Student resources
Web links
All links are active at the time of publication of this site. Hodder Education can not guarantee the continued availability of this material.
Solid Mechanics
http://by.genie.uottawa.ca/profs/hallett/gng1100/gngfbdnotes.pdf
To draw a basic free body diagram is relatively simple; however, the more complicated diagrams with varying joints, connections and forces can become quite difficult. This page gives a clear and detailed description of the essentials to constructing the correct free body diagram, the different force signs and directions, components of forces and force positioning. It also includes common mistakes.
www.roymech.co.uk
This website gives a variety of notes on beams; it covers beam theory, shear and bending moment diagrams, the singularity function, strain energy and more. There are clear diagrams and examples and links to further useful sites at the bottom of the pages.
http://em-ntserver.unl.edu
Clearly showing each step, this site goes through the equations for beam deflection using examples. Using simple diagrams and clear annotations the site is easy to follow and understand.
http://www.freestudy.co.uk/statics.htm
By selecting a tutorial from the menu, you can get a good overview of stress and strain right through to forces and reactions. The site gives practice exercise and provides all the answers.
http://www.brad.ac.uk/staff/vtoropov/tmp/week4.pdf
This page focuses on stress–strain relations; it runs through all the fundamental equations and relationships. It also provides worked examples.
http://web.mit.edu/course/3/3.11/www/modules/torsion.pdf
This site gives a detailed explanation of shear and torsion. It includes the torsion formulas, information on shear stress and strain and good example questions.
Materials and Processing
www.engr.ku.edu/~rhale/ae510/elasticity/sld001.htm
Why do we care about material properties? This site goes through the main mechanical properties of materials, such as strength, ductility and toughness. It explains with the aid of graphs charts and equations. It also shows several selection charts, which aid the appropriate selection of materials.
www.engineershandbook.com/Materials/index.htm
Good descriptions of most material properties are provided. They are divided into the sections: physical, mechanical and thermal. The properties’ relevance to design and examples are also included.
www-materials.eng.cam.ac.uk/mpsite/properties/default.html
On this site mechanical property testing is explained. Simply select the relevant property and information including tests, design issues and common values for materials are shown.
www-materials.eng.cam.ac.uk/mpsite/process_encyc/default.html
All of the main manufacture methods are provided with an overview of the process. Additionally, common materials and shapes, the general process economics and typical products are explained.
www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=543#_Annealing
This site explains softening and hardening processes and their effect on materials. It describes annealing, normalising, hardening and tempering and states materials and their suitability for each process.
www.virginia.edu/bohr/mse209/chapter8.htm
This site explains the methods of failure. It gives a detailed explanation of the types of failure and how they affect different materials.
www.efunda.com
These two sites provide tables of information on the properties of commonly found engineering materials, including physical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and even acoustic.
Fluid Mechanics
www.cartage.org.lb
This site gives a detailed description of several types of manometer and the equations and calculations that accompany them. It also runs through some advantages and disadvantages of each type.
www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/oldjava/buoyant/buoyant.html
This page gives you a chance to experiment interactively with the effects of changing the fluid properties on an object’s buoyancy. You can also see the effects of changing the shape, friction coefficient, density and mass of the object.
www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/aerosim/applet/vj402.html
This is another interactive site, which allows you to look at and adjust the conditions affecting the fluid path over a body. You can vary the object shape and orientation, as well as the characteristics of the fluid.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4717090564918521516
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2871584931483025834
Here are two short video clips showing the fluid streak lines over two cars in wind tunnels. The first is a computer-generated image; the second is of the Pagani Zonda F.
www.engineering.uiowa.edu/~cfd/gallery/lim-turb.html
This site shows many images of both laminar and turbulent flows, of varying Reynolds numbers and in many different situations. It gives you a chance to see where the flow types are likely to occur in real life.
www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/KINNAS/319LAB/Applets/Venturi/venturi.html
This site shows a Venturi tube, and allows you to adjust the tube dimensions and fluid flow rate, to establish their effect on the velocity, head and pressure at the outlets.
www.speedace.info/pitot_tube.htm
Here the Pitot tube is clearly explained. The site also touches on the Bernoulli equation, and gives a brief history of Bernoulli himself.
www.4physics.com/phy_demo/bernoulli-effect-equation.html
This page gives a clear and simple derivation of the Bernoulli equation with the aid of diagrams.
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/conmo.html
This website has many useful and clear pages. Here it describes the conservation of momentum for steady flow. It shows the main points and equations at the top, and goes into more detail further down the page.
Thermodynamics
http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/Webnotes/Therm1/1stLaw/onelt.htm
This site contains animations, which explain the first law of thermodynamics for open and closed systems. If you select reversible in closed systems, you can see P-V and T-S diagrams for isochoric, isobaric, isothermal and adiabatic systems.
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/enthalpy.html
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/entropy.html
These webpages gives the definitions and main formulas involved in enthalpