Mechanical Definition and 1000 Threads

Mechanical engineering is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science to design, analyze, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering branches.Mechanical engineering combines creativity, knowledge and analytical tools to complete the difficult task of shaping an idea into reality.
The mechanical engineering field requires an understanding of core areas including mechanics, dynamics, thermodynamics, materials science, structural analysis, and electricity. In addition to these core principles, mechanical engineers use tools such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and product lifecycle management to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, heating and cooling systems, transport systems, aircraft, watercraft, robotics, medical devices, weapons, and others. It is the branch of engineering that involves the design, production, and operation of machinery.Mechanical engineering emerged as a field during the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 18th century; however, its development can be traced back several thousand years around the world. In the 19th century, developments in physics led to the development of mechanical engineering science. The field has continually evolved to incorporate advancements; today mechanical engineers are pursuing developments in such areas as composites, mechatronics, and nanotechnology. It also overlaps with aerospace engineering, metallurgical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, and other engineering disciplines to varying amounts. Mechanical engineers may also work in the field of biomedical engineering, specifically with biomechanics, transport phenomena, biomechatronics, bionanotechnology, and modelling of biological systems.

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  1. A

    Creative Engineering Projects: Inspiring Ideas for Final Year Projects

    Hello! I'm new here and I really need help from you guys. I'm an engineering student and need to do project proposal for my final year project. We have 6 month to do the proposal and I cannot think of any idea. I have experience in using -Lathe -CNC Turning and Milling -Milling machine -Drilling...
  2. B

    Engineering How to engineer? (and some other questions)

    So, technically I'm a physics major. However as of late I've been experienceing a growing appreciation for the engineer, and particular, the engineer mindset. My question for you all is how can someone develop the engineer mindset? Does one simply just start building things like levers and...
  3. T

    Schools Mechanical Engineering and High school problem

    Hello I am a senior in High School and I'm wanting to become a mechanical engineer but I have an issue I'm wondering how much of a disadvantage I would have for not taking Physics or Precalc in High school. I am now studying them up by myself even though I can't take them in High-school.
  4. jmay4096

    Need Help Understanding Mechanical Advantage of Chain Mechanism

    Hi guys and girls this my first post! Hope i got it in the right place. I need help understanding the mechanical advantage of this mechanism. The top sprocket is the input power the bottom sprocket is an idler the attachment on the chain is the output. Help!
  5. T

    Mechanical engineering research/project fields

    Hi If anyone has job prospect info, statistics or anything about these, please tell. Thanks a lot Energy and Fluid Systems Manufacturing and Dynamic Systems Materials Engineering
  6. P

    Commuting quantum mechanical operators

    Homework Statement Two Hermitian operators X and Y have a complete set of mutual eigenkets. Show that [X,Y]=0 and interpret this physically. Homework Equations [X,Y]=XY-YX If [X,Y]=0, XY=YX The Attempt at a Solution I have proved that [X,Y]=0, but I'm just falling a little short of...
  7. ghost313

    Turning a PART of electrical into mechanical energy

    So I am awere of everything in electromagnetism in physics,but lately I am enjoying in creating RC cars.But I only got to making a car going only forward,how can i make him turn?How could I transform only a part of the electrical energy into mechanical so that my RC car can turn left and right...
  8. Fantini

    MHB What is the efficiency of the energy conversion in the cannon bore?

    The problem: Rumford observed that when one horse turned a cannon bore for about 2.5 hr the temperature of 27 lb of water that was initially ice cold (i.e., near 0°C) rose to near boiling hot (i.e., near 100°C). Given that one horsepower is 33,000 ft-lb;min, that 1 kg weighs 2.2 lb, and that 1...
  9. C

    Question about mechanical energy and lowering a block

    When one lifts a block off of the ground and holds it in the air, the work done by one's lifting force is equal to the change in total mechanical energy of the block/earth system. Since the mechanical energy is KE+PE and since KE doesn't change during the motion, the work done by the lifting...
  10. D

    Mechanical Engineer Needed for Interview Please

    Well, here it goes again, I am a senior in high school and my english teacher has assigned my class a research paper with the topic being a job that we are interested in. My last post got deleted due to this sites rules, so does anyone know where I can find a mechanical engineer that I could...
  11. Joiner

    Engineering Is Mechanical Engineering for Me?

