MACHINE ELEMENT AND DESIGN I

INTRODUCTION AND BASIC CONCEPTS

MWAKYONYA, MICHAEL

Mbeya University of Science and Technology

Fundamental of design are: Emphasis, Balance and

Alignment, Contrast, Repetition, Proportion,

Movement and White Space. Design differs from art

in that it has to have a purpose. Visually, this

functionality is interpreted by making sure an image

has a center of attention, a point of focus.

Design is a plan to make something.

“Design is a plan for arranging elements in

such a way as best to accomplish a

particular purpose”.
Machine Elements was traditionally seen as basic

mechanical parts, mostly used as the building blocks

in the design of machines. Most of the classical

elements such as shafts, bearings, gears, couplings,

fasteners, springs, seals, belts, clutches, brakes and

chains are standardized to common sizes.

Machine Design is the creation of new and better

machines and improving the existing ones. A new or

better machine is one which is more economical in the

overall cost of production and operation.

Classifications of Machine Design
The machine design may be classified as follows :
1. Adaptive design. In most cases, the designer’s work is concerned
with adaptation of existing
designs. This type of design needs no special knowledge or skill and
can be attempted by designers of ordinary technical training. The
designer only makes minor alternation or modification in the existing
designs of the product.
2. Development design. This type of design needs considerable
scientific training and design
ability in order to modify the existing designs into a new idea by
adopting a new material or different method of manufacture. In this
case, though the designer starts from the existing design, but the final
product may differ quite markedly from the original product.
3. New design. This type of design needs lot of research, technical
ability and creative thinking.
Only those designers who have personal qualities of a sufficiently
high order can take up the work of a new design.
Method used to design depend on the following classification
(a) Rational design. This type of design depends upon mathematical

formulae of principle of mechanics.

(b) Empirical design. This type of design depends upon empirical
formulae based on the practice and past experience.
(c) Industrial design. This type of design depends upon the production
aspects to manufacture any machine component in the industry.
(d) Optimum design. It is the best design for the given objective function
under the specified constraints. It may be achieved by minimising the
undesirable effects.
(e) System design. It is the design of any complex mechanical system like
a motor car.
(f) Element design. It is the design of any element of
the mechanical system like piston, crankshaft,
connecting rod, etc.
(g) Computer aided design. This type of design
depends upon the use of computer systems to assist in
the creation, modification, analysis and optimisation
of a design.
Load
It is defined as any external force acting upon a
machine part.
The following four types of the load are important
from the subject point of view
1. Dead or steady load. A load is said to be a dead or
steady load, when it does not change in magnitude or
direction.
2. Live or variable load. A load is said to be a live or
variable load, when it changes continually.
3. Suddenly applied or shock loads. A load is said
to be a suddenly applied or shock load, when it is
suddenly applied or removed.
4. Impact load. A load is said to be an impact load,
when it is applied with some initial velocity.
Note: A machine part resists a dead load more
easily than a live load and a live load more easily
than a shock load.
Stress
When some external system of forces or loads act on a body, the internal
forces (equal and opposite) are set up at various sections of the body,
which resist the external forces. This internal force per unit area at any
section of the body is known as unit stress or simply a stress. It is
denoted by a Greek letter sigma (σ).
Mathematically,
Stress, σ = P/A
where P = Force or load acting on a body, and
A = Cross-sectional area of the body.
In S.I. units, the stress is usually expressed in Pascal (Pa) such that 1 Pa
= 1 N/m2. In actual
practice, we use bigger units of stress i.e. megapascal (MPa) and
gigapascal (GPa), such that
1 MPa = 1 × 106 N/m2 = 1 N/mm2
and 1 GPa = 1 × 109 N/m2 = 1 kN
Strain
When a system of forces or loads act on a body, it undergoes
some deformation. This deformation per unit length is known
as unit strain or simply a strain. It is denoted by a Greek letter
epsilon (ε).
Mathematically,
Strain, ε = δl / l or δl = ε.l
where δl = Change in length of the body, and
l = Original length of the body.
 Tensile Stress and Strain

When a body is subjected to two equal and opposite axial pulls

P (also called tensile load) as shown in Fig. 4.1 (a), then the
stress induced at any section of the body is known as tensile
stress as shown in Fig. 4.1 (b). A little consideration will show
that due to the tensile load, there will be a decrease in cross-
sectional area and an increase in length of the body. The ratio
of the increase in length to the original length is known as
tensile strain.
  FACTORS OF SAFETY
There are two definitions for the factor of safety (FoS):

The ratio of a structure's absolute strength (structural
capability) to actual applied load; this is a measure of the 
reliability of a particular design. This is a calculated value,
and is sometimes referred to, for the sake of clarity, as
a realized factor of safety.

