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Introduction to Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering is one of the oldest engineering professions. Mechanical Engineering
can trace its roots back to the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution, from 1750 to 1800 in
Europe and 1800 to 1850 in the United States. The invention of the steam engine by James Watt
in 1802, propelled the growth in this field by leaps and bounds. After the invention of the
automobile, both the need for precisely machined metal and a more formalized method of
assembling the components.

Mechanical Engineering is the study, design, development, construction, and testing of

mechanical and thermal sensors and devices, including tools, engines, and machines. Mechanical
Engineering careers centre on creating technologies to meet a wide range of human needs.

Mechanical Engineering subjects include Automobile Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering,

Power Plant Engineering, Thermal Engineering, and Mechatronics engineering, which is a
combination of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering.

Role of Mechanical Engineering in Industries and Society:

Mechanical Engineer will play a vital role in the sustainable development of the industry and the
society. Starting from the conceptualization of the product to the design, manufacturing, sales and
service to the end of life of a product i.e, recycling.

To start with, for a design a product mechanical engineer has to conceptualize the product, draw
the pre form of the product, then apply the mechanical design and will build the product for its
strength.

Mechanical Engineer role as a manufacturing Engineering is a huge. Studying the design, laying
out the tooling for the production and optimize the raw material consumption in the
manufacturing a component requires huge skills as a mechanical Engineering.

Mechanical Engineer also place a vital role in the logistics, procuring the materials for the
production, maintaining the adequate material in the stores, dispatching the finished products to
the consumer is the role of a Logistic Engineer.

Mechanical Engineer also works as a safety Engineer in an Industry. Taking care of the human
resources, machineries, equipment’s and planning out the safer working conditions and ensuring
the safety of the operations is the responsibility of the safety engineer.

Mechanical Engineer plays a vital role in the overall growth of the economy as well as the
Society. Meeting the demand for a product to the optimum utilization of the resources taken care
by the mechanical Engineer. Designing a product for longer product life cycle and reutilization/
recycling the product reduces the dependency of the materials by the industry. Also, developing
newer equipment’s, devices for harnessing the renewable sources energy reduces the
dependencies on the fossil fuels. This in turn contribute the green energy, low or no emission of
carbon and its compounds.
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Following are few of the areas where in Mechanical Engineer play his role in an industry: Design
Engineer, Production Manager, Safety Engineer, QA Engineer, Logistic Manager, Data analyst,
Drafts man, Sales Executive, Customer Service etc.,

Emerging Trends and Technologies in Mechanical Engineering in different Sectors:

Energy: The energy sector is a category that relate to producing or supplying energy. The energy
sector or industry includes companies involved in the exploration and development of oil or gas
reserves, oil and gas drilling, and refining. The energy industry also includes integrated power
utility companies such as renewable energy and coal.

Figure: Solar PV Panels and Wind Turbines

Advent of technology and raising concern on the use of fossil fuels gives an opportunity to think of
the energy harnessing through renewable resources. Increased efficiency in the solar PV cells, ease
in the manufacturing of complicated shapes of a wind turbine blades through various manufacturing
process, newer innovations in the electric vehicles, newer materials compositions to produce parts
used in devises etc., creating the opportunity to extract the energy at low cost through renewable
sources and avoiding the dependency on fossil fuels.

Manufacturing: Manufacturing is the process of converting the raw material into a finished
product. The technology had taken a great leap in the manufacturing sector. Along with side of
conventional manufacturing methods other manufacturing methods are also practicing in the
industry. Lean manufacturing, just in time manufacturing (JIT), Flexible manufacturing system
(FMS), Computer Integrated manufacturing (CIM) are already in use. Along with this additive
manufacturing is getting its importance in the new product development which reduces the material
and time.

Figure: CNC machine tool in Turning Operation

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Automotive Industry:

Figure: Concept of electric vehicle during docking

Indian Automobile market is the 3rd Largest automobile market in the world. The automobile
market seen a considerable changes in the advance of technology. Electric vehicles are the next
alternative to the conventional fossil fueled vehicles. Providing the better customer ride
experience electric vehicles are the future of automobile market. Also, Hybrid vehicles are
already in market uses dual fuel technology like electric and gasoline. Automation is another
aspect in the automobile industry. Use of mechatronics, internet, AI automobile manufacturers
are striving for the better user interface and comfort in automobile experience.

Aerospace Industry: Invention of new materials like composites, shape memory alloys added
the strength to weight ratio among the material used in the production of Aerospace vehicles.
Also, use of sophisticated manufacturing techniques in the building of aircrafts make the cost of
the air craft vehicles much economical.

