Hydraulic rescue tool set to save lives

5 November, 2013

Hydraulic rescue tool set to save lives

Saving lives on New Zealand roads is the goal for University of Waikato mechanical engineering student Andrew Gerbich. His hydraulic rescue tool is designed as an alternative to the commonly known ‘Jaws of Life’.

Rather than cutting through the vehicle, Andrew’s Car Spreader is designed to straighten bent steel back to its original shape.

“Car versus object impacts tend to bend the vehicle around a roadside installation such as a power pole, leaving the driver and any passengers trapped inside. The current method of getting passengers out is to use hydraulically powered cutters and spreaders (the Jaws of Life) to disassemble the car's structure,” says Andrew.

“While this method works, it can be dangerous to both the passengers and the rescue team. Another problem is that modern cars are made from stronger steels and can contain high current electrical cabling and airbag propellant tanks which can make it unsafe for first responders to cut a car apart.”

Andrew, a former Waiuku College student, began with a machine concept from Pukekohe company Belcher Industries. Along with workshop space, the company also provided supervision from Engineering Manager Kael Roberts, who was a co-supervisor of the project alongside Waikato University’s engineering lecturer Dr Rob Torrens.

With a concept in mind, Andrew quickly moved into the design phase, during which stress calculations were completed in parallel with a SolidWorks model to find required dimensions and material strengths.

When it came to putting the tool together, Andrew fabricated and welded the device in the Belcher Industries workshop, with guidance from the company’s tradesmen and managers.

“The heart of the machine is a hydraulic ram capable of a 10 tonne retracting force. The frame was profile cut from G350 Mild Steel and is arranged around the ram with adjustability to suit a range of small vehicles.”

Following pre-testing with beams of steel, they then tested the spreader on a Ford Telstar sedan that had recently been in a side-impact collision.

“The machine was fixed to the side of the vehicle as it would be used in service and powered by Belcher’s mobile hydraulic power pack, which contracted the ram. The force pushed the left and right pillars backward, whilst pulling the centre of the car outward as expected.”

Andrew says that testing showed that the pressure required to bend the car was significantly lower than the limits of the machine, which indicates that future prototypes could be produced using smaller components and lighter materials to increase usability.

The prototype was just one of the many designs on show at last month’s Carter Holt Harvey Pulp & Paper Engineering Design Show held at Waikato University.

ends

© Scoop Media