A constant required value, imposed by law, standard, 
specification, contract or custom, to which a structure must
conform or exceed. This can be referred to as a design
factor, design factor of safety or required factor of safety.
The realized factor of safety must be greater than the
required design factor of safety. However, between
various industries and engineering groups usage is
inconsistent and confusing; there are several definitions
used. The cause of much confusion is that various
reference books and standards agencies use the factor of
safety definitions and terms differently. Building
codes, structural and mechanical engineering textbooks
often refer to the "factor of safety" as the fraction of total
structural capability over what is needed. Those are
realized factors of safety (first use). Many
undergraduate strength of materials books use "Factor of
Safety" as a constant value intended as a minimum target
for design (second use Calculation}
There are several ways to compare the factor of safety for

structures. All the different calculations fundamentally

measure the same thing: how much extra load beyond what

is intended a structure will actually take (or be required to

withstand). The difference between the methods is the way

in which the values are calculated and compared. Safety

factor values can be thought of as a standardized way for

The use of a factor of safety does not imply that an

item, structure, or design is "safe". Many quality

assurance, engineering design, manufacturing,

installation, and end-use factors may influence

whether or not something is safe in any particular

situation.
Design factor and safety factor
The difference between the safety factor and design factor
(design safety factor) is as follows: The safety factor, or yield
stress, is how much the designed part actually will be able to
withstand (first "use" from above). The design factor, or
working stress, is what the item is required to be able to
withstand (second "use"). The design factor is defined for an
application (generally provided in advance and often set by
regulatory building codes or policy) and is not an actual
calculation, the safety factor is a ratio of maximum strength
to intended load for the actual item that was designed.

The design load is the maximum load the part

should ever see in service.

By this definition, a structure with an FOS of

exactly 1 will support only the design load and no

more. Any additional load will cause the structure

to fail. A structure with an FOS of 2 will fail at

twice the design load

Factor of safety is determined by the following

formula

Factor of safety = Actual Load / Working Load

 Why Factor Of Safety Is
Important?
The product is for humans. If a product is safe,
the human is safe. That’s the whole concept. If a
product is not safe, it will cause product failure
and maybe the loss of human lives ( An example
is a Highway Bridge). So every engineer focuses
on making a product better so that it can save the
product as well as save human lives.
Here is a probable list of reason about why the factor
of safety is so important.
High chance that product won’t fail


There will be fewer chances of human injury or death



Products will be quickly approved by a regulatory



agency
Easy to launch a product in the market


Less product recalls issue



The number of service calls will be less



Increased customer satisfaction


 How To Calculate Factor Of Safety:
Factor Of Safety Formula
The factor of safety can be calculated in different
ways. But ultimately all those methods check only one
thing, the amount of safety load beyond its designed
workload. There is a difference in the ways every
process calculates and analyzes data, but the
outcome is the same.
Whenever a part or item comes under load, it gets
stressed depending on the type of materials. Ductile
materials tend to have more stress than brittle
materials. The amount of stress at the safety load is
called safety stress or yield stress and the amount of
stress at the designated design load is called working
stress. The ratio of this safety stress and working
stress gives us a factor of safety
If the factor of safety is 1, then it means that the

design load is equal to the safety load. So for a

better design, the factor of safety should be always

greater than 1. If the safety of factor is less than 1,

then the product is in the danger zone.

What Is Design Factor And Safety Factor?

Design factor is basically how much load a

part is REQUIRED to withstand and the safety
factor is the amount of load a part could
ACTUALLY be able to withstand. So the
design factor is the minimum requirement and
safety factor is the limit beyond which the part
will fail. At the minimum, the safety factor
Design factor is the minimum requirement and

usually set by regulatory. If an engineer is designing

is a part with too much safety factor it is called

“Overengineering”
 Determining Factor Of Safety
Usually, design engineers do a load test to check safety stress
and design stress. To determine the factor of safety we need to
understand two common terms used in the strength of
materials. Those are Yield stress and Ultimate stress

Yield Stress
Yeild stress is the stress limit after which the materials start
deforming

Ultimate Stress
Ultimate stress is the stress limit after which the part fails.
To calculate the factor of safety for ductile materials

we need to consider Yield stress as the safety stress

and for brittle materials, we need to consider Ultimate

stress as the safety stress.

Factor Of Safety Examples

Below is a typical factor of safety of a couple of

key product groups. The values are approximate

and industries may follow a different value

based on the loading condition.

