creates a more even layer.
Deposition Box
Utilizing Delrin machined by CNC and building on a previous prototype, the deposition box received and accumulated the material, dispensing it evenly at a rate controlled by an adjustable acrylic front plate.
Drying system
This drying system was made to combine the drying power of air and infrared light. I drilled holes in the top using a vertical mill to ensure that the fan, when placed above, could circulate air to the sample.
Whole system
The whole system at work! We had a little bit of trouble getting it started, as in theory the system would run continuously. This was a great test of each part in series, resulting with the largest sheet of material to date.
Table
We needed a table for the reactors to sit on, so rather than buying one I decided to make out out of scrap wood, saving time, money, and materials!