Study Question, Ultra Lightweight design to a Standard

[ExDrill]

Hi All,
I understand that commercially available products are being manufactured in the USA with outstanding strength to weight ratios (if you'd call it that). Where would a humble Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering start to learn of such advances when he has only become accustomed to Grade 9 in a bolt and NaXtra 700 as a plate. I have an application that demands that a machine, currently completely made from prodominately steel components, to be heli lifted. Is there a crash course or a famous professor?
Cheers,
ExDrill

 

[btrueblood]

Take a materials course from a school with an automotive or aerospace degree offering. Knowing where you are located would help in giving suggestions. U of Washington Aero Engineering dept. would mine, but there are probably dozens of schools closer to you with equal reputations.

 

[unclesyd]

Adding to above post by btrueblood here are links to sources of information on designing vehicles that might be applicable to your case.
Sorry nothing about airplanes.

Hope these links get you close to the source of the information you require and if not lead you to it. The Auto Steel site has a lot of information sources. While the A-SP.Org has it's share, check them all out.

http://www.a-sp.org/database/default.asp?doc=28

http://www.a-sp.org/publications.htm

http://barsteelfatigue.autosteel.org/login_bar.asp

http://www.autosteel.org/

One thing to remember is there is generally no quantum leap in design only small incremental advances.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Easiest solution: Get a bigger helicopter.

Next up: Do what racers do. Seek out areas that are lightly stressed, and increase the net stress, e.g. by drilling holes in the lightly stressed area to remove weight, while preserving adequate strength in what remains.

Next up: Do what auto manufacturers do. Eliminate entire parts or assemblies that aren't needed. If they're not necessary to the mission, just omit them. If they perform a necessary function, explore ways to get the same function out of other parts.

I'm not a big fan of substitution of high-tech materials, which are typically expensive, may have long lead times or otherwise limited availability, and have failure modes that may be new to you.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Move it in pieces and re-assemble on site.

 

[TVP]

ExDrill,

I recommend you start by reading as much as you can from Prof. Mike Ashby from the University of Cambridge. His book Materials Selection in Mechanical Design is the best reference on the subject, and should help guide you through some of the important ideas to understand, how to determine what is driving the mass of the design, etc. The following links are to the 4th edition of his book and to a website that has a number of papers that you can freely download:

Papers, etc. on Materials Selection & Design (Cambridge University)

http://www-mech.eng.cam.ac.uk/cms/publ/papers/

Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, 4th edition

http://www.elsevierdirect.com/ISBN/9781856176637/Materials-Selection-in-Mechanical-Design

Here are some other links to useful information on the subject:

NACE webpage on materials selection

http://web.nace.org/Departments/Mar....aspx?id=32BF4EB9-FE7D-DE11-AAB1-0017A446694E

ASM HANDBOOK Volume 20 Materials Selection and Design

http://asmcommunity.asminternational.org/portal/site/

http://www/AsmStore/ProductDetails/?vgnextoid=5ab732f0fe0f8110VgnVCM100000701e010aRCRD

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF MACHINE ELEMENTS

http://school.mech.uwa.edu.au/~dwright/DANotes/intro/contents.html

 

[rb1957]

if you want to use high strength steels ... look for aero-space materials (steel up to 160 ksi) ... look for 4130, 4140, 4340 ... talk to someone who has the material supply.

be ready to pay for it !