Chapter 1. Fundamentals of Mechanical Design PDF

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Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Mechanical Design Engineering design is the creation of plans for machines, structures, systems, or processes to perform desired functions. To design is either to formulate a plan for the satisfaction of a specified need or to solve a problem. If the plan results in the creation of something having a physical reality, then the product must be functional, safe, reliable, competitive, usable, manufacturable, and marketable. Design is an innovative and highly iterative process. It is also a decision-making process. Decisions sometimes have to be made with too little information, occasionally with just the right amount of information, or with an excess of partially contradictory information. Decisions are sometimes made tentatively, with the right reserved to adjust as more becomes known. The point is that the engineering designer has to be personally comfortable with a decision-making, problem-solving role. Design is a communication-intensive activity in which both words and pictures are used, and written and oral forms are employed. Engineers have to communicate effectively and work with people of many disciplines. These are important skills, and an engineer’s success depends on them. A designer’s personal resources of creativeness, communicative ability, and problem solving skill are intertwined with knowledge of technology and first principles. Engineering tools (such as mathematics, statistics, computers, graphics, and languages) are combined to produce a plan that, when carried out, produces a product that is functional, safe, reliable, competitive, usable, manufacturable, and marketable, regardless of who builds it or who uses it. 1.1 Mechanical Engineering Design Mechanical engineers are associated with the production and processing of energy and with providing the means of production, the tools of transportation, and the techniques of automation. The skill and knowledge base are extensive. Among the disciplinary bases are mechanics of solids and fluids, mass and momentum transport, manufacturing processes, and electrical and information theory. Mechanical engineering design involves all the disciplines of mechanical engineering. Real problems resist compartmentalization. A simple journal bearing involves fluid flow, heat transfer, friction, energy transport, material selection, thermomechanical treatments, statistical descriptions, and so on. A building is environmentally controlled. The heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning considerations are sufficiently specialized that some speak of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning design as if it is separate and distinct from mechanical engineering design. Similarly, internal-combustion engine design, turbomachinery design, and jet-engine design are sometimes considered discrete entities. Here, the leading string of words preceding the word design is merely a product descriptor. Similarly, there are phrases such as machine design, machine-element design, machine-component design, systems design, and fluid-

power design. All of these phrases are somewhat more focused examples of mechanical engineering design. They all draw on the same bodies of knowledge, are similarly organized, and require similar skills. 1.2 Classifications of Machine Design The machine design may be classified as follows : a. Adaptive design. In most cases, the designer’s work is concerned with adaptation of existing designs. This type of design needs no special knowledge or skill and can be attempted by designers of ordinary technical training. The designer only makes minor alternation or modification in the existing designs of the product. b. Development design. This type of design needs considerable scientific training and design ability in order to modify the existing designs into a new idea by adopting a new material or different method of manufacture. In this case, though the designer starts from the existing design, but the final product may differ quite markedly from the original product. c. New design. This type of design needs lot of research, technical ability and creative thinking. Only those designers who have personal qualities of a sufficiently high order can take up the work of a new design. The designs, depending upon the methods used, may be classified as follows: (a) Rational design. This type of design depends upon mathematical formulae of principle of mechanics. (b) Empirical design. This type of design depends upon empirical formulae based on the practice and past experience. (c) Industrial design. This type of design depends upon the production aspects to manufacture any machine component in the industry. (d) Optimum design. It is the best design for the given objective function under the specified constraints. It may be achieved by minimising the undesirable effects. (e) System design. It is the design of any complex mechanical system like a motor car. (f) Element design. It is the design of any element of the mechanical system like piston, crankshaft, connecting rod, etc. (g) Computer aided design. This type of design depends upon the use of computer systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis and optimisation of a design. 1.3 General Considerations in Machine Design Following are the general considerations in designing a machine component: a. Type of load and stresses caused by the load.

The load, on a machine component, may act in several ways due to which the internal stresses are set up. b. Motion of the parts or kinematics of the machine. The successful operation of any machine depends largely upon the simplest arrangement of the parts which will give the motion required. The motion of the parts may be : (a) Rectilinear motion which includes unidirectional and reciprocating motions. (b) Curvilinear motion which includes rotary, oscillatory and simple harmonic. (c) Constant velocity. (d) Constant or variable acceleration. c. Selection of materials. It is essential that a designer should have a thorough knowledge of the properties of the materials and their behaviour under working conditions. Some of the important characteristics of materials are : strength, durability, flexibility, weight, resistance to heat and corrosion, ability to cast, welded or hardened, machinability, electrical conductivity, etc. The various types of engineering materials and their properties will be discussed later. d. Form and size of the parts. The form and size are based on judgement. The smallest practicable cross-section may be used, but it may be checked that the stresses induced in the designed cross-section are reasonably safe. In order to design any machine part for form and size, it is necessary to know the forces which the part must sustain. It is also important to anticipate any suddenly applied or impact load which may cause failure. e. Frictional resistance and lubrication. There is always a loss of power due to frictional resistance and it should be noted that the friction of starting is higher than that of running friction. It is, therefore, essential that a careful attention must be given to the matter of lubrication of all surfaces which move in contact with others, whether in rotating, sliding, or rolling bearings. f. Convenient and economical features. In designing, the operating features of the machine should be carefully studied. The starting, controlling and stopping levers should be located on the basis of convenient handling. The adjustment for wear must be provided employing the various takeup devices and arranging them so that the alignment of parts is preserved. If parts are to be changed for different products or replaced on account of wear or breakage, easy access should be provided and the necessity of removing other parts to accomplish this should be avoided if possible. The economical operation of a machine which is to be used for production, or for the processing of material should be studied, in order to learn whether it has the maximum capacity consistent with the production of good work. g. Use of standard parts.

