Mechanical Engineers

What is bevel protractor ? A bevel protractor is a graduated circular protractor with one pivoted arm used for measuring or marking off angles. Sometimes Vernier scales are attached to give more precise readings. It has wide application in architectural and mechanical drawing, although its use is decreasing with the availability of modern drawing software or CAD. Universal bevel protractors are also used by toolmakers, as they measure angles by mechanical contact they are classed as mechanical protractors. The bevel protractor is used to establish and test angles to very close tolerances. It reads to 5 minutes or 1/12° and can measure any angle from 0° to 360°. The bevel protractor consists of a beam, a graduated dial and a blade which is connected to a swivel plate (with Vernier scale) by thumb nut and clamp. When the edges of the beam and blade are parallel, a small mark on the swivel plate coincides with the zero line on the graduated dial. To m...

Have you ever wondered ? Why capacity of domestic refrigerator and Air Conditioner (AC) is different though both are refrigeration system? What is the basic difference between them with respect to the cooling capacity? The capacity of domestic refrigerator is normally rated in 'Litre'. Litre actually a unit of volume and it is also applicable to the domestic refrigerator while dealing with space to be cooled. Thus, litre capacity actually indicates the volume or space to be cooled by domestic refrigerator. On the other hand, capacity of Air Conditioner (AC) is given by term 'Ton'. Now, this term,   What is one Ton refrigeration? 'Ton' is actually a name given to amount of heat to be extracted from 1 short ton (907.18474 kg) of water at 0 degree C to convert it to ice at the same temperature in 24 hours. (Note: 1 large ton = 1016.0469 kg, 1 metric ton = Tonne = 1000 kg) In other words, refrigeration rate required to freeze 1 ton of wa...

BASICS OF POWERTRAIN The powertrain of a vehicle provides the means of generating power (the engine) and the means of transmitting that power to the wheels (the driveline). The most basic powertrain consists of an engine plus various driveline components as required for the particular powertrain configuration. These include components for torque multiplication (Transmission/Transaxle/Differential), power transmission (Shafts, chains, belts), and power distribution (Rear End/Differential). Engine Configurations The engine configuration of the car has a big impact on weight distribution. It also dictates the driveline requirements, which in turn affect weight distribution as well. Weight distribution tends to be front-biased in production-based vehicles, so achieving a balance requires moving components to the rear of the car. In scratch-built  cars, the engine tends to be moved further rearward, cancelling the front weight bias. The front engine configuration, as ...

You all are aware from this word IC Engine, but still don't know what exactly it is. "An  internal combustion engine  (ICE) is a heat  engine  where the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit." The  internal combustion engine  is an engine in which the burning of a fuel occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. This exothermic reaction of a fuel with an oxidizer creates gases of high temperature and pressure, which are permitted to expand. The defining feature of an internal combustion engine is that useful work is performed by the expanding hot gases acting directly to cause movement, for example by acting on pistons, rotors, or even by pressing on and moving the entire engine itself. This contrasts with external combustion engines, such as steam engines, which use the combustion process to heat ...

You all know about turbines, here is a brief view of turbines. What actually turbine is :   A  turbine  is a turbo machine with at least one moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. A windmill is the simplest kind of turbine: a machine designed to capture some of the  energy  from a moving fluid (a liquid or a gas) so it can be put to use. As the wind blows past a windmill's sails, they rotate, removing some of the wind's  kinetic energy  (energy of movement) and converting it into mechanical energy that turns heavy, rotating stones inside the mill. The faster the wind blows, the more energy it contains; the faster the sails spin, the more energy is supplied to the mill. Adding more sails to the windmill or changing their design so they catch the wind better can also help to capture more of the wind's energy....

SOLAR PANEL Although solar is becoming more popular everyday people still don’t know how solar panels work. Certain competing energy concerns have campaigns to discredit and confused consumers on how solar energy is generated. There are many considerations in regards to solar and distinctions between residential and industrial, between being off the grid and connecting the grid.  This simple guide will outline how Solar Panels Work. Here’s a quick “how solar panels work” guide to the steps that it takes to turn sunlight into electricity using solar panels: Every day, light hits your roof’s solar panels with photons (particles of sunlight). The panel converts those photons into electrons of direct current (“DC”) electricity. Naturally, the sunnier it is, the more energy is produced by the panels. Those produced electrons flow out of the panel and into an inverter and other electrical safety devices. The  inverter converts that “DC...

Air conditioners and refrigerators work the same way. Instead of cooling just the small, insulated space inside of a refrigerator, an air conditioner cools a room, a whole house, or an entire business. Air conditioners use chemicals that easily convert from a gas to a liquid and back again. This chemical is used to transfer heat from the air inside of a home to the outside air. The machine has three main parts. They are a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator. The compressor and condenser are usually located on the outside air portion of the air conditioner. The evaporator is located on the inside the house, sometimes as part of a furnace. That's the part that heats your house. The working fluid arrives at the compressor as a cool, low-pressure gas. The compressor squeezes the fluid. This packs the molecule of the fluid closer together. The closer the molecules are together, the higher its energy and its temperature. The working fluid leaves the compresso...

Four laws of thermodynamics The so-called Zeroth Law is a bit more fundamental than the other Three Laws. It came into being after the Three. It essentially says that if each of two systems is in equilibrium with a third system, the first two are in equilibrium with one another.  The First Law basically says that energy or matter can neither be created nor destroyed. In terms of the machine, this meant that the total energy output (work by the machine) is equal to the heat supplied. In other words, the change in the internal energy of a closed system is equal to the heat added to the system minus the work done by the system. Because the system operates in the real world, some energy always escapes into the outside world, thus leading to both inefficiency and the Second Law, which was generated to cover the so-called flaw in the First Law.  The Second Law essentially says that it is impossible to obtain a process where the unique effect is the subtraction of a posit...

Conduction Conduction transfers heat via direct molecular collision. An area of greater kinetic energy will transfer thermal energy to an area with lower kinetic energy. Higher-speed particles will collide with slower speed particles. The slower-speed particles will increase in kinetic energy as a result. Conduction is the most common form of heat transfer and occurs via physical contact. Examples would be to place your hand against a window or place metal into an open flame.  The process of heat conduction depends on the following factors: temperature gradient, cross-section of the material, length of the travel path, and physical material properties. The temperature gradient is the physical quantity that describes the direction and rate of heat travel. Temperature flow will always occur from hottest to coldest or, as stated before, higher to lower kinetic energy. Once there’s thermal equilibrium between the two temperature differences, the thermal transfer stops. Cross-s...

Solar impulse is one of the most innovative ideas in the world and it's success proves that nothing is impossible. Do you know what is solar impulse? If not then do not worry , here is a little glimpse of solar impulse. According to wiki : " Solar Impulse   is a Swiss long-range   experimental   solar-powered aircraft   project, and also the name of the project's two operational aircraft. [2]   The privately financed project is led by Swiss engineer and businessman   André Borschberg   and Swiss psychiatrist and aeronaut   Bertrand Piccard , who co-piloted   Breitling Orbiter 3 , the first   balloon   to circle the world non-stop. [3] The Solar Impulse project's goals were to make the first   circumnavigation   of the Earth by a piloted   fixed-wing aircraft   using only solar power and to bring attention to   clean technologies . [4]   Reflecting on these goals, Mike Scott wrote in   Forb...