Design and construction of a motorized chapatti rolling and shaping (diameter shaping) machine.

Abstract

Chapatti is a form of unleavened flat bread prepared from whole wheat flour dough and baked momentarily at a high temperature to ensure a rapid steam formation and an eventual puffing of the ready-to-eat meal and is a popular stable diet in many Ugandan households today, and an additional business for many small scale vendors in the country. The purpose of this study was to design and construct a chapatti making system component for rolling sheeting and sizing diameter shaping) of the chapatti dough specifically for small vendors, and households in Uganda so to reduce on the body health problems like chest pain during rolling and also labour and time wasted during the making and cutting of dough for bans. first and rolling using the wood, increase on the throughput with uniform thickness, sizes/diameters of the chapatti thus increasing the production of chapattis and the profits for them. The design of the various machine parts was carried out by analyzing forces acting on them. Force analysis led to selection of proper materials to withstand the forces to avoid failure. Stainless steels of various grades were the main materials recommended to be "used because they are food grade strong and durable. Engineering drawings of the various components were. drawn before the various components were constructed and then machine parts fabricated. A fully functional prototype resulted after all the above operations. Testing of the prototype was carried out and the figures revealed that the machine was 69.4 % efficient. The maize grain cleaner has a total cost of 1,039,200 UGX. The cost evaluation analysis of the project was based on the net present value method with NPV of22,347,694 UGX over a period of five years and this resulted into a profitability index of 21.5.