    Hey guys. So here's my story (and I'm sticking to it! - current career joke). Back in high school I had thought that a career working on cars was my dream job. I went to Lincoln College of Technology at 17 and when I realized how big of a waste of money it was I left (with a 3.8). Moved around a...
  12. B

    Mechanical solutions for general electric problems

    Hey there, i need some help please :) As an assignment from my course, they asked us to bring some mechanical solutions for electric problems, and I don't mean in a specific area, i mean generally... i looked over the internet for it and found nothing.. If someone can please help with that would...
  13. N

    Solving a Physics Homework Problem: Work, Energy, and Conservation

    Homework Statement A student holds a book at rest on the palm of her hand. She lifts the book straight up, bringing it to rest again at a higher point. 1. Is the net work done on the book positive, negative, or zero? 2. Is the change in the gravitational potential energy positive, negative...
  14. mycars12

    Automotive/Avionic Mechanical Engineering?

    Hello, I am in college for mechanical engineering right now and was wondering how it is in the future when i get an engineering job, any insights or suggestions for the field? im wondering how it is on a day to day basis Thanks
  15. M

    Learning strategy for mechanical design (machine elements)

    Hi, I would like to establish a advancing/learning way to learn and understand machine elements. Today I tried to search for hydrodynamic radial sliding bearings on search engines but I have find only two results. Is something wrong for it? it should have another names...
  16. DewYouKnow8

    Programs CS vs. Mechanical Eng - 2nd degree

    Hi everyone, I am new to the forum, so please let me know if I have made any mistakes in my posting location. As mentioned in the title, I am returning to school for a second undergrad degree. My first degree was in Business Administration - which did not satisfy my academic needs (to say the...
  17. S

    How to switch from B.Tech Mechanical to MSc Physics (Nuclear Physics)?

    Hello Everyone, This post is with regards to queries for which I am still struggling to find answer. I am really confused about what to do in future. My question is how to do a MSc in Physics or Nuclear Physics after completing B.Tech? I will be explaining my situation below and I will try...
  18. G

    Mechanical Advantage of a 4-bar

    Alright, the problem at a glance is rather simple: find the mechanical advantage at two given values of θ2. Given: rO2A = r2 r02C = rin rAB = r3 rO4B = r4 rO4D = rout rO2O4 = r1 θ1 = 135° Find: Mechanical advantage when θ2 is equal to 104°, and when θ2 is equal to 91°. Equations to use: Mech...
  19. D

    Mechanical Engineering- Stress-Strain

    When a 90kg man stands on a snow-covered trail, he sinks a certain amount into the snow-covered trail, he sinks a certain amount into the snow because the compressive stress between his boots and the snow is larger than the snow can support without crumbling. Assuming typical cross-country skis...
  20. D

    M.S. Mechanical Engineering in Mechanics vs Robotics/Controls

    Hello fellow PF members, I'm currently in my senior year in Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University. I'm considering going on to get my Master's Degree to gain more knowledge (since I'm fascinating by them). I really like Math and have a Math Minor already. I am looking to go into a...
  21. L

    Engineering Nanotechnology or mechanical engineering

    Hi! I am now doing my first semester for an integrated master's degree in mechanical engineering at a Norwegian university. I am doing well, but I have been second-guessing my choice for a while now. I have to admit I really was uncertain about what to chose, and while I mainly considered...
  22. D

    Conservation of mechanical energy vs sum of forces

    When do one use the principle of conservation of mechanical energy to find the velocity of a mass, and when would you use the sum of forces equals to the mass times acceleration, and there after use a ds=v dv in order to find the velocity. The specific question related to this is a spring fixed...
  23. Vigardo

    Runing multiple instances of Ansys Mechanical at the same time

    Hello experts, Is it possible to run several instances of Ansys Mechanical in Windows or Linux in parallel? How? I need to dramatically speed up the solution of a large list of Ansys Mechanical jobs, typically more than 50000. Such analyses are performed by some script that runs each job in...
  24. PrincessIceFall

