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. T

    How to tell if a spring is fatigue, creep or degrade?

    I'm doing some spring endurance test. If the spring is exceeding its cycles limit and causes fatigue failure, how normally the spring constant changes? For example, after the expected limit cycles (lets say 2million load-unload cycles), will the spring constant gradually decreases? or...
  2. d9esco

    What Resources Help Build Mechanical Devices for Vacuum Evaporation?

    Im wondering what resourses there are that I could use to learn how to put together mechines I might want to build. One thing I had in mind is a bottle with a tube connected with another container that has some pendulam or pump that remove oxygen from the bottle with liquid to cause the liquid...
  3. Alex Katko

    Mechanical deformation question

    I know that i should use the equation: δ = NL/AE In this case, i looked up E and found it to be 15 KSI. Im trying to find the change in distance between points B and C. Therefore, N should be 2 kips (2000 pounds), L is 150 inches, and A in 0.8 inches squared. Plugging this into the...
  4. donaldparida

    Conservative forces and conservation of mechanical energy

    Why do conservative forces conserve mechanical energy while non conservative forces do not? According to me, What makes the conservative forces path independent is that for a particular case they always act in a fixed direction irrespective of the direction of motion of the object on which they...
  5. S

    Engineering Deciding to switch to mechanical engineering?

    Hello all, First off i have no experience nor knowledge in engineering whatsoever but have always had a knack for things of its nature. Currently I am a chef of over 10 years lol I would like to know what I would be getting into if I do pursue this career path, considering most of my family on...
  6. S

    Can an electric motor and gearbox control the speed of a rotating shaft?

    Hi, Here's the problem. So basically I have an input shaft which has non constant Forces acting on it. Thus the input shaft speed varies with time. What I need is an output shaft that is speed controlled i.e. Speed constant with time. To add to it on the output shaft I have a large mass...
  7. R

    Engineering Mechanical engineer but experience only in startups

    Hi, I am a mechanical engineer who has worked only in start-ups, for past 3 years. Main experience is Mechanical design CAD with bit of FEA. Problem is I want to move to a more traditional company. I had had an interview with one of the largest oil and gas company for role of design engineer in...
  8. D

    I Storing Kinetic & Mechanical Energy

    How can kinetic or mechanical energy be stored?
  9. M

    A gyroscope as weight for a lever

    if i got a beam of 40 meters and one side (35m) is 12 metric ton how do i calculate the forces on the gyroscope. I tried to caclutate it but i just get a torque and a angular momentum, how do i converted torque and angelur momenten in Netwons?
  10. L

    Does the mechanical advantage change if the load applies force?

    Hello, I am here to ask if anyone would help answer a question for me, in regards to a simple pulley system. The question is, does the mechanical advantage of a system change if the load is also the what is applying force to the system? Thank you for any answer you choose to give.
  11. DumSpiroSpero

    Calculating Work Done by a Variable Force: Tips and Techniques

    Homework Statement A force F acts over the block as show in the figure. F have a constant magnitude, but has a variable direction. The direction of F, at any given instant, always is directed to the point P. Evaluate the work done by the force F through the displacement d between the points R...
  12. C

    Schools University advice for mechanical engineering?

    Hello PF. I apologize if this is in the wrong forum board, I thought this post would be relevant since it has to do with MechEng. Feel free to move the thread to the correct spot if it is in the inappropriate section. Anyways, I'm in a bit of a dilemma. Basically, I have an unconditional offer...
  13. Z

    Programs Best minor for a Mechanical Engineering student?

    At the university I'm planning on transferring to in a year I pretty much have to take a bunch of technical electives which can come from any STEM department. For example, I could take a bunch of theoretical physics classes that will count towards my degree or I can take more ME classes that...
  14. X

    The latest ANSYS Mechanical APDL

    I know the difference, but I want to know what is the latest version of apdl.
  15. Armando Valle

    How Do You Calculate Mechanical Advantage in a Nail Puller?

    What is the mechanical advantage of a nail puller where you exert a force 45 cm from the pivot and the nail is 1.8 cm on the other side? What minimum force must you exert to apply a force of 1250 N to the nail?Homework Equations 2. Homework Equations MA= FO/FI * LI/LO The Attempt at a Solution...
  16. F

    Mechanical waves-relation between frequency and power

    so i do understand clearly that the higher the energy of a wave , the higher the amplitude ... but what i was not understanding is how we can create a wave that performs 50 oscillations per second with the same amount of energy that we use to form 1 oscillations per second , with both waves of...
  17. M

    How can I solve 15.11 C in my Mechanical Waves Homework?

    Hello everyone I couldn't figure it out a simple way to solve 15. 11 C . Please help ! Very appreciated!
  18. DumSpiroSpero

    Mechanical Energy and Newton's Laws

    Homework Statement A block of mass ## m ##, attached to a rope, is dropped at the point A. When the block reaches the point B, the tension is ## T = 2 \cdot m \cdot g ## and the rope broke at that same point. If the length of the rope is ## L = 6cm ##, evaluate the height ## h ## where the...
  19. donaldparida

    How do conservative forces conserve mechanical energy?

