Mechanical Engineering Design

Design is the formulation of a plan to satisfy a particular need, real or imaginary. Fundamentally,
design represents the process of problem solving. Engineering design can be defined as the
process of applying science and engineering methods to prescribe a component or a system in
sufficient detail to permit its realization.
Mechanical design means the design of components and systems of a mechanical nature—
machines, structures, devices, and instruments. For the most part, mechanical design utilizes the
stress analysis methods and materials engineering and energy concepts. That is, it applies to
design of mechanical systems or components where structures, motion, and energy or heat
transfer can be involved. A good design meets performance, safety, reliability, aesthetics, and
cost goals. Another attribute of a good design is robustness, a resistance to quality loss, or
deviation from desired performance
A machine is an apparatus consisting of interrelated elements or a device that modifies force
motion or energy. Machine design is the art of planning or devising new or improved machines
to accomplish a specific purpose.
Mechanical engineering design deals with the conception, design, development, and application
of machines and mechanical apparatus of all types. It involves all the disciplines of mechanical
engineering
Design Process
The process of design is basically an exercise in creativity. The complete process may be outlined
by design flow diagrams with feedback loops. Figure 1.1 shows some aspects of such a diagram.
In this section, we discuss the phases of design common to all disciplines in the field of
engineering design. Most engineering designs involve safety, ecological, and societal
considerations. It is a challenge to the engineer to recognize all of these in proper proportion.
Fundamental actions proposed for the design process are establishing a need as a design problem
to be solved, understanding the problem, generating and evaluating possible solutions, and
deciding on the best solution.
Phases of Design
i. Identification of Need
The design process begins with a recognition of a need, real or imagined, and a decision to do
something about it. For example, present equipment may require improving durability,
efficiency, weight, speed, or cost. New equipment may be needed to perform an automated
function, such as computation, assembly, or servicing. The identification aspect of design can
have origin in any number of sources. Numerous other sources of needs give rise to
contemporary design problems.
ii. Definition of the Problem
This phase in design conceives the mechanisms and arrangements that will perform the needed
function. For this, a broad knowledge of members is desirable, because new equipment ordinarily
consists of new members, perhaps with changes in size and material. Specification is a form of
input and output quantities. A number of decisions must be made to establish the specification
set, which is a collection of drawings, text, bills of materials, and detailed directions. All
specifications must be carefully spelled out. Often, this area is also labeled design and
performance requirements. The specifications also include the definitions of the member to be
manufactured, the cost, the range of the operating temperature, expected life, and the reliability.
 iii. Synthesis
The synthesis (putting together) of the solution represents perhaps the most challenging and
interesting part of the design. Frequently termed the ideation and invention phase, it is where
the largest possible number of creative solutions is originated. The philosophy, functionality, and
uniqueness of the product are determined during synthesis. In this step, the designer combines
separate parts to form a complex whole of various new and old ideas and concepts to produce
an overall new idea or concept.
iv. Analysis
Synthesis and analysis are the main stages that constitute the design process. Analysis has as its
objective satisfactory performance as well as durability with minimum weight and competitive
cost. Synthesis cannot take place without both analysis or resolution and optimization, because
the product under design must be analyzed to determine whether the performance complies
with the specifications. If the design fails, the synthesis procedure must begin again. After
synthesizing several components of a system, we analyze what effect this has on the remaining
parts of the system. It is now necessary to draw the layouts, providing details, and make the
supporting calculations that will ultimately result in a prototype design. The designer must specify
the dimensions, select the components and materials, and consider the manufacturing, cost,
reliability, serviceability, and safety.
v. Testing and Evaluation
At this juncture, the working design is first fabricated as a prototype. Product evaluation is the
final proof of a successful design and usually involves testing a prototype in a laboratory or on a
computer that provides the analysis database. More often, computer prototypes are utilized
because they are less expensive and faster to generate.
vi. Presentation
The designer must be able to understand the need and describe a design graphically, verbally,
and in writing. This is the presentation of the plans for satisfying the need. A successful
presentation is of utmost importance as the final step in the design process. Drawings are utilized
to produce blueprints to be passed to the manufacturing process.
It is interesting to note that individual parts should be designed to be easily fabricated,
assembled, and constructed. The goal of the manufacturing process is to construct the designed
component or system.
2
Materials