    Need help with thesis. Mechanical Engineering

    Homework Statement So I am currently in my final year working on my thesis. Below is the details of my thesis topic: Metacentric height (Computational) It is a simple matter to determine whether a body will float in a liquid, it is not so easy to determine the orientation at which the body...
  25. PrincessIceFall

    Metacentric height : Mechanical Engineering thesis topic

    Homework Statement So I am currently in my final year working on my thesis. Below is the details of my thesis topic: Metacentric height (Computational) It is a simple matter to determine whether a body will float in a liquid, it is not so easy to determine the orientation at which the body...
  26. Fuichris

    Pulley / Fraying - "Mechanical Flower" Project

    Hi all, "MECHANICAL FLOWER PROJECT" I'm working on a personal hobby art project (non-academic, non-commercial, non-governmental) where I'm mechanizing petals of a plastic flower. Basically, making petals curl open and close. *Please see picture and video. GOAL: To pull continously without...
  27. Luois Mers

    Engineering Materials engineering vs Mechanical engineering

    I am an student of Materials engineering I'm 4th semester. I have always wanted to develop airplanes (I grew up close to an airport). I know for some articles on internet that Mechanical engineering is closely related to aerospace engineering. Over the 4th semesters in materials engineering I...
  28. T

    Programs Double majoring in math and mechanical engineering

    I'm currently double majoring in math and mechanical engineering. I am trying to figure my next schedule out for school and I was hoping you guys could give your opinion on what I should do. Thank you. These are the classes I am looking to take -Phys 2 -Phys 2 Lab -Statics -Linear Algebra...
  29. S

    Mechanical engineering and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics

    I'm curious as to roughly how many mechanical engineering graduates have found jobs where they utilise the knowledge they gained in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat transfer as part of their university degrees. Reason I'm curious is because, from my class, I'm not actively aware of...
  30. D

    B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, where should I go from here?

    Hello fellow PF members, Some background about me: I am currently a senior (actually is my 6th year in college) in Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University. I am on track and will be graduating next summer. Given how long I have been in college, I would want to go straight to work...
  31. U

    Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Project Ideas

    Hey guys, I am currently studying Mechanical Engineering in the UK. For my final year, we have to basically invent or design something that hasn't been invented before or improve something that's already been invented.Now unlike my cousin who's studying Aerospace Engineering in the US, he told...
  32. Riky

    Engineering Opportunities in the US: Mechanical vs. Software

    Hi guys, tomorrow I'll start my freshman year in Engineering. I like both mechanical and computer/software engineering, but, to be honest, on equal terms I would choose mechanical engineering, because I like dynamics. However I wouldn't mind being a computer/software engineer, since I'm a...
  33. A

    Need some help deciding Final Year Project Ideas welcome

    Hi I'm about to start my 3rd year in my Engineering university and would like some ideas for my Final Year project... We have 2 options. We can either make a model/prototype of something and present it OR we can do a research on a particular field. I'm leaning more towards the research side...
  34. P

    Mechanical Forces: Centrifugal/Centripetal Force Effects

    i'm not really a phycisist and to be really sincere i usually cannot answear my questions in class... so yeah, a question i have for a long time now is, which force anulates the gravity preventing a rock tied on a rope spinning over my head to fall and just stay fixed in his horizontal axis, the...
  35. N

    Mechanical efficiency of a compressor #polytropic compression

    Hy please help me .i am strugling to calculate the mechanical efficiency of a compressor as i am not given power output and power output
  36. H

    Mechanical Advantage and What it really means (question inside)

    Homework Statement The question is as follows: A man of mass 100kg is placed onto platform 1. The maximum weight that he can lift using this machine is twice his own weight (200kg*g). The mechanical advantage of the machine is constant. If the mass of the object is 100kg, 1) what is the...
  37. CFDFEAGURU

