Chainless Bicycle

Case Western Reserve University

The next course in the sequence after EMAE160 was EMAE260 Design and Manufacturing I. I took this course in the fall of 2020, and with a group of my peers, was tasked to design a drive system for a bicycle that would have no chain connection, no hydraulic elements, or electric propulsion. The design was also required to be safe and easy to mount onto a standard bicycle.

We ultimately decided that a geared driveshaft system would satisfy these requirements because it was light, compact, and relatively easy to manufacture. As the lead CAD designer , I completed the majority of the design in SolidWorks. As a part of my CAD responsibilities, I determined the overall gear ratio and the gear ratio for each of the three geared interfaces. I also considered DFM and DFA (Design for Manufacturability/Assembly) when designing each of the components.