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MECH_ENG 240: Intro to Mechanical Design and Manufacturing


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Prerequisites

MAT SCI 201 & CIV ENG 216

Description

Strategies and methods of designing, manufacturing, and testing of mechanical products. Engineering drawing and CAD, design methods, material properties, failure modes, selection methodology, fundamental GD&T, and selected manufacturing processes.

Who Takes It

ME 240 is a required course for mechanical engineering students. This course is the first course of 3-course series that includes ME 340: Computer Integrated Manufacturing and ME 315 Theory of Machines - Design of Elements.

What It's About

For many students, this course is one of their first professional engineering courses. As distinguished from background courses in science and mathematics, professional engineering is concerned with obtaining solutions to practical problems.

Lectures

This course meets three times per week for 50-minute lectures.

Labs

screwWeekly three-hour lab exercises. Lab sections will be assigned by the end of first week. The final project will be a design competition. Prize will be given to the top group, which yields the highest performance index in testing their prototypes.

Topics

  • Design process
  • Engineering drawing
  • Tolerances Limits and fits
  • GD&T
  • Material types and properties
  • Material selection
  • Design for X (Strength, Rigidity)
  • Competing failure modes
  • Manufacturing processes

Textbook

Electronic handouts provided through Canvas.

Assessment/evaluation

Homework, Labs, Quizzes, Project Presentation

Advanced study

Students interested in mechanical design can take the following courses:
  • ME 315 Theory of machines - design of elements
  • ME 340-1, 2, 3 Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 1, 2, 3
  • ME 346 Introduction to Tribology
  • ME 398 Engineering Design

Contact

Professor: Kornel Ehmann
Email: k-ehmann@northwestern.edu