Which Book(s) Would be Best? 1

[sethro5hc]

So in college (Ga Tech) I was usually pretty strapped for $$ and sold most of my books back after each semester. I always figured I'd just buy the ones I needed back when I got a job. Well now I have that job, and can't figure out which ones to buy back. I'd rather not just start buying each one I get my hands on, and was hoping for a quick bit of advice.

Currently, I'm designing automotive accessories like bike racks, cargo carriers, kayak racks etc. Only rooftop mount accessories and hitch accessories for now, no aesthetic accessories or anything that's going to "pimp" somebody's ride. The calculating I have to do for these is pretty simple since there are so many examples of each thing already on the market, but I was wondering which book or two would be best for calculations like this? It's mostly steel or aluminum tubing, moments, and some torques and shear stuff.

I think a Statics book would be a little too trivial, maybe Dynamics and/or Mechanics of Deformable Bodies? Thanks for any help, I guess I sort've answered my own question but was looking for some insight from working ME's as to which books are good for real world applications?

 

[rstupplebeen]

For references:
Roark's Formulas for Stess and Strain
Stress Concentration Factors
I hope this helps.

Rob Stupplebeen

 

[sethro5hc]

Thanks. I know I could just run pick up a few that I had in school, but like I said these will be the first ones that I've had as a strictly working engineer, not a student, and I wasn't sure if good books for students, vs good books for working engineers were one and the same.

 

[tygerdawg]

Suggest you move away from student texts. They teach theoretical analysis, good for some things. I thought about using my own student books (e.g., Shigley's) but later realized most of 'real world' work is a lot of cookie cutter stuff.

For example I had a great revelation once while trying to design a shaft to connect to a gear motor. Pulled Shigley out, got frustrated (sheesh...fatique calculations again?). Pulled out my Machinery's Handbook, then realized that most applications like my shaft called for big fat industry-standard designs based on horsepower. Machinery's had a simplified formula for sizing a shaft based on standard sizes. Run the numbers for applied torque / horsepower, derate for stress concentrations like keyways, and it gave me a nominal shaft diameter necessary for the shaft material to survive the loading. Pick the next higher standard size, move on.

A lot of real world stuff is like that: not sophisticated, but more interested in getting the design out the door quickly.

My vote: start with Machinery's, buy the big book size, put ferocious guard dogs around it.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[sethro5hc]

Thanks man.

I've actually heard that before. A buddy of mine had an internship in school and was supposed to design just a simple ladder for use on airplane maintenance. He did all these crazy calculations, like they MAKE you do in school so I understand, and afterwards a senior engineer just laughed at him and did like 2 minutes of quick, basic stuff, referenced a chart or something and was done.

I guess it makes sense that if you're doing something fairly basic, 1000's of others have done it before and gone through all the trivial stuff. Luckily for me, alot of my job's R&D is more of replicate and duplicate, rather than research and develop, so I really don't have to calculate anything, but I'd like to continue doing them so that if I change to a job that requires it later I won't be lost.

So Machinery's handbook you say? Thanks for the tip

 

[Twoballcane]

If you are looking for a good well rounded book for Mechanical Engineeing I would go for "Mechanical Engineering Refreance Manual:

http://www.ppi2pass.com/ppi/PPIShop?ct=MECHANICAL&idx=0&pr=MERM12&psp=

And, if you go for your PE, your already familiar with the book.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[unclesyd]

One thing not always thought of for a new engineers library is the inclusion of several different catalogues. This would include the likes of Mac Master Carr, Grainger, etc. If someone leaves the office go though his leftovers, especially any hard bound, for very specific component catalogues or brochures even if not up to date.

 

[BobM3]

Design of Weldments by Blodgett. Don't let the title fool you - it's not just about welding.

 

[tygerdawg]

Agree with Bob. Blodgett's book is solid old skool engineering that is by turns useful, eye-opening, & insightful. Get it from the Lincoln Welder people. It's cheap, too.

And as a corollary to syd: vendor catalogs can be a wonderful source of free & deep engineering information. I was always impressed by the INA Bearings catalog's Engineering Section, SEW Eurodrive Gearmotors Engineering Guides (the English-language German versions), many vendors of pneumatic valve & air prep components, servo- & stepper-motor catalog engineering application sections, and others. You can find a short PDF summary of Sophomore Dynamics class if you websearch for "Smart Motion Cheat Sheet" & download.

Then if you websearch deeply enough, there's no telling what kind of jewels of information you may find. I recently found via websearch a complete PDF version of a robotic mathematical theory handbook that was posted by a university professor.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[flash3780]

The school books that you used teach concepts. If you understand the concepts, there are quite a few practical books out there which can be useful (or essential) in mechanical design. The following are my recommendations:
Machinery's Handbook
Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design
Roark's Formulas of Stress and Strain
Peterson's Stress Concentration Factors
An Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints (Bickford)
ASME Y14.5-1994 Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (you have to be able to communicate what's important about your design effectively)
Mark's Handbook (available for free at asme.org if you're a member)
ASM Metal's Handbook

 

[PeterStock]

You should also get a book on mechanisms.

Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services

http://www.infotechpr.net