The use of standard parts is closely related to cost, because the cost of standard or stock parts is only a fraction of the cost of similar parts made to order. h. Safety of operation. Some machines are dangerous to operate, especially those which are speeded up to insure production at a maximum rate. Therefore, any moving part of a machine which is within the zone of a worker is considered an accident hazard and may be the cause of an injury. It is, therefore, necessary that a designer should always provide safety devices for the safety of the operator. The safety appliances should in no way interfere with operation of the machine. i. Workshop facilities. A design engineer should be familiar with the limitations of his employer’s workshop, in order to avoid the necessity of having work done in some other workshop. It is sometimes necessary to plan and supervise the workshop operations and to draft methods for casting, handling and machining special parts. j. Number of machines to be manufactured. The number of articles or machines to be manufactured affects the design in a number of ways. The engineering and shop costs which are called fixed charges or overhead expenses are distributed over the number of articles to be manufactured. If only a few articles are to be made, extra expenses are not justified unless the machine is large or of some special design. An order calling for small number of the product will not permit any undue expense in the workshop processes, so that the designer should restrict his specification to standard parts as much as possible. k. Cost of construction. The cost of construction of an article is the most important consideration involved in design. In some cases, it is quite possible that the high cost of an article may immediately bar it from further considerations. If an article has been invented and tests of hand made samples have shown that it has commercial value, it is then possible to justify the expenditure of a considerable sum of money in the design and development of automatic machines to produce the article, especially if it can be sold in large numbers. The aim of design engineer under all conditions, should be to reduce the manufacturing cost to the minimum. l. Assembling. Every machine or structure must be assembled as a unit before it can function. Large units must often be assembled in the shop, tested and then taken to be transported to their place of service. The final location of any machine is important and the design engineer must anticipate the exact location and the local facilities for erection. 1.4 General Procedure in Machine Design In designing a machine component, there is no rigid rule. The problem may be attempted in several ways. However, the general procedure to solve a design problem is as follows :

1. Recognition of need. First of all, make a complete statement of the problem, indicating the need, aim or purpose for which the machine is to be designed. 2. Synthesis (Mechanisms). Select the possible mechanism or group of mechanisms which will give the desired motion. 3. Analysis of forces. Find the forces acting on each member of the machine and the energy transmitted by each member. 4. Material selection. Select the material best suited for each member of the machine. 5. Design of elements (Size and Stresses). Find the size of each member of the machine by considering the force acting on the member and the permissible stresses for the material used. It should be kept in mind that each member should not deflect or deform than the permissible limit. 6. Modification. Modify the size of the member to agree with the past experience and judgment to facilitate manufacture. The modification may also be necessary by consideration of manufacturing to reduce overall cost. 7. Detailed drawing. Draw the detailed drawing of each component and the assembly of the machine with complete specification for the manufacturing processes suggested. 8. Production. The component, as per the drawing, is manufactured in the workshop. The flow chart for the general procedure in machine design is shown in Fig. 1.1.

Fig. 1.1.

1.5 Design Considerations Sometimes the strength required of an element in a system is an important factor in the determination of the geometry and the dimensions of the element. In such a situation we say that

strength is an important design consideration. When we use the expression design consideration, we are referring to some characteristic that influences the design of the element or, perhaps, the entire system. Usually quite a number of such characteristics must be considered and prioritized in a given design situation. Many of the important ones are as follows (not necessarily in order of importance):                         

Functionality Noise Strength/stress Styling Distortion/deflection/stiffness Shape Wear Size Corrosion Control Safety Thermal properties Reliability Surface Manufacturability Lubrication Utility 22 Marketability Cost Maintenance Friction Volume Weight Liability Life Remanufacturing/resource recovery

Some of these characteristics have to do directly with the dimensions, the material, the processing, and the joining of the elements of the system. Several characteristics may be interrelated, which affects the configuration of the total system. 1.6 Design Tools and Resources Today, the engineer has a great variety of tools and resources available to assist in the solution of design problems. Inexpensive microcomputers and robust computer software packages provide tools of immense capability for the design, analysis, and simulation of mechanical components. In addition to these tools, the engineer always needs technical information, either in the form of basic science/engineering behavior or the characteristics of specific off-the-shelf components. Here, the resources can range from science/engineering textbooks to manufacturers’ brochures or catalogs. Here too, the computer can play a major role in gathering information.

