Lecture 1

:
The engineering design process
 Review engineering materials and their properties
 Stress-Strain diagrams and the material strengths
Factor of Safety and Reliability factor
 Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, the student should be able
to:
 Know The engineering design process
 Identify engineering materials and their properties
 Explain Strain Stress diagrams and the material strength
 Apply Factor of Safety and Reliability factor
1.1 Introduction
 Mechanical design is a complex process, requiring many skills.
Extensive relationships need to be subdivided into a series of
simple tasks. The complexity of the process requires a sequence in
which ideas are introduced and iterated.
We first address the nature of design in general, and then
mechanical engineering design in particular. Design is an iterative
process with many interactive phases. Many resources exist to
support the designer, including many sources of information and an
abundance of computational design tools. Design engineers need
not only develop competence in their field but they must also
cultivate a strong sense of responsibility and professional work
ethic.
To design is either to formulate a plan for the satisfaction of a
specified need or to solve a specific problem. If the plan results in
the creation of something having a physical reality, then the
product must be functional, safe, reliable, competitive, usable,
manufactureable, and marketable.
Design is an innovative and highly iterative process. It is also
a decision-making process. Decisions sometimes have to be
made with too little information, occasionally with just the
right amount of information, or with an excess of partially
contradictory information. Decisions are sometimes made
tentatively, with the right reserved to adjust as more becomes
known. The point is that the engineering designer has to be
personally comfortable with a decision-making, problem-
solving role.
 Design is a communication-intensive activity in which both
words and pictures are used, and written and oral forms are
employed. Engineers have to communicate effectively and
work with people of many disciplines. These are important
skills, and an engineer’s success depends on them.
1.2 The engineering the Design Process
The complete design process, from start to finish, is often
outlined as in Fig. 1–1. The process begins with an
identification of a need and a decision to do something about
it. After many iterations, the process ends with the
presentation of the plans for satisfying the need.
 Identification of need, generally starts the design process.
Recognition of the need and phrasing the need often
constitute a highly creative act, because the need may be only
a vague discontent, a feeling of uneasiness, or a sensing that
something is not right. The need is often not evident at all;
recognition can be triggered by a particular adverse
circumstance or a set of random circumstances that arises
almost simultaneously.
Figure 1–1
The phases in design,
acknowledging the
many feedbacks and
iterations.
The definition of problem is more specific and must
include all the specifications for the object that is to be
designed. The specifications are the input and output
quantities, the characteristics and dimensions of the
space the object must occupy, and all the limitations on
these quantities. We can regard the object to be designed
as something in a black box. In this case we must
specify the inputs and outputs of the box, together with
their characteristics and limitations. The specifications
define the cost, the number to be manufactured, the
expected life, the range, the operating temperature, and
the reliability. Specified characteristics can include the
speeds, feeds, temperature limitations, maximum range,
expected variations in the variables, dimensional and
weight limitations, etc.
The synthesis of a scheme connecting possible system
elements is sometimes called the invention of the concept or
concept design. This is the first and most important step in the
synthesis task. Various schemes must be proposed,
investigated, and quantified in terms of established metrics. As
the fleshing out of the scheme progresses, analyses must be
performed to assess whether the system performance is
satisfactory or better, and, if satisfactory, just how well it will
perform.
 Both analysis and optimization require that we construct
or devise abstract models of the system that will admit some
form of mathematical analysis. We call these models
mathematical models. In creating them it is our hope that we
can find one that will simulate the real physical system very
well.
 Evaluation is a significant phase of the total design
process. Evaluation is the final proof of a successful design
and usually involves the testing of a prototype in the
laboratory. Here we wish to discover if the design really
satisfies the needs.
Communicating the design to others is the final, vital
presentation step in the design process. Presentation is a
selling job. The engineer, when presenting a new solution to
administrative, management, or supervisory persons, is
attempting to sell or to prove to them that their solution is a
better one.
1.3 Stress-Strain diagrams and the material strength
In designing various parts of a machine, it is necessary to
know how the material will function in service. For this,
certain characteristics or properties of the material should be
known. The mechanical properties mostly used in mechanical
engineering practice are commonly determined from a
standard tensile test. This test consists of gradually loading a
standard specimen of a material and noting the corresponding
values of load and elongation until the specimen fractures. The
load is applied and measured by a testing machine. The stress
is determined by dividing the load values by the original cross-
sectional area of the specimen.
The elongation is measured by determining the amounts that
two reference points on the specimen are moved apart by the..
…action of the machine. The original distance between the
two reference points is known as gauge length. The strain is
determined by dividing the elongation values by the gauge
length. The values of the stress and corresponding strain are
used to draw the stress-strain diagram of the material tested. A
stress-strain diagram for a mild steel under tensile test is
shown in Fig. 1.2 (a). The various properties of the material
are discussed below :
Fig. 1.2. Stress-strain diagram
for a mild steel
1. Proportional limit. We see from the diagram that from
point O to A is a straight line, which represents that the
stress is proportional to strain. Beyond point A, the curve
slightly deviates from the straight line. It is thus obvious,
that Hooke's law holds good up to point A and it is known
as proportional limit. It is defined as that stress at which
the stress-strain curve begins to deviate from the straight
line.
2. Elastic limit. It may be noted that even if the load is
increased beyond point A upto the point B, the material will
regain its shape and size when the load is removed. This
means that the material has elastic properties up to the
point B. This point is known as elastic limit. It is defined as
the stress developed in the material without any permanent
3. Yield point. If the material is stressed beyond point B, the
plastic stage will reach i.e. on the removal of the load, the
material will not be able to recover its original size and shape.
A little consideration will show that beyond point B, the strain
increases at a faster rate with any increase in the stress until
the point C is reached. At this point, the material yields before
the load and there is an appreciable strain without any increase
in stress. In case of mild steel, it will be seen that a small load
drops to D, immediately after yielding commences. Hence
there are two yield points C and D. The points C and D are
called the upper and lower yield points respectively. The
stress corresponding to yield point is known as yield point
stress.
4. Ultimate stress. At D, the specimen regains some strength
and higher values of stresses are required for higher strains,
than those between A and D. The stress (or load) goes on
increasing till the point E is reached. The gradual increase in
the strain (or length) of the specimen is followed with the
uniform reduction of its cross-sectional area. The work done,
during stretching the specimen, is transformed largely into
heat and the specimen becomes hot. At E, the stress, which
attains its maximum value is known as ultimate stress. It is
defined as the largest stress obtained by dividing the largest
value of the load reached in a test to the original cross-
sectional area of the test piece.
5. Breaking stress. After the specimen has reached the
ultimate stress, a neck is formed, which decreases the cross-
sectional area of the specimen, as shown in Fig.1.2 (b). A little
consideration will show that the stress (or load) necessary to
break away the specimen, is less than the maximum stress.
The stress is, therefore, reduced until the specimen breaks
away at point F. The stress corresponding to point F is known
as breaking stress.
6. Percentage reduction in area. It is the difference between
the original cross-sectional area and cross-sectional area at the
neck (i.e. where the fracture takes place). This difference is
expressed as percentage of the original cross-sectional area.
Let A = Original cross-sectional area, and
a = Cross-sectional area at the neck.
7. Percentage elongation. It is the percentage increase in the
standard gauge length (i.e. original length) obtained by
measuring the fractured specimen after bringing the broken parts
together.
Let l = Gauge length or original length, and
L = Length of specimen after fracture or final length.
∴ Elongation = L – l
and percentage elongation =
As a result of series of experiments, Barba estabilished a law
that in tension, similar test pieces deform similarly and two test
pieces are said to be similar if they have the same value of
where l is the gauge length and A is the cross-sectional area.
A little consideration will show that the same material will
give the same percentage elongation and percentage
reduction in area.
It has been found experimentally by Unwin that the general
extension (up to the maximum load) is proportional to the
gauge length of the test piece and that the local extension
(from maximum load to the breaking load) is proportional to
the square root of the cross-sectional area. According to
Unwin's formula, the increase in length,
where l = Gauge length,
A = Cross-sectional area, and
b and C = Constants depending upon the quality of the
material.
The values of b and C are determined by finding the values
of δl for two test pieces of known length (l) and area (A).
Example 1.1. A mild steel rod of 12 mm diameter was tested
for tensile strength with the gauge length of 60 mm.
Following observations were recorded :
Final length = 80 mm; Final diameter = 7 mm; Yield load =
3.4 kN and Ultimate load = 6.1 kN.
Calculate : 1. yield stress, 2. ultimate tensile stress, 3.
percentage reduction in area, and 4. percentage elongation.
 0.33 or 33%
l 60
1.3 Factor of Safety and Reliability factor
Factor of Safety is defined, in general, as the ratio of the
maximum stress to the working stress. Mathematically,

