1. Mechanical Analysis and Design

1.1 Basic Philosophy

• Philosophy is an important concept, because design is basically making inexact decisions, in an unpredictable environment.

• Some basic rules to follow are,

use standard materials, processes, components, fasteners etc. where possible

use looser tolerances where possible

minimize parts

only design what the specifications/function requires

• Typical mechanical design problems can be classified as,

selection design: given certain criteria select a suitable component.

configuration design: how are given components arranged to satisfy given criteria.

parametric design: given a known relationship (equations, graphs, tables, etc.) and constrain (limits, objectives, etc) we can calculate an exact dimension (or other parameter values) for a design.

original design: new concepts must be generated.

redesign: a design must be changed conceptually to obtain better performance.

1.2 Typical Mechanical Functions

• This list below can be used to jog thoughts about possible mechanical concepts. [based on Ullman]

 

1.3 References

1.1 Ullman, D.G., The Mechanical Design Process, McGraw-Hill, 1997.