Figure: Jet turbine used in Aircrafts

Marine Sector: Marine engineering is the discipline that deals with matters related to the design,
innovation, construction and maintenance of seagoing vessels and navigation equipment. Marine
engineers focus primary on the development and production of internal systems of boats, ships, or
submarines. They are engaged in designing propulsion systems, auxiliary power machinery and
operation equipment. Their technical responsibilities also include working on-board to maintain
these systems.
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ENERGY SOURCES AND POWER PLANTS

Contents:
Review of energy sources; Construction and working of Hydel power plant, Thermal power
plant, Nuclear power plant, Solar power plant, Tidal power plant, Wind power plant.
Review of energy sources:
 “Energy‟ is a word derived from the Greek word Energia‟, meaning capacity to do
work. Energy exists in various forms.
 The form of energy that bodies in motion possess is called kinetic energy.
 The energy related to the position of a body is called potential energy.
 The energy contained in a chemical system by virtue of the motion of and forces
between the individual atoms and molecules of the system is called internal energy.
There are different other forms of energy namely, kinetic energy, potential energy,
internal energy, mechanical energy, thermal energy, chemical energy etc. All forms of
energy are inter-convertible by appropriate processes.
Energy sources:
Energy either exists in the earth or comes from the outer space. The energy existing in the
earth is known as capital energy and that comes from the outer space is called celestial or
income energy
The capital energy sources are mainly, fossil fuels, nuclear fuels and heat traps. The celestial
energy sources include, electromagnetic, gravitational and particle energy from stars, planets
and moon, and as well as the potential energy of meteorites entering the earth’s atmosphere.
The useful celestial energy sources are the electromagnetic energy of the earth’s sun, called
direct solar energy and the gravitational energy of the earth’s moon producing tidal energy.
The other energy sources such as wind, hydel, geothermal, biofuel, etc. are derived from the
direct solar energy.
Conventional and Nonconventional Energy Sources
Conventional Energy Sources
Presently most of our energy needs comes mainly from fossil fuels such as, coal, petroleum
and natural gas, and hydel sources which are relatively cheaper. Although energy is also
produced from nuclear fuels, it is not being used on a large scale due to its inherent hazardous
nature and high cost of generation of power from nuclear source. Since the fossil fuels and
hydel sources are in use over several decades, they are called conventional energy sources.

Nonconventional Energy Sources

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The ever increasing rapid use of the fossil fuels day by day has threatened exhausting of this
source very soon. The hydel sources cannot become a major source of energy since it is not
available everywhere and also depends on the unpredictable nature of the hydrological cycle.
Moreover its cost of generation is also very high because of high initial investments and
transmission problems.
Therefore time has come for searching altogether other sources of energy which are
inexhaustible to gradually replace the conventional sources. Now the other alternate energy
sources that are tried for harnessing are, solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, ocean
thermal energy, bio energy, fuel cells, solid wastes, hydrogen, etc. These alternate
inexhaustible sources of energy are called nonconventional energy sources.
Advantages of renewable energy sources
1. The renewable energy sources are non-exhaustible.
2. Renewable energy sources can be matched in scale to the need and also can deliver the
energy required for a specific task.
3. Some of the renewable energy conversion systems can be built on or close to the site
where energy is required.
4. The diversity and technologies of renewable energy conversion systems offer more
flexibility in designing the conversion systems compared to the conventional energy
conversion systems.
5. The local or regional self-sufficiency can be achieved by harnessing locally available
renewable energy, which otherwise would be left unutilized.
6. Except biomass energy, all other renewable energy sources offer pollution-free
environment and maintain ecological balance.
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Disadvantages of renewable energy sources

1. Some of the energy sources are intermittently available (i.e. not continuously available).
E.g. solar energy, tidal energy, wind energy etc.
2. There is a limit to the rate at which solar energy is received at the Earth.

3. Renewable energy sources like wind energy, tidal energy etc. are concentrated only in
certain
Difference between renewable and non-renewable energy resources

Sl. Renewable energy sources Non-renewable energy sources

No.
1 Inexhaustible in nature.
2 Most of the renewable energy sources
are freely and readily available in
nature.
3 Non-reliable since energy
concentrationvaries from region
to region and time to time.
4 Initial costs of extracting energy are
high.
5 Rarely used due to limitations in their
equipment’s.
6 Energy transmission cost is less.
7 Eco-friendly in nature.
8 Maintenance cost is low.
9 Energy conversion equipment’s are not
well developed.
10 Energy conversion equipments are of
low efficiency.
11 E.g. direct solar energy, wind energy,
tidal energy, hydel energy, ocean
thermal energy, bio energy,
geothermal energy, peat, fuel wood,
fuel cells, solid wastes, hydrogen
energy etc.
Exhaustible in nature.
Most of the non-renewable energy
sources are not readily available in
nature.
Reliable, since energy
concentration isalmost constant
in all regions.
Initial costs are comparatively less.
Widely used due to maximum
availability of their equipment’s.
Energy transmission cost is relatively
more.
Not eco-friendly in nature.
Maintenance cost is high.
Energy conversion equipment’s are
well developed.
Energy conversion equipments are of
relatively high efficiency.
E.g. Fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and
petroleum products), nuclear fuels and
heat traps.
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Hydel Energy
Hydro energy is considered as an indirect source of solar energy. The water from the
earth’s surface gets evaporated by solar heat and is transported by winds. This in turn
results in rainfall. This hydrological cycle is going on since ages. The rain water flowing as
river can be stored to higher levels by building dams across the river and released in a
controlled way to generate mechanical power. The potential energy of water stored at a
height is converted into mechanical energy in water turbines. The mechanical energy
produced by the water turbines is further converted into electrical energy by the electric
generators which are coupled to the water turbines. A typical hydro-power station is as
shown in Fig. 03.

