Mechanical Engineering Essentials Programme

Week 01 - Introduction to FEA

• What is FEA?
• Different types of Analysis Methods
  1. Analytical Method
  2. Experimental Method
  3. Numerical Method
• FEA explanation with cantilever beam
• Stress-Strain plot
• General steps followed in FEA
• Mesh elements
  1. H-refinement
  2. P-refinement
• Summary

Week 02 - Introduction to Types of FEA analysis

• Structural Analysis
• Static Analysis
• Dynamic Analysis
• Difference between Static and Dynamic Analysis
• Linear and Nonlinear Analysis

Week 03 - Introduction to SOLIDWORKS Simulation Environment

• Important SOLIDWORKS modelling features
  • SOLIDWORKS Sketch
  • SOLIDWORKS Features
• Introduction to SOLIDWORKS Simulation
• Performing a Simple Cantilever Load Analysis

Week 04 - Performing Basic FEA Analysis using SOLIDWORKS Simulation

• Static Linear Analysis
• Static Nonlinear Analysis
• Dynamic Linear and Nonlinear Analysis

Week 05 - 1D/2D and 3D FEA Analysis

• Situations where 1D, 2D and 3D simulations are used
• Performing 1D simulation in SOLIDWORKS
• Performing 2D simulation in SOLIDWORKS
• Performing 3D simulation in SOLIDWORKS

Week 06 - Parametric/Design Study

• What is a parametric study and why is it used?
• Advantages of performing a parametric study
• How to access parametric study in SOLIDWORKS?
• Performing a parametric study on a wine bottle

Week 07 - Buckling Analysis

• What is buckling?
• Difference between bending and buckling
• Relationship between buckling shape and types of fixtures
• Performing a buckling analysis in SOLIDWORKS

Week 08 - Fatigue Analysis

• What is a Fatigue Analysis?
• Applications of Fatigue Analysis
• Application of SN Curve in Fatigue Analysis
• Endurance Limit
• Stress Analysis of S-hook
• Fatigue Analysis of S-hook
  • Constant Amplitude Fatigue Study
  • Variable Amplitude Fatigue Study
  • Harmonic (Fatigue of Sinusoidal Loading)
  • Random Vibration (Fatigue of Random Vibration)

Week 09 - Drop Test

• What is a drop test?
• How do you access drop tests in SOLIDWORKS?
• Performing a drop test of a PCB board
• Discussion of results

Week 10 - Frequency Analysis

• Reason for Performing a Frequency Analysis
• Natural Frequency and Resonance
• Mode Shapes
  Types of Solvers in SOLIDWORKS Frequency Analysis
• Frequency Analysis of Support Brackets
• Discussion of Results

Week 01 - Introduction to CFD and SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation

• An Introduction to the Concepts of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Week 02 - Steady-state Simulation of a Pipe Flow

• You will learn to model simple geometry using SOLIDWORKS.
• You will also learn how to set up a fluid study in SOLIDWORKS, and understand the necessary boundary conditions, along with the initial conditions to run the simulation.
• In this module, you will learn how to change the mesh settings as well. 
• Also, the following topics are covered in this week,
  • Simulating flow through a pipe.
  • Parametric studies and grid dependency tests.
  • Concepts of global maxima and global minima. 

Week 03 - Transient Flow Simulation of Flow over a Cylinder

• You will be introduced to the concepts of external simulation and transient analysis. You will be learning how to calculate the total flow time and output time step.

Week 04 - Flow Over an Airfoil

• You will learn how to import the NACA airfoil data into SOLIDWORKS to create airfoil geometry. 
• You will also learn how to
  • Simulate the flow over a 2D NACA airfoil.
  • Calculate the drag and lift forces for the various angles of attack.

