Agustín de Betancourt’s plunger lockAnalysis of its construction through computer-aided engineering

  1. Rojas-Sola, J. I. 1
  2. de la Morena-de la Fuente, E. 2
  1. 1 Universidad de Jaén, España
  2. 2 Universidad de Córdoba, España
Journal:
Informes de la construcción

ISSN: 0020-0883

Year of publication: 2019

Volume: 71

Issue: 554

Type: Article

DOI: 10.3989/IC.61041 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Informes de la construcción

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the construction of the plunger lock designed by Agustin de Betancourt in 1807. For this, a computer-aided engineering (CAE) study has been conducted, namely a static analysis by finite-elements method from the three-dimensional model built with computer-aided design (CAD) techniques using Autodesk Inventor Professional parametric software. The results show that the most unfavorable position occurs when the plunger is lifted, as in this position the elastic limits of the materials are exceeded. Therefore, the main conclusion is that the plunger lock is poorly dimensioned, although this is because the specifications sheets had only a functional or descriptive value, since the plunger lock was never put into practice. In any case, the Spanish engineer designed a novel diver-plunger lock-balance system.

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Funding information

This research has been undertaken within the project of research of excellence entitled: “El patrimonio histórico de Agustín de Betancourt: estudio integral de las aportaciones a la ingeniería civil desde la ingeniería gráfica para su puesta en valor y difusión” (HAR2015-63503-P), funded by Min-isterio de Economía y Competitividad dentro del Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia, Subprograma Estatal de Generación del Con-ocimiento, within the framework of the Plan Estatal de In-vestigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016, and by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). In addition, we offer our most sincere gratitude to the Fun-dación Canaria Orotava de Historia de la Ciencia for their kindness in offering the use of the material on their website, as well as to the Fundación Juanelo Turriano for awarding one their distinguished doctoral grants.

Funders

Bibliographic References

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