Section Modulus calculation and optimization

Objective: Use the Section from your Hood design and calculate the section modulus using the formula S = I/y

S = Section Modulus

I = Moment of Inertia

Y = distance between the neutral axis and the extreme end of the object

Come up with a new section that has improved the section modulus of the previous section and mention what change you made that has increased the strength.

Solution:

Section modulus indicates the strength of the material. The larger the section modulus, the stronger the material will be.

I took the section of the hood that I designed and calculated its section modulus as shown below(All values are approximate):

The image show below is of the hood that I designed.

Y = 242 mm

I = 1.463

S = I/y = 1.463/242 = .0060 mm^3

For the new model shown below,

S = 2/242 = .0083 mm^3

In order to increase section modulus, I have increased the distance between the hood inner panel and outer panel. But the increase in section is not too large, hence the difference between older and newer section modulus is not large. If we increase it by a significant value within given limits, we can increase the moment of inertia, and hence the section modulus.