2.1 Introduction
A great variety of materials has been produced, and more are being produced in seem-
ingly endless diversification. Material may be crystalline or noncrystalline. A crys-
talline material is made up of a number of small units called crystals or grains. Most
materials must be processed before they are usable. Table 2.1 gives a general classifica-
tion of engineering materials. This book is concerned with the macroscopic structural
behavior: properties are based on experiments using samples of materials of appreciable
size. It is clear that a macroscopic structure includes a number of elementary particles
forming a continuous and homogeneous structure held together by internal forces.
The website at www.matweb.com offers extensive information on materials.
In this chapter, the mechanical behavior, characteristics, treatment, and manufacturing
processes of some common materials are briefly discussed. A review of the subject matter
presented emphasizes how a viable as well as an economic design can be achieved. Later
chapters explore typical material failure modes in more detail. The average properties of
selected materials are listed in Table B.1 [1–4]. Unless specified otherwise, we assume in
this text that the material is homogeneous and isotropic. With the exception of Sections
2.10 and 5.10, our considerations are limited to the behavior of elastic materials. Note that
the design of plate and shell-like members, for example, as components of a missile or
space vehicle, involves materials having characteristics dependent on environmental con-
ditions. We refer to the ordinary properties of engineering materials in this volume. It is
assumed that the reader has had a course in material science.

2.2 Material Property Definitions

The mechanical properties are those that indicate how the material is expected to behave
when subjected to varying conditions of load and environment. These characteristics are
determined by standardized destructive and nondestructive test methods outlined by the
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). A thorough understanding of mate-
rial properties permits the designer to determine the size, shape, and method of manufac-
turing mechanical components.
Durability denotes the ability of a material to resist destruction over long periods of
time. The destructive conditions may be chemical, electrical, thermal, or mechanical in
nature or combinations of these conditions. The relative ease with which a material may
 T 2.1
Some Commonly Used Engineering Materials
Metallic Materials
Ferrous metals Nonferrous metals
Cast iron Aluminum
Malleable iron Chromium
Wrought iron Copper
Cast steel Lead
Plain carbon steel Magnesium
Steel alloys Nickel
Stainless steel Platinum
Tool steel Silver
Special steels Tin
Structural steel Zinc
Nonmetallic Materials
Carbon and graphite Plastics
Ceramics Brick
Cork Stone
Felt Elastomer
Glass Silicon
Concrete Wood

be machined, or cut with sharp-edged tools, is termed its machinability. Workability rep-
resents the ability of a material to be formed into required shape. Usually, malleability
is considered a property that represents the capacity of a material to withstand plastic
deformation in compression without fracture. We see in Section 2.10 that hardness may
represent the ability of a material to resist scratching, abrasion, cutting, or penetration.
Frequently, the limitations imposed by the materials are the controlling factors in design.
Strength and stiffness are main factors considered in the selection of a material. However,
for a particular design, durability, malleability, workability, cost, and hardness of the mate-
rials may be equally significant. In considering the cost, attention focuses on not only the
initial cost but also the maintenance and replacement costs of the part. Therefore, selecting
a material from both its functional and economic standpoints is vitally important.
An elastic material returns to its original dimensions on removal of applied loads. This
elastic property is called elasticity. Usually, the elastic range includes a region throughout
which stress and strain have a linear relationship. The elastic portion ends at a point called
the proportional limit. Such materials are linearly elastic. In a viscoelastic solid, the state of
stress is function of not only the strain but the time rates of change of stress and strain as
well. A plastically deformed member does not return to its initial size and shape when the
load is removed.
A homogenous solid displays identical properties throughout. If properties are the same in
all directions at a point, the material is isotropic. A composite material is made up of two or more
distinct constituents. A nonisotropic, or anisotropic, solid has direction-dependent properties.
Simplest among them is that the material properties differ in three mutually perpendicular
directions. A material so described is orthotropic. Some wood material may be modeled by
orthotropic properties. Many manufactured materials are approximated as orthotropic, such
as corrugated and rolled metal sheet, plywood, and fiber-reinforced concrete.
 The capacity of a material to undergo large strains with no significant increase in stress
is called ductility. Thus, a ductile material is capable of substantial elongation prior to fail-
ure. Such materials include mild steel, nickel, brass, copper, magnesium, lead, and tef-
lon. The converse applies to a brittle material. A brittle material exhibits little deformation
before rupture, for example, concrete, stone, cast iron, glass, ceramic materials, and many
metallic alloys. A member that ruptures is said to fracture. Metals with strains at rupture
in excess of 0.05 in./in. in the tensile test are sometimes considered to be ductile [5]. Note
that, generally, ductile materials fail in shear, while brittle materials fail in tension. Further
details on material property definitions are found in Sections 2.12 through 2.14, where
description of metal alloys, the numbering system of steels, typical nonmetallic materials
and material selection are included.