Fig.03: Layout of Hydroelectric power plant

The electrical energy generation by hydro-electric power plants is non-polluting and is a
renewable source of energy. The several problems associated with the hydro energy are,
construction of giant dams alters the ecology of both the upstream and downstream
regions, dislocation of living activities, submerging of agricultural lands, etc.
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Nuclear Power Plant

Most of the nuclear power plants are based on the fission of the nucleus of Uranium-235
atoms. This nucleus is relatively unstable and can split into two or more fragments when
struck by a neutron. The splitting or fission yields energy together with an emission of
more neutrons. These neutrons in turn can go on to cause further splits in other nuclei
producing more energy and more neutrons. This is known as a chain reaction. If there is a
sufficient mass of U-235 in suitable geometry we can get a self-sustaining chain reaction
which can, therefore lead to continuous generation of energy.
Fig 05 shows the schematic diagram of a Nuclear Power Plant. It essentially consists of a
Nuclear Reactor (which is a device where nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled
and also Sustained at a steady rate), a steam generator, a cooling water condenser, a
cooling tower, turbine and a generator. Control rods are housed inside the reactor vessel.
These rods are used to control the splitting of uranium atoms.
The Reactor and Steam generator are housed inside a Containment Structure. The Nuclear
reaction produces enormous amount of heat, which is transferred into a steam generator
where steam is produced by reaction of heat with cooling water. This steam is led to the
turbine using a Steam line and the steam is utilized to drive the turbine and hence generate
power using a generator.

Fig 05: Layout of nuclear power plant

Wind Power Plant
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of large masses of air moving over the earth’s surface.
Winds are caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun, the irregularities
of the earth’s surface, and rotation of the earth.
The kinetic energy of wind can be converted into mechanical work (in the form of rotation
of shaft) by a wind mill or wind turbine. Figure 7 shows the schematic of a wind turbine for
generating electricity.
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Fig 07: Layout of Wind power plant

A wind turbine consists of specially designed blades that are connected to a low speed
shaft. The shaft in turn is connected to a small generator fixed in the axis of the wind mill.
As shown in the figure. Most turbines have either two to three blades, and are made of fiber
glass-reinforced polyester, or wood-epoxy. The blades are designed large, to extract energy
from the largest possible volume of air. Since wind speed increases with height, the blades
are mounted high above the ground level by means of a tower.. This enables the blades to
capture more energy and hence generate more electricity. Towers are made from tubular
steel, concrete or steel lattice structure, depending on the needs and applications. A gear
box comprising of many gears connects the low-speed shaft to the high-speed generator
shaft in order to increase the rotational speeds from about 30-60 rotations per minute
(rpm) to about 1000-1800 rpm; the rotational speed required by most generators to
produce electricity.
In operation, the blades of the wind mill rotate due to the kinetic energy of the flow of
wind. This makes the shaft to rotate which in turn drives the generator to produce
electricity. The power produced by the generator is transferred down the tower to the
power grid system and then through the transmission lines.
Wind turbines work best on a large scale (wind farm’) in large open areas, where one can
install more wind turbines with towers tall enough to capture the full brunt of the wind
energy available. Coastal areas and areas near large bodies of water are often best suited.
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Solar flat Plate Collector

A solar flat plate collector typically consists of a large heat absorbing plate, usually a large
sheet of copper or aluminium as they are both good conductors of heat, which is painted or
chemically etched black to absorb as much solar radiation as possible for maximum
efficiency.
This blackened heat absorbing surface has several parallel copper pipes or tubes called
risers, running length ways across the plate which contain the heat transfer fluid, typically
water.
These copper pipes are bonded, soldered or brazed directly to the absorber plate to ensure
maximum surface contact and heat transfer. Sunlight heats the absorbing surface which
increases in temperature. As the plate gets hotter this heat is conducted through the risers
and absorbed by the fluid flowing inside the copper pipes which is then used by the
household.
The pipes and absorber plate are enclosed in an insulated metal or wooden box with a
sheet of glazing material, either glass or plastic on the front to protect the enclosed
absorber plate and create an insulating air space. This glazing material does not absorb the
suns thermal energy to any significant extent and therefore most of the incoming radiation
is received by the blackened absorber.