    How do conservative forces exactly conserve mechanical energy while non conservative forces do not. Also why is potential energy defined only for conservative forces?
  20. N

    Engineering Mechanical Engineering or Computer Engineering?

    im a senior high school student from India have about 3 days in hand having difficulty in deciding between the two careers. I am planning to peruse undergraduate in USA but in a big confusion Can someone put a clear image about these two branches of engineering as i am unclear about their job...
  21. vinicius0197

    Engineering Which mechanical engineering jobs are the most stable?

    From what I understand, there are some industries in Mechanical Engineering that are typically boom/bust (like oil and gas and aerospace). I wonder which ones are the most stable? I think HVAC is a possibility, but I don't know if it's the kind of thing that I would like to work on for my entire...
  22. schmikah

    Nuclear Mechanic/ Engineering Laboratory Technician

    To everyone reading this, hello. I'm obviously new but bursting with interest in nuclear plant design. I already have six years of experience in Naval nuclear power plant operation and maintenance, so if anyone can clue me into the wider world, I would be eternally grateful.
  23. Divya Shyam Singh

    Why is the addendum of the gear kept equal to the module?

    In general calculations of gear design, addendum is taken as a factor of the module of the gear such as equal to module or 0.8 times the module and dedendum is taken as 1.25 times the module. Why are both these defined in terms of module? How did we reach to this conclusion?
  24. Rajesh Shirsagar

    Can Mechanical Testing Provide Useful Information?

    Is there any importance of mechanical testing ? and what are the types of mechanical testing?
  25. navierstokes

    Engineering Mechanical Engineers: What's your job?

    I would like to hear the Mechanical Engineers on the forum, and discover some careers hat a MechE could follow. I would like to know what is your job like (on what field do you work: fluids, structures, thermo, controls..., which kind of company, is your job more technical or management, if it's...
  26. I

    B Understanding Chemical Bonds: How Does Quantum Mechanics Explain Them?

    So in general chemistry we learned about covelant bonds and ionic bonds and such, but recently I learned that electrons have wave-particle duality and that many things I learned in general chemistry are not necessarily completely wrong but oversimplified (such as Bohr Model). So how does quantum...
  27. wrobel

    A Periodic solutions in a mechanical system

    Consider the following mechanical system A thin tube can rotate freely in the vertical plane about a fixed horizontal axis passing through its centre ##O##. A moment of inertia of the tube about this axis is equal to ##J##. The mass of the tube is distributed symmetrically such that tube's...
  28. navierstokes

    Engineering How Control Theory can be useful to Mechanical Engineers?

    I'm a student of Mechanical Engineering and I've been taking classes on Control Theory. Looks like a cool and very interesting field of study, but it seems to be more inclined towards Electrical Engineering (in fact, looks like most jobs on control go to electrical engineers). I wonder how a...
  29. shade rahmawati

    Mechanical Boundary condition of a Floating Structure

    Dear all, I made a cad of floating structure (the frame only), figure attached below. It should be located in the water and moored, so it can't go anywhere. The CFD simulation was done. So I have fluid force on the structure. Now I want to do mechanical analysis of the structure by apply the...
  30. Divya Shyam Singh

    Is there a tutorial series for LMS imagine.lab amesim 14?

    I needed to learn LMS imagine lab 14 software but I cannot find any tutorial video on youtube which explains everything from the scratch. Please help me out..
  31. K

    Mechanical Space Propulsion. Why isn't this possible?

    So I've been told this is impossible before, and while I understand some of the reasoning as to why, I still can't wrap my head around how this wouldn't work, or rather, what it would do instead of working. So here's an image of what it looks like: Its function is this: Step 1: 'Forward'...
  32. Quentin_alex

    Engineering Mechanical or Materials for Automotive Research

    Hello, I am wondering if getting a mechanical or materials PhD will grant me more access to industrial automotive research opportunities. I understand the difference between materials and mechanical, but I am wondering if there's greater opportunity in materials research related to automotive...
  33. P

    Verify Sol. of an Dynamic Problem with 2 Wheels

    1. The problem is the following: Starting from stillness @ t = 0, we are looking for the acceleration @T=0 of the 2 wheels (rolling without slip, in particular in point P4 we have a gear wheel contact so we can have that the reaction R2y of the plane could be also in direction y2, in this case...
  34. lord sauron

    Importing Mechanical Apdl geometry in Ansys Workbench

    hi.. i want to import only the geometry defined in mechanical apdl into ansys workbench so that i want to have the freedom to change the geometry and meshing whenever i want to. thankyou
  35. S