Week 05 - Flow over an IC Engine Valve

• You will be learning the effect of the valve lifts over the mass flow rate. You will learn how to create flow trajectories.
• And perform the following calculations,
  • Perform transient analysis at different valve lifts
  • Create a plot of lift vs mass flow rate

Week 06 - Flow-through a Simple Centrifugal Pump

• In this module, you will be introduced to the concept of a moving reference frame while also learning about the rotating body feature in SOLIDWORKS.
• You will complete the following projects within this module:
  • Using the MRF approach to simulate flow through a centrifugal pump
  • Plotting a pump performance curve

Week 01 - Design and MBD Simulation on Geneva Mechanism

• You will be introduced to motion study in SOLIDWORKS.
• You will learn the concepts of the Geneva mechanism and their types.
• You will also learn how to model and assemble the external Geneva mechanism, and how to perform a motion study on it.
• You will learn how to plot the contact force between the parts.
• In this module, you will study the following,
  • Understanding the basics of modeling and assembling in SOLIDWORKS
  • Pre-processing the model for the motion analysis and running a simulation
  • Post-processing the simulation to get the results as plots

Week 02 -Design and MBD Simulation on a Machine Vice

• You will be introduced to the machine vice and will learn to model and assemble the machine vice
• You will learn about screw mates and how to perform motion studies on it
• These are the things you will learn in this module:
  • Introduction to the screw mate
  • Tracing the displacement of the movable jaw

Week 03 -Design and MBD Simulation on Planetary Gear Train

• You will learn the concepts of the planetary gear train and gear terminology.
• You will learn how to import the standards gears in SOLIDWORKS to do the motion study.
• Topics given below will be covered in this module:
  • Learning the basic gear terminology to model a gear
  • Understanding the speed and torque variation
  • Learning about the application of gear mate

Week 04 - Design and MBD simulation on IC engine Piston Assembly

• You will learn about the concepts of the IC engine piston kinematics and you will learn how to design and do the motion study.
• You will study the following in this module
  • Understanding the effect of wrist pin offset in the piston displacement.
  • Assigning the material to the parts

Week 05 - Design and MBD simulation on IC Engine Valve Train

• You will learn to model the IC engine valve train.
• You will learn the effect of spring in the valve train.
• You will learn how to calculate the cam lift and will design the cam based on it
• These are the topics you will study in this module,
  • Understanding the application of the CAM
  • Performing a calculation to model the CAM as per the valve lift specifications.
  • Studying about the damping coefficient and the free length of spring

Week 1 - Introduction to MATLAB

MATLAB has a series of commands and functions that instruct the program to perform a task. Just like any other programming language, it has a syntax that defines the rules of the symbols and characters used to write a code. It is important for learners to understand the MATLAB syntax, basic commands, and functions to write effective programs. 

This week will cover

• MATLAB syntax and commands 
• Methods and ways to use commands in different scenarios
• Manipulation of calculations and comparisons
• Use of arrays.
• Functions (plotting, creating animations, creating figures, and more)

Week 2 - Forward Kinematics Simulator

Forward kinematics is the process of determining the position of a robot’s end-effector by using kinematic equations with known values of angular velocities and joint parameters. It is important for learners to understand how MATLAB can be used to determine the unknown values in the kinematic equations, as well as simulate the movement of the manipulator.  

This week will cover

• Manipulator motion using ImageMagick
• Simulation of a 2R robotic arm manipulator
• Creating a movie clip with the spatial motions of a robotic arm
• ‘For’ loop in programming
• Working of the “hold on” command
• Arrays and linspace commands

Week 3 - Air Standard Cycle Simulator

The air standard cycle considers air as the working fluid which goes through heat addition and heat rejection. This is a thermodynamic closed loop cycle in which heat energy is converted into mechanical power. By using MATLAB, the pressure and volume diagram of air standard cycles can be plotted and simulated. It is important to understand how to solve for the kinematic equations involved in the air standard cycle, and how to plot the diagram using MATLAB. 

