Elements of Machine Design

In Elements of Machine Design, you'll learn ...

• The properties and functions of engineering materials (e.g., iron, steel, aluminum, magnesium)
• Engineering drawing methods using geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
• Fasteners and couplings: Screw fasteners: unified inch screw threads, metric screw threads, Couplings: rigid, flanged, and flexible (universal joint)
• The advantages of using poly V belts over standard V belts for automotive accessory drive systems

Overview

Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.

Credit: 3 PDH

Length: 55 pages

The field of machine design includes a wide range of topics that merit the attention of many engineers. It involves working effectively with some of the most important materials, getting more precise control over the assembly and production process, analyzing mechanisms, using design formulas to make calculations for various engineering applications, and discovering or inventing new methods that improve the performance of materials, machines, components, and manufacturing parts or processes.

This course begins by looking at some of the fundamental elements of machine design, such as engineering materials, drawings, fasteners and couplings, and belts and pulleys. It then provides more in-depth design details on gears, bearings, and shafts, and examines the ways a simple beam formula can be used to calculate gearbox shaft loads and deflections. You will also learn more complex processes, like how to trace power flow through an automotive drive train—all the way from the engine to the torque converter, transmission, drive shaft, and wheels.

The course concludes with an explanation of patent law. You will discover how a bill recently passed in Congress has brought important changes to patent law, and you will get instructions on how engineers can apply for and obtain patents.

This course is designed for mechanical engineers, automotive engineers, design engineers, civil engineers, and engineers from any other discipline interested in machine design or mechanical power transmission.

Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained

This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:

• The properties and functions of engineering materials (e.g., iron, steel, aluminum, magnesium)
• Engineering drawing methods using geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
• Fasteners and couplings: Screw fasteners: unified inch screw threads, metric screw threads, Couplings: rigid, flanged, and flexible (universal joint)
• The advantages of using poly V belts over standard V belts for automotive accessory drive systems
• How standard beam formulas can be used to analyze shaft and bearing performance in standard industrial gear boxes: Shafting design, Anti-friction bearings (terminology, lubrication, application)
• Involute gears: their components and functions: Gear tooth terminology, types (spur, helical, bevel, spiral), bending, pitting
• The difference between simple gear trains and compound gears and how to calculate their overall ratios
• The differences between the Otto and diesel automotive engine cycles
• The function of an automotive torque converter and the power flow through it
• How to trace power flow through the various gears of an automotive manual transmission
• The operation and function of an automotive manual transmission synchronizer
• When an idea is patentable and how to obtain an engineering patent

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 20 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.