2.3 Static Strength

In analysis and design, the mechanical behavior of materials under load is of primary
importance. Experiments, mainly in tension or compression tests, provide basic informa-
tion about overall response of specimens to the applied loads in the form of stress–strain
diagrams. These curves are used to explain a number of mechanical properties of materi-
als. Data for a stress–strain diagram are usually obtained from a tensile test. In such a test,
a specimen of the material, usually in the form of a round bar, is mounted in the grips of a
testing machine and subjected to tensile loading, applied slowly and steadily or statically
at room temperature (Figure 2.1). The ASTM specifies precisely the dimensions and con-
struction of standard tension specimens.
The tensile test procedure consists of applying successive increments of load while tak-
ing corresponding electronic extensometer readings of the elongation between the two
gage marks (gage length) on the specimen. During an experiment, the change in gage
length is noted as a function of the applied load. The specimen is loaded until it finally
ruptures. The force necessary to cause rupture is called the ultimate load. Figure 2.2 illus-
trates a steel specimen that has fractured under load and the extensometer attached at the
right by two arms to it. Based on the test data, the stress in the specimen is found by divid-
ing the force by the cross-sectional area, and the strain is found by dividing the elonga-
tion by the gage length. In this manner, a complete stress–strain diagram, a plot of strain
as abscissa and stress as the ordinate, can be obtained for the material. The stress–strain
diagrams differ widely for different materials.

2.3.1 Stress–Strain Diagrams for Ductile Materials

A typical stress–strain plot for a ductile material such as structural or mild steel in
tension is shown in Figure 2.3a. Curve OABCDE is a conventional or engineering stress–
strain diagram. The other curve, OABCF, represents the true stress–strain. The true
stress refers to the load divided by the actual instantaneous cross-sectional area of the
bar; the true strain is the sum of the elongation increments divided by the corresponding
momentary length. For most practical purposes, the conventional stress–strain diagram
provides satisfactory information for use in design.
Fi u 2.1
Tensile loading machine with automatic data-processing system. (Courtesy of MTS Systems Corp.)

We note that engineering stress (σ) is defined as load per unit area, and for the tensile,
specimen is calculated from

P
σ= (a)
A

where
P is the applied load at any instant
A represents the original cross-sectional area of the specimen

The stress is assumed to be uniformly distributed across the cross section. The engineer-
ing strain (ε) is given by Equation 1.20. A detailed analysis of stress and strain will be taken
up in the next chapter.

2.3.1.1 Yield Strength

The portion OA of the diagram is the elastic range. The linear variation of stress–strain
ends at the proportional limit, Sp, point A. The lowest stress (point B) at which there is
Fi u 2.2
A tensile test specimen with extensometer attached; the specimen has fractured. (Courtesy of MTS Systems Corp.)

a marked increase in strain without corresponding increase in stress is referred to as

the yield point or yield strength Sy. For most cases, in practice, the proportional limit and
yield point are assumed to be one: Sp ≈ Sy. In the region between B and C, the mate-
rial becomes perfectly plastic, meaning that it can deform without an increase in the
applied load.

σ F

Su D
g
E D
Sy B C 420
Sp A
E
280
σ (MPa)

E C
1 A, B
h
O ε 140
Yielding Strain Necking
hardening
Plastic range
Elastic range 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
(a) (b) ε

Fi u 2.3
Stress–strain diagram for a typical structural steel in tension: (a) drawn not to scale and (b) drawn to scale.
2.3.1.2 Strain Hardening: Cold Working
The elongation of a mild steel specimen in the yield (or perfect plasticity) region BC is
typically 10–20 times the elongation that occurs between the onset of loading and the
proportional limit. The portion of the stress–strain curve extending from A to the point
of fracture (E) is the plastic range. In the range CD, an increase in stress is required for a
continued increase in strain. This is called the strain hardening or cold working. If the load is
removed at a point g in region CD, the material returns to no stress at a point h along a new
line parallel to the line OA: a permanent set Oh is introduced. If the load is reapplied, the
new stress–strain curve is hgDE. Note that there is now new yield point (g) that is higher
than before (point B) but reduced ductility. This process can be repeated until the material
becomes brittle and fractures.

