MECH3460: Mechanical Systems Design 2

This unit aims to apply some newly acquired skills to begin to understand how stress and strain are distributed in the more common categories of machine parts. Reducing the loads in standard parts to just the most significant, leads to a range of relatively simple analyses. By using different degrees of simplification and a proportional amount of effort, the examination of components can provide results of corresponding accuracy. To lead the student to utilise and be aware of modern computer methods, to be aware of past methods and be prepared of future developments. Not all the analysis of mechanical components are covered in the course but the ones that are deal with exemplify principles that can be applied to novel items that our graduates may encounter in their professional life. At the end of this unit students will be able to: apply fatigue life prediction in general to any component; design a bolted joint to carry tensile and or shear loads: use a numerical solver to arrive at the optimal dimensions of a component, given its loads and sufficient boundary conditions; design shafts to carry specified steady and alternating bending moments and torques; design and construct a space frame, such as that for a dune buggy, to meet requirements of strength and rigidity; be able to arrive at the principle parameters of a pair of matched spur gears, and to be able to extend this to helical gears. Course content will include: stress and strain in engineering materials; yield and ultimate fail conditions in malleable and brittle materials; spatial, 3D frameworks; deflections due to forces, moments and torques.