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Session No. 1625

Using Computers in Machine Design

Edward M. Vavrek Purdue University North Central

I. Introduction Machine Elements is a course that covers topics of machine components such as gears, bearings, belt drives, and other power transmission components. The students learn how to size, select, and design these components for machines. It also involves the stress analysis of manufactured parts such as shafts and brackets. I have written 4 programs to be used to assist the student in learning these topics. Each software program simplifies and streamlines the design and selection process by allowing the student to do calculations quickly and easily, while learning the design procedure. The programs follow the manufacturers procedures on sizing machine components. Many manufacturers have their own software to size and select components. The focus of their software is to make it as easy as possible for the user to size and select a machine component. Their goal is not to educate the user on how the sizing is done. The difference between a manufacturer’s software and this software is this program is intended to teach students how to size and select machine components. This software will explain and show each step of the design procedure. This program will assist in the understanding of machine components. All the programs are written in visual basic, which is an event driven program. The student can go through the program inputting values into text boxes and initiating events by clicking on command buttons. One significant advantage of the software is, that graphs, figures, pictures, tables, and charts are incorporated into the program so the program functions like an interactive book. The student does not need to look up any information in a textbook or a manufactures catalog. All the information required to solve the design problem is given in the tables and graphs in the program. The program is visual and interactive which helps guide the student through the design process. The user should have some basic knowledge of machine elements before using the program. Most inputs are taken from graphs, charts, or tables so the student sees where and how the information is obtained and used. Outputs are shown with their appropriated figures, drawings, or calculations to assist the student in understanding what the output means. The software program has a main menu to allow the user to select different options. Some of the programs the student can select from are: Belt Drive System Analysis, Single Row Ball Bearing Design, Spur Gear Design, and Horsepower Requirements for Equipment. These software programs are used as a tool to help students learn the design process. The students are lectured on the topics mentioned above, and solve problems on these topics. The students can solve the same problems using the software. Design problems are an iterative process by nature. As the user goes through the process of designing a machine component, the first output is usually not

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright p 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Vavrek, E. (2003, June), Using Computers In Machine Design Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12263