    ANSYS Mechanical APDL - High Temperature Creep Modeling via Isochronous Curves

    ANSYS can be used to model creep in a number of different ways. If you are designing to ASME Section VIII, Div., 2 you might have to verify that your design meets the "shake down to elastic action" criteria. Basically, that means that the strains do not continue to increase over the number of...
  38. CFDFEAGURU

    ANSYS Mechanical APDL - Rotating Boundary Conditions

    All, I recently completed a project where transient thermal boundary conditions are rotated around a cylinder for a general number of revolutions. In reality, the cylinder rotated but it was much easier to rotate the thermal conditions around the model in the ANSYS environment. I used 360...
  39. M

    Comsol Mechanical Thermal Contact

    hi, can somebody pls help me with the model i have appended to this post? it is a simple thermal mechanical contact problem but i don't know what is wrong about it and why there is some errors in it after computing. thanks
  40. blintaro

    Calculating total mechanical energy of block on spring

    Homework Statement A 5.0 kg block hangs from a spring with spring constant 2000N/m. The block is pulled down 5 cm from equilibrium position and given an initial velocity of 1.0 m/s back toward equilibrium. What are the a.) frequency b.) amplitude c.) total mechanical energy of the motion...
  41. J

    Mechanical force question on equilateral triangle

    Homework Statement Three particles with masses m1=2.5kg, m2=1.2kg and unknown mass m3 are placed at the corners of an equilateral triangle of side 30.0cm. If the resultant force in x-direction acting on m1 is zero, find the net force acting on m1. Homework Equations F=(Gm1m2)/R^2...
  42. ajayguhan

    Engineering Value added courses for mechanical engineering?

    i'm doing my second year B.tech in Mechanical engineering. value added courses such as: 1. lean manufacturing 2. six sigma 3. Quality Control 4. 5's when should i do such courses? should i do it while I'm working or in the third year.
  43. M

    Where can i get a mechanical engineer for prototype

    I need a prototype built. The main design I have sorted out but need the engineer to tweak it here and there. I've tried googling it and the results are top companies which are very expensive, is there anywhere I could find an individual who can do this work for me? Or would any of yiu guys...
  44. F

    Mechanical efficiency with regards to torque and rotational speed

    In what way does mechanical efficiency in gears affect output torque and angular velocity? Mechanical efficiency affects power which is the product of torque and angular velocity. Let's say we have a gearbox with a mechanical efficiency of 0.95, hence the output power is 95% of the input power...
  45. P

    Civil or Mechanical Engineering: Career Prospects & Renewable Energy

    Im interested in both civil and mechanical engineering but am still unsure on which one is best suited to me. I am am very interested in the Environmental side of Civil engineering as renewable energy fascinates me. However, I am more interested in machinery and cars than I am about bridges and...
  46. M

    Thermodynamic equilibrium of ideal gas and mechanical system

    Homework Statement Hi I am new to Physics Forums and desperately need some help! This is my first class back since undergrad and my math skills have gotten a little rusty. I think that's where I am failing. Okay here goes: http://tinypic.com/r/2zqf04k/8 There is a 4 subsystem...
  47. R

    Advice for a mechanical engineer wanting to be an electrical engineer

    Hello, I'm a first year student going into mechanical engineering at the university of Waterloo in Canada. I initially chose this because I really wanted to work either with satellites or nuclear power plants and my teachers advised that a mechanical engineering degree would net me easy...
  48. R

    Areas Of Reasearch in Fluid Mechanics & Mechanical Design

    Hello! My friend and i are interested in doing a project.My area of interest in Fluid mechanics and my friend's is mechanical design can you guys help us out by providing some topics of research which encircles both these areas.
  49. S

    Programs Switching majors to Mechanical Engineering - Advice needed

    Hi all! Currently I'm a business major and I realized after a month long car rebuilding project that I should probably pursue another major. My entire life I've been fascinated with building contraptions and what not. I'm pretty behind in the game right now, and would like to do as much...
  50. V

    Engineering Economics or Mechanical Engineering

    Hey, this is my first post on physicsforum but I've read a lot on this website and the people here seem really insightful so I thought I would give it a try. I have a delimma, I'm in my last year of high school and am deciding which major to go into at the university of Alberta up here in...
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