This week will cover

• Solving piston kinematics equation to calculate volume trace
• PV diagrams for different operating conditions.
• Thermodynamic relationships
• Pressure-volume variations
• Order of the program
• Plots & legends used in the graphs
• Piston kinematics

Week 4 - Vibrations and Dynamics

Vibrations and dynamics are at the core of physical systems. Most mechanical engineering systems are dynamic in nature. These systems can be represented by equations of motion that form a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). It is important for learners to understand how to solve these ODEs, and their application in a real-world context.

This week will cover

• Backward difference formula (BDF) and forward difference formula (FDF) methods to solve ODEs
• Real use of differential equations
• How differential equations relate to real-world applications
• Solving differential equations
• ODE solvers, syntax of ODEs, and various supplementary commands

Week 5 - Curve Fitting and Regression

Curve fitting is used to understand the relationship between different variables by constructing a curve that fits best through a series of data points. Regression analysis identifies the strength of the relationship between two or more variables. This lets engineers understand the relationship between system input and output, as well as predict how the system will behave in the future. Curve fitting and regression can both be done using MATLAB. It is important to understand curve fitting and regression analysis when working with physical systems in MATLAB. 

This week will cover

• Polynomials and their best fits
• PolyFit and PolyVal commands
• Calculating errors
• Sum of squares regression (SSR)
• Sum of squares error (SSE)
• Sum of squares total (SST)

Week 6 - Genetic Algorithm

The genetic algorithm is based on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection in which each step identifies the ‘best’ set of parents to reproduce children. Overtime, the continuous process of doing this yields an optimal population. In the same way, the genetic algorithm can be applied to optimization problems and performed using MATLAB. It is important for learners to understand the genetic algorithm, and how it can be used as an optimization technique.  

This week will cover 

• Optimization techniques 
• Working of the genetic algorithm
• Genetic algorithm syntax and finding the global maxima
• Stalagmite functions and how it works
• Population size, number of generations, fitness value, and termination of further generations

Week 01-Introduction to Python

• This module provides an introduction to Python using different mathematical operations and performing operations such as,
  • Array manipulations
  • Plotting and understanding the relationship between 2 variables
  • Looping using one or more looping conditions

Week 02-Plotting and Visualization

• In this module, you will write programs that plot the p-v line of an air standard cycle and also create animations for a robotic arm with 2 degrees of freedom and simulate the motion of a pendulum.
  • In this module, you will learn the following,
    • Understanding the relationship between 2 variables using plots
    • Saving plots and creating animations using ImageMagick
    • Using tables

Week 03-Solving Dynamic Equations

• In this module, you will learn to solve ordinary differential equations using the SciPy module. This is of particular interest since differential equations govern the equations of motion for various mechanical systems and this method can be used to numerically solve initial value problems.
  • Using odeint to solve initial value differential equations
  • Create a pendulum using the available coordinates
  • Plotting and saving images
  • Creating an animation using ImageMagick

Week 04-Curve Fitting and Regression

• In this module, you will learn how to perform curve fitting using Python.
• Curve fitting finds widespread use in predicting the relationship between different variables for which an existing relationship doesn’t exist.
• Furthermore, curve fitting can also be used as a predictive tool in machine learning and AI to predict what will happen in the future using the trend of the plot.
• Students will learn about, 
  • Curve fitting using the SciPy module
  • Learning how to check how well the data has been fitted

Week 05-Understanding Iterative Solvers

• This module covers iterative solvers, which find widespread use in the solution of polynomial equations, and other aspects like understanding how to obtain the solution in the most optimised manner possible.
• This module also explains,
  • How to use an iterative solver
  • How to use while loops?

Week 06-Data Analysis

• The final module of the coursework deals with data manipulation, which is used in many industries like CAE and CFD to post-process the results from the simulation.
• This is particularly useful if the same simulation is run multiple times for different configurations, and this code can be used to obtain the data automatically.
• At the end of this module, you will be able to,
  • Take data from a file and manipulate the data to create meaningful plots.
  • Make the necessary calculations.
  • Automate the post-processing procedure.