In October of 2016, three students from the University of Rhode Island (URI) started working with Groov-Pin to complete their Capstone Experience.
After our junior engineer Jon Dupre presented our modeling analysis project at URI, Laeng Khoun, Tyler Kelly, and Josh Blacker chose to work with our company. Now five months into the project, the team is enjoying working together and receiving guidance from Dupre and our president, Scot Jones.
“The students are trying to get this project done in addition to all of their schoolwork and they’re really starting to make progress. It’s a big task,” said Jones.
The team comes to Groov-Pin’s facility in Smithfield, Rhode Island once per month and communicates with Dupre and Jones via a weekly conference call. “They’re really running on their own with this project,” said Dupre. “This is something new for us.”
For this project, the students will use a computer program to analyze where the stresses are on our Threaded Inserts, which can ultimately help them understand how to improve the product.
“The team and I have been learning a lot about finite element analysis and how important it is in regards to the world of fasteners,” said Kelly. Finite element analysis is a computerized method for predicting how products react to real-world forces like heat and fluid flow.
The team has been working on the analysis of pullout resistance, particularly between a base material and the Threaded Insert. Kelly said the team will create a modular design in a program called Abaqus that Groov-Pin will be able to use interchangeably for further analysis.
“Working with Groov-Pin has been a great experience. Scot and Jon have been very supportive in the project and have provided us with valuable guidance,” said Khoun. The students have also enjoyed learning that other companies are actively working on what their team has been exploring.
“If the students are successful, this will be something we can take to customers,” said Dupre. “Not a lot of people are doing finite element analysis and it’s something customers would want to see. It’s fairly new for this industry.”