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Applied Mechanical Design

Ammar Grous

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Preface

This book is designed for students in specialized schools and in science and technology universities, and also for professionals in the industrial sector. Its content is based on case studies with given solutions, which are targeted and discussed. This content is drawn from the author’s own classes in applied mechanical design. It gives an overview of all the necessary elements of knowledge, and the methods for analyzing and selecting materials. The book is written as a didactic tool to guide readers in their approach to design, making heavy reference to industry.

The construction of the book is founded primarily on intuition where Arts and Industry are concerned. University courses in Technology offer solutions to the problems arising in design, but do not always present an exhaustive list of the numerous steps that need to be followed at the implementation stage. Sometimes, solutions put forward in mechanical design refer to diagrams without saying anything of the “how”, the “why” or the “where”… The thought process surrounding design is far more subtle, much deeper and, in many respects, considerably more complex than it might, at first glance, appear to be. The approach to design must begin with concise methods which enable us to:

In this book, we examine a protocol which qualifies and quantifies the requirements, beginning with a clearly written set of Functional Specifications (FS). The methods and analyses herein aim to satisfy the expressed need.

In particular, it is absolutely crucial to have, at our disposal, mathematical and physical tools to calculate the mechanical resistance of materials. Knowledge of how materials behave is fundamentally important to enlightened design; in other words, the results of calculations, even fairly accurate, constitute simple pedagogical mathematical exercises which have no bearing on the final decision taken on a project. The case studies presented here are the result of the author’s research and targeted work in mechanical design. They are taken directly from the author’s teaching materials which have, in turn, given rise to manuals and a wide range of publications, including manufacturer catalogs on an international scale.

At the end of the book, readers will find case studies which have previously been discussed in the author’s classes, with a view to finding solutions. They are invited to make use of these materials for an appropriate illuminating study, in keeping with the workshop tools and lab tools available to them. In applied mechanical design, there is no single solution, but instead a range of possible solutions in view of the means and methods being used.

Ammar GROUS

December 2017