2.3.1.3 Ultimate Tensile Strength

The engineering stress diagram for the material when strained beyond C displays a typi-
cal ultimate stress (point D), referred to as the ultimate or tensile strength Su. Additional
elongation is actually accompanied by a reduction in the stress, corresponding to fracture
strength Sf (point E) in the figure. Failure at E occurs, by separation of the bar into two parts
(Figure 2.2), along the cone-shaped surface forming an angle of approximately 45° with its
axis that corresponds to the planes of maximum shear stress. In the vicinity of the ultimate
stress, the reduction of the cross-sectional area or the lateral contraction becomes clearly vis-
ible and a pronounced necking of the bar occurs in the range DE. An examination of the rup-
tured cross-sectional surface depicts a fibrous structure produced by stretching of the grains
of the material.
Interestingly, the standard measures of ductility of a material are defined on the basis of the
geometric change of the specimen, as follows:

L f − Lo
Percent elongation = (100) (2.1)
Lo

Ao − A f
Percent reduction in area = (100) (2.2)
Ao

Here, Ao and Lo denote, respectively, the original cross-sectional area and gage length
of the specimen. Clearly, the ruptured bar must be pieced together to measure the final
gage length Lf. Similarly, the final area Af is measured at the fracture site where the cross
section is minimal. Note that the elongation is not uniform over the length of the speci-
men but concentrated in the region of necking. Therefore, percent elongation depends
on the gage length.
The diagram in Figure 2.3a depicts the general characteristics of the stress–strain
diagram for mild steel, but its proportions are not realistic. As already noted, the strain
between B and C may be about 15 times the strain between O and A. Likewise, the strains
from C to E are many times greater than those from O to A. Figure 2.3b shows a stress–
strain curve for mild steel drawn to scale. Clearly, the strains from O to A are so small that
the initial part of the curve appears to be a vertical line.
 σ

B
Sy

Offset
line

O
0.2% ε

Fi u 2.4
Determination of yield strength by the offset method.

2.3.1.4 Offset Yield Strength

Certain materials, such as heat-treated steels, magnesium, aluminum, and copper, do not
show a distinctive yield point, and it is usual to use a yield strength Sy at an arbitrary
strain. According to the so-called 0.2% offset method, a line is drawn through a strain
of 0.002 (that is 0.2%), parallel to the initial slope at point O of the curve, as shown in
Figure 2.4. The intersection of this line with the stress–strain curve defines the offset yield
strength (point B). For the materials mentioned in the preceding discussion, the offset yield
strength is slightly above the proportional limit.

2.3.2 Stress–Strain Diagram for Brittle Materials

The tensile behavior of gray cast iron, a typical brittle material, is shown in Figure 2.5a.
We observe from the diagram that rupture occurs with no noticeable prior change in
the rate of elongation. Therefore, for brittle materials, there is no difference between
the ultimate strength and the fracture strength. Also, the strain at the rupture is much
smaller for brittle materials than ductile materials. The stress–strain diagrams for brit-
tle materials are characterized by having no well-defined linear region. The fracture of
these materials is associated with the tensile stresses. Therefore, a brittle material breaks
normal to the axis of the specimen (Figure 2.5b), because this is the plane of maximum
tensile stress.

2.3.3 Stress–Strain Diagrams in Compression

Compression stress–strain curves, analogous to those in tension, may also be obtained for
a variety of materials. Most ductile materials behave approximately the same in tension
and compression over the elastic range. For these materials, the yield strength is about the
same in tension and compression: Sy ≈ Syc, where the subscript c denotes compression. But,
in the plastic range, the behavior is quite different. Since compression specimens expand
instead of necking down, the compressive stress–strain curve continues to rise instead of
reaching a maximum and dropping off.
A material having basically equal tensile and compressive strengths is termed an
even material. For brittle materials, the entire compression stress–strain diagram has a
shape similar to the shape of the tensile diagram. However, brittle materials usually
 175

140

σ (MPa) 105

70

35

0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005

(a) ε

(b)

Fi u 2.5
Gray cast iron in tension: (a) stress–strain diagram and (b) fractured specimen.

have characteristic stresses in compression that are much greater than in tension.
A material that has different tensile and compressive strengths is referred to as an
uneven material.
It is interesting to note that the strength of a machine component depends on its geom-
etry and material as well as the type of loading it will experience. The strength of most
metals is directly associated with the yield strength Sy of the material. When dealing with
polymers or ceramics, the strength of interest is the ultimate strength Su at the break or frac-
ture, respectively, rather than the yield strength as for metals (see Example 2.5). Properties
of a variety of nonmetals will be discussed in later sections.

2.4 Hooke’s Law and Modulus of Elasticity

Most engineering materials have an initial region on the stress–strain curve where the
material behaves both elastically and linearly. The linear elasticity is a highly important
property of materials. For the straight-line portion of the diagram (Figure 2.3), the stress is
directly proportional to the strain. Therefore,

σ = Eε (2.3)

This relationship between stress and strain for a bar in tension or compression is known as
Hooke’s law. The constant E is called the modulus of elasticity, elastic modulus, or Young’s modulus.