Engineering Library

This page contains a list of mostly mechanical engineering resources.

Some contain lots of technical detail. If you find yourself scratching your head, contact a relevant supplier for support. They typically have applications engineers with deep technical expertise to help answer questions quickly.

Design

Data and formulae

• Schaeffler Technical Pocket Guide, a reference manual for mechanical engineers with a beautiful layout.
• COMSOL Multiphysics Cyclopedia, an encyclopedia covering the theory behind engineering physics.
• RoyMech website, a mechanical engineering catalogue put together by the late Roy Beardmore.

Dimensions and tolerancing

• Tolerances of Manufacturing Processes, a short guide explaining tolerances achievable using typical manufacturing processes. Consult your go-to manufacturer if you think your tolerances might be challenging.
• GD&T chart, a well-illustrated chart explaining the different geometric tolerance types. Beware of subtle differences between ASME Y14.5 and ISO GPS.
• Limits and Fits chart, a set of tables for identifying and specifying fits. Having a set of pin and ring gauges to hand, which have varying clearances, is useful for getting a hands-on feel.

Materials databases

• UL Prospector, a database for finding a material and its supplier.
• MatWeb, a database for finding material properties.
• Total Materia, a database for finding more detailed and proprietary material property data, which costs, but might be useful for detailed analytical calculations/FEA.

Human Factors

• Strength Data for Design Safety - Phase 1 and Strength Data for Design Safety - Phase 2, a set of reports with physical strength data to provide designers with ergonomics information for designing safe easy-to-use products.
• Applying Human Factors and Usability Engineering to Medical Devices, a guide written by the FDA specifically for medical device development, but whose techniques can be applied to all products in general.

Component selection

Fasteners

• NASA Fastener Design Course, a comprehensive course covering all things fastener related, including '...materials, plantings and coatings, locking methods threads, joint stiffness, rivets, inserts, nut plates, thread lubricants, design criteria, etc.'

Adhesives

• Henkel Adhesive Selector, a tool for identifying an appropriate adhesive. Don't neglect surface preparation (cleaning/abrasion/priming).

Seals

• James Walker O-ring Guide, a guide to sealing with O-rings. Follow these steps:

1. Review page 29 to determine the housing arrangement
2. Use the charts to find an O-ring that fits your geometry
3. Flick between pages 29 and 30 to finalise the housing dimensions and tolerances

• There are nuances when it comes to robust seals. General tips:
  • Choose as large a cross-section as possible to give yourself as large a tolerance as possible for achieving a nominal squeeze.
  • Radial seals are generally more robust than axial seals, and if using a radial seal, choose a piston seal over a rod seal as it's easier to machine and inspect a groove on the OD of a rod than on the ID of a bore.
  • Grease the O-ring, even if it's a static seal, to ease assembly. It can also help to seal a gas against a surface finish which is not smooth enough (vacuum grease).
  • Beware of hysteresis in dynamic applications. The greater the nominal squeeze, the greater the effect.
  • Follow the design guide recommendations as closely as possible, not forgetting surface finish, lead-ins etc.

Manufacturing methods

Injection Moulding

• DuPont Engineering Polymers - General Design Principles. * In the UK, DuPont also offers a complimentary day course which covers the basics of designing for injection moulding.
• Protolabs injection moulding design aids. It includes:
  • An order page for a free 'design cube', an excellent tool for giving you a hands-on feel for the different features that are possible, and general design dos and don'ts.
  • A material selection guide.
  • An Injection Moulding for Dummies e-book.
• Periodic Table of Thermoplastics by Tangram Technology.

Die Casting

• Metal Die Casting Design Guides by Chicago White Metal Casting.

Inspiration and Learning

Mechanical Engineering 101

• Tim Hunkin's The Secret Life of Components, a YouTube playlist explaining basic mechanical components through practical demonstrations.
• Tarkka's Mechanical Engineering Design Basics, a YouTube playlist covering the fundamentals.

Machines and Mechanisms

• MISUMI application library, a database of ready-made machines and mechanisms.
• Jared Owen's YouTube channel, a series of beautiful 3D animations demonstrating the inner workings of complex mechanical assemblies.
• Branch Education YouTube channel, 3D animations showing the inner workings of mostly electronics.

Reverse Engineering

• Big Clive's YouTube channel, a channel with teardowns of cheap and cheerful consumer products. The focus is on electronics, but includes some mechanical design too.
• Fictiv Teardowns, a catalogue of teardowns of high-end consumer products.
• AvE's BOLTR series, a YouTube channel with a teardowns of mechanical hand tools. His BOLTR playlist doesn't include his recent releases, so scroll through his video uploads instead.
• Munro Live Teardowns, a YouTube playlist covering teardowns of car components, with a focus on benchmarking and costing.
• WeberAuto, a YouTube channel with teardowns of car components, with a focus on technical detail for training automotive engineers.

Textbooks

• BC Open Collection, a library of free and open-source educational textbooks.

Academic Research

• Sci-Hub, a database of free academic papers.
  • Note: Accessing Sci-Hub is illegal in many countries, so use a VPN if required. Although research is nearly always taxpayer-funded, with authors receiving no royalties, most papers remain stuck behind publishers' paywalls. Sci-Hub is a way around this issue.
  • If you do not wish to use Sci-Hub, an alternative option is to ask the author directly for a copy, either through their university email or ResearchGate. You may also find it through an open-access publisher.
• National Technical Reports Library, a free open-access database of US-funded research.

Other

Medical Device Development

• CDRH Learn: Medical Device Education Basics 101, a YouTube series made by the FDA explaining medical device regulatory requirements.
• Nelson Labs' YouTube channel, a series of videos from a microbiological test house, covering topics such as Cleaning, Disinfection and Sterilisation, and Biocompatibility testing.
• MAUDE database, an FDA database of suspected medical device-associated deaths, serious injuries and malfunctions.
• Institute of Human Anatomy YouTube channel, a channel using real human cadavers to teach people about the body.

Microfluidics

• Microfluidics and BioInstrumentation Lab @ Wayne State University

NASA Technical Standards

• NASA Technical Reports
• NASA Technical Standards
• NASA Electronics Workmanship standards, graphical illustrations of acceptable and unacceptable electronics workmanship.

DIY

• UK DIY Wiki, a Wiki covering all things DIY.