    Transmission of mechanical wave on two different ropes

    Homework Statement Two infinite ropes, rope 1 and rope 2, of same linear density ##\mu=0.1 kg/m## have the same tension ##T=100N## and lie on the same plane, one perpendicular to the other. The two ropes are connected in the origin. On one of the two branches of rope 1 an harmonic wave is...
  36. J

    Mechanical Engineering Thesis, Mining Industry

    Hi guys, I am entering in my final year of mechanical engineering and as one of my last major assessment items, i am required to complete a thesis. I was wondering if i could get some ideas on a possible topic. I am currently employed as an undergrad mechanical engineer at a engineering firm...
  37. martinbandung

    B Analysis Of Stilts Movement Research

    Hello all, I'm planning to do a research about stilts movement. I chose it because stilt is a traditional game in my country. In my plan, i want to analyze the velocity of the walker, the frequency of stilts, and the length of steps. I need some other idea to be added to my research. Such as the...
  38. A

    How Does Wheel Speed Affect Turning Rate in Dual-Wheel Drive Vehicles?

    I am an electrical engineering junior and i am helping some freshmen in a project They are supposed to build a racing car They don't want to use servo motors for the turning mechanism. They want to use the same mechanism the Segway uses, turn one wheel faster then the other, so i wanted to know...
  39. S

    Engineering Moving Mechanical structures: stress, wear, temperature....

    Hi! I am looking for a textbook that explains/describes for moving mechanical structures (such as linkage mechanism, engines, ... and not buildings, bridges, ...) the stresses, deformation, wear, temperature change, ... due to operating. E.g. Linkage mechanism: what are/defines the stresses...
  40. L

    Mechanical question -- Mechanical arm with special constraints

    Here in this case an arm in special constrain. The arm is capable to rotate around the main center if force is applied to the center. The torque practically generated by the force that is pushing Tarm. Tamr rotates and pulls with more or less the same force at the top that horizontal force then...
  41. paulmdrdo1

    MHB Mechanical Part Defects in Lot of 500 Pieces

    A certain mechanical part of a machine can be defective because it has one or more out of three possible defects: insufficient tensile strength, a burr or a diameter outside of tolerance limits. In a lot of 500 pieces 19 have tensile strength defect, 17 have a burr, 11...
  42. Utilite

    Schools What advice can be given to a troubled mechanical engineering student in Turkey?

    Hello, I have a friend and she is very troubled. She is studying mechanical engineering in Turkey's top 10 to 15th university. She wants to change her school but she needs to study for the university exams again which steals one year of her life. She believes that graduating from her school...
  43. S

    MHB Combined Buoyancy and Dynamics of Moving Mechanical Systems

    Hi All, So glad to have come across this amazing site and resource. I am a mature student completing an engineering degree with the Open University and I am after some guidance and help with creating a way to plot forces from a moving mechanical system. The images on the attached drawing are...
  44. Z

    Programs A.S. in Mechanical Engineering to B.S. in Physics?

    How hard would it be to make this transition? It seems to me that the engineering classes I would take in my associates would make a few classes in my bachelors very easy.
  45. A

    A Mechanical properties graphene nanoribbons

    Hi In calculation the mechanical properties of graphene nanoribbons by tight binding methods should band structure graphene calculated by the DFT and tight binding methods fitted to calculate b parameter. In the tight binding methods hopping parameter changes as follow: t'_{ppsigma}=t_{ppsigma}...
  46. M

    Engineering Mechanical Engineering or......Maths?

    I'm currently a rising sophomore in college on track for engineering. I have to say, I love solving math problems, especially Calculus. I love Calculus. I started to take physics classes and I started to lose interest, mainly because its difficult and requires a lot of extra time to study, time...
  47. T

    Engineering Mechanical, Civil, or Nuclear Engineering?

    Hey everyone, I need some help choosing what Engineering program I should pursue. I'm in grade 12 right now and conflicted which engineering is the best in terms of job market, salary, and overall. The Engineering programs I'm considering are; Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and...
  48. C

    Mechanical energy in an harmonic wave and in normal modes

    I think I miss something about energy of a mechanical wave. In absence of dissipation the mechanical energy transported by an harmonic wave is constant. $$E=\frac{1}{2} A^2 \omega^2 m$$ But, while studying normal modes on a rope, I find that the mechanical energy of a normal mode (still...
  49. B

    Mechanical advantage: lever arm

    Homework Statement In order to lift the 30 kg mass, a Force F is applied to the massless meter stick shown below. How much weight must the fulcrum bear if the mass is to be lifted? Homework Equations R/E = l/L The Attempt at a Solution So I began with the formula above and this is my set up...
  50. C

    Mechanical energy of element of a rope with sinousoidal wave

    I'm confused about energy driven by a wave. Consider a sinousoidal wave moving in a rope. Each element ##dm## of the rope follows a simple harmonic motion in time. That means that the mechanical energy ##dE=dK+dU## of the element ##dm## is constant. Nevertheless on Halliday-Resnik-Krane I...
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