 Equipment Factor Of Safety
Boiler 3.5-6
Aircraft 1.5-2
Pressure vessels 3.5-6
Engine components 6-8
Cast iron wheels 20
Lifting hooks 8-9
Bridge structure 5-7
Building structure 4-6
Static turbine components 6-8
Rotating turbine components 2-3
Factors On Which Factor Of
Safety Depends?
Actual load
Working load
Material type
Material density
Environmental condition
 FATIGUE

Fatigue has been defined as a failure to maintain a

required force or output of power. during sustained or

repeated muscle contraction (Stokes, Cooper, &

Edwards, 1988) or. as time-related deterioration in

the ability to perform certain mental tasks

What is fatigue and explain?
Fatigue is a feeling of constant
tiredness or weakness and can
be physical, mental or a
combination of both. It can
affect anyone, and most adults
will experience fatigue at some
point in their life.
What causes fatigue?
Most of the time fatigue can be
traced to one or more of your habits
or routines, particularly lack of
exercise. It's also commonly related
to depression. On occasion, fatigue
is a symptom of other underlying
conditions that require medical
treatment.
Theories of failure are those theories which help us

to determine the safe dimensions of a machine

component when it is subjected to combined stresses

due to various loads acting on it during its

functionality.
What are the 5 theories of failure?
Theories of failure
•Maximum principal stress theory (Rankine's
theory)
•Maximum shear stress theory (Coulomb,
Tresca and Guest's theory)
•Distortion energy theory (Huber von Mises and
Hencky's theory)
•Maximum strain theory (St. Venant's theory)
•Maximum total strain energy theory (Haigh's
theory)
Rankine's Theory assumes that failure will occur

when the maximum principal stress at any point

reaches a value equal to the tensile stress in a simple

tension specimen at failure. This theory does not take

into account the effect of the other two principal

stresses.
The maximum-shear-stress theory predicts that

yielding begins whenever the maximum shear stress in

any element equals or exceeds the maximum shear

stress in a tension-test specimen of the same material

when that specimen begins to yield. The MSS theory

is also referred to as the Tresca or Guest theory.

Hencky (1924) offered a physical interpretation of

von Mises criterion suggesting that yielding begins

when the elastic energy of distortion reaches a

critical value. For this, the von Mises criterion is also

known as the maximum distortion strain energy

criterion
This is the corresponding failure theory to maximum

normal stress theory in which the principal strain

values of a point are used. This theory is also

applicable to brittle materials such as cast iron.

Maximum Strain Energy Theory (Beltrami or

Haigh's Theory): This theory is based on the

assumption that strains are recoverable up to the

elastic limit. The energy absorbed by the material at

failure up to this point is a single-valued function

independent of the stress system causing it.

 ENDURANCE LIMIT

Endurance limit is the maximum value of the

completely reversed stress for which the specimen

can sustain for an infinite number of cycles without

any fatigue failure.

Stress concentration is the accumulation of stress in a body
due to sudden change in its geometry. When there is a sudden
change in the geometry of the body due to cracks, sharp
corners, holes and decrease in the cross section area, then there
is an increase in the localized stress near these cracks, sharp
corners, holes, and decreased cross section area. The body
tends to fail from these places where the stress concentration is
more. So to prevent a body from getting failed, the
concentration of stress should be avoided or reduced.
It is also called as stress raisers or stress risers
Causes of stress concentration

The stress concentration in a body happens because

of the sudden change in the geometry of the body due

to cracks, sharp corners, holes, decrease in the cross-

section area. Due to these irregularities, there is an

increase in the intensity of stress in the body.

Effect of stress concentration

When a body has stress concentration in it, the

chances of its failure increases. The body tends to

fail from the place where it has more concentration

of stress. A body has less life that has more

irregularities within it. In order to increase the life of

the body, the intensity of stress should be reduced.

Stress concentration factor
It is defined as the ratio of highest stress in the body to
the reference stress. It is denoted by Kt.

Mathematically,  
 Kt = σ max / σ ref                             
Where
σmax = Highest stress or maximum stress

σref = Reference stress

The value of stress concentration factor for

A body free from irregularities is 1.

A body that has maximum irregularities or discontinuity

is greater than 1.
Methods to Reduce Stress Concentration

There are number of ways to reduce stress concentration

in a body and some of these are

1. Avoiding sharp corners by providing a fillet radius
at the sharp corners.
By providing the fillet radius at sharp corners, the
cross section area decreases gradually instead of
suddenly. And this distributes the stress in the body
more uniformly.
2. By providing small holes near a big hole. If
we have an object, that has an internal hole
within it. Then the intensity of stress near that
hole is more. To avoid this, some smaller holes
are created near that hole. This distributes the
stress more uniformly than it was before. This
is shown in the figure given below.
3. By decreasing the nominal diameter of a threaded
object and make it equal to the core diameter.
Suppose we have a threaded object. And the intensity
of stress at threaded part is more. The chances of
object may fail is more at the threaded part. This can
be avoided by decreasing the nominal diameter of the
shank and make it equal to the core diameter. This
will distribute the stress more uniformly in the object
with threads.
                                                                                                    
4. By providing notches or undercut at the sharp
corners.
Here we have discussed about what is stress
concentration – definition, causes, effect, and
methods to reduce it. If you have any query
about that than feel free to ask. If you found this
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