In case of ductile materials e.g. mild steel, where the yield

point is clearly defined, the factor of safety is based upon the
yield point stress. In such cases,

In case of brittle materials e.g. cast iron, the yield point is not
well defined as for ductile materials.
Therefore, the factor of safety for brittle materials is based on
ultimate stress.
The selection of a proper factor of safety to be used in
designing any machine component depends upon a number of
considerations, such as the material, mode of manufacture,
type of stress, general service conditions and shape of the
parts. Before selecting a proper factor of safety, a design
engineer should consider the following points :
1. The reliability of the properties of the material and change
of these properties during service ;
2. The reliability of test results and accuracy of application of
these results to actual machine parts ;
3. The reliability of applied load ;
4. The certainty as to exact mode of failure ;
5. The extent of simplifying assumptions ;
6. The extent of localized stresses ;
7. The extent of initial stresses set up during manufacture ;
8. The extent of loss of life if failure occurs ; and
9. The extent of loss of property if failure occurs.
Each of the above factors must be carefully considered and
evaluated. The high factor of safety results in unnecessary risk
of failure. The values of factor of safety based on ultimate
strength for different materials.
Reliability
It is very important for the designer and the manufacturer to
know the reliability of their product. The reliability method of
design is one in which we obtain the distribution of stresses
and the distribution of strengths and then relate these two in
order to achieve an acceptable success rate.
The statistical measure of the probability that a mechanical
element will not fail in use is called the reliability of that
element. The reliability R can be expressed by

where pf is the probability of failure, given by the number of

instances of failures per total number of possible instances.
The value of R falls in the range 0 < R < 1. A reliability of R =
0.90 means that there is a 90 percent chance that the part will
perform its proper function without failure. The failure of 6
parts out of every 1000 manufactured might be considered an
acceptable failure rate for a certain class of products. This
represents a reliability of
or 99.4 percent.

In the reliability method of design, the designer’s task is to

make a selection of materials, processes, and geometry (size)
so as to achieve a specific reliability goal.
Thus, if the objective reliability is to be 99.4 percent, as above,
what combination of materials, processing, and dimensions is
needed to meet this goal? If a mechanical system fails when
any one component fails, the system is said to be a series
system. If the reliability of component i is Ri in a series system
of n components, then the reliability of the system is given by

For example, consider a shaft with two bearings having

reliabilities of 95 percent and 98 percent. From Eq. the overall
reliability of the shaft system is then….

or 93 percent.