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Computational Tools

Computer-aided design (CAD) software allows the development of three-dimensional (3-D) designs from which conventional two-dimensional orthographic views with automatic dimensioning can be produced. Manufacturing tool paths can be generated from the 3-D models, and in some cases, parts can be created directly from a 3-D database by using a rapid prototyping and manufacturing method (stereolithography)—paperless manufacturing. Another advantage of a 3-D database is that it allows rapid and accurate calculations of mass properties such as mass, location of the center of gravity, and mass moments of inertia. Other geometric properties such as areas and distances between points are likewise easily obtained. There are a great many CAD software packages available suchas Aries, AutoCAD, CadKey, IDeas, Unigraphics, Solid Works, and ProEngineer, to name a few. The term computer-aided engineering (CAE) generally applies to all computer related engineering applications. With this definition, CAD can be considered as a subset of CAE. Some computer software packages perform specific engineering analysis and/or simulation tasks that assist the designer, but they are not considered a tool for the creation of the design that CAD is. Such software fits into two categories: engineering based and non-engineering-specific. Some examples of engineering-based software for mechanical engineering applications— software that might also be integrated within a CAD system—include finite-element analysis (FEA) programs for analysis of stress and deflection , vibration, and heat transfer (e.g., Algor, ANSYS, and MSC/NASTRAN); computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs for fluid-flow analysis and simulation (e.g., CFD++, FIDAP, and Fluent); and programs for simulation of dynamic force and motion in mechanisms (e.g., ADAMS, DADS, and Working Model). Examples of non-engineering-specific computer-aided applications include software for word processing, spreadsheet software (e.g., Excel, Lotus, and Quattro-Pro), and mathematical solvers (e.g., Maple, MathCad, MATLAB,3 Mathematica, and TKsolver). One caution, however: Computer software is no substitute for the human thought process. You are the driver here; the computer is the vehicle to assist you on your journey to a solution. Numbers generated by a computer can be far from the truth if you entered incorrect input, if you misinterpreted the application or the output of the program, if the program contained bugs, etc. It is your responsibility to assure the validity of the results, so be careful to check the application and results carefully, perform benchmark testing by submitting problems with known solutions, and monitor the software company and user-group newsletters.

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Acquiring Technical Information

We currently live in what is referred to as the information age, where information is generated at an astounding pace. It is difficult, but extremely important, to keep abreast of past and current developments in one’s field of study and occupation. Some sources of information are:

• Libraries (community, university, and private). Engineering dictionaries and encyclopedias, textbooks, monographs, handbooks, indexing and abstract services, journals, translations, technical reports, patents, and business sources/brochures/catalogs. • Government sources. Departments of Defense, Commerce, Energy, and Transportation; NASA; Government Printing Office; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; National Technical Information Service; and National Institute for Standards and Technology. • Professional societies. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Society of Automotive Engineers, American Society for Testing and Materials, and American Welding Society. • Commercial vendors. Catalogs, technical literature, test data, samples, and cost information. • Internet. The computer network gateway to websites associated with most of the categories listed above. 1.7 The Design Engineer’s Professional Responsibilities In general, the design engineer is required to satisfy the needs of customers (management, clients, consumers, etc.) and is expected to do so in a competent, responsible, ethical, and professional manner. Much of engineering course work and practical experience focuses on competence, but when does one begin to develop engineering responsibility and professionalism? To start on the road to success, you should start to develop these characteristics early in your educational program. You need to cultivate your professional work ethic and process skills before graduation, so that when you begin your formal engineering career, you will be prepared to meet the challenges. It is not obvious to some students, but communication skills play a large role here, and it is the wise student who continuously works to improve these skills —even if it is not a direct requirement of a course assignment! Success in engineering (achievements, promotions, raises, etc.) may in large part be due to competence but if you cannot communicate your ideas clearly and concisely, your technical proficiency may be compromised. You can start to develop your communication skills by keeping a neat and clear journal/logbook of your activities, entering dated entries frequently. (Many companies require their engineers to keep a journal for patent and liability concerns.) Separate journals should be used for each design project (or course subject). When starting a project or problem, in the definition stage, make journal entries quite frequently. Others, as well as yourself, may later question why you made certain decisions. Good chronological records will make it easier to explain your decisions at a later date. Many engineering students see themselves after graduation as practicing engineers designing, developing, and analyzing products and processes and consider the need of good communication skills, either oral or writing, as secondary. This is far from the truth. Most practicing engineers spend a good deal of time communicating with others, writing proposals and technical reports, and giving presentations and interacting with enginee...