Customer Problem:
Our customer required an improved Collective Protection Equipment System to protect those in warzone areas against respiratory exposure to toxic industrial compounds and chemical warfare agents. The goal was to improve the producibility and reduce the weight of the recirculation filter assembly systems while reducing overall cost.
What INTUITIVE did:
INTUITIVE successfully completed design studies to identify potential cost and weight savings for the Recirculation Filter Assembly and identify lower cost alternate sources for the Recirculation Filter Motor. A separate study also identified design improvements to the Motor Blower to include reduced Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), weight, temperature rise of air, and life cycle costs. We conducted feasibility studies for an improved Maintenance Kit that would make it possible to retrofit existing motor blowers with improved capabilities.
Impact:
The study resulted successfully in recommended alternatives for reducing motor weight and cost. After isolating subcomponents of the motor, which contributed most to cost and weight, alternative design solutions were investigated. A best value motor was recommended to replace the existing motor resulting in a 20% reduction in cost and 19% reduction in weight in addition to numerous design improvements. The second study also resulted in successful conclusions with most criteria met for the motor blower improvements: reduction in MBTF of 36, 50% reduction in temperature risk of air, and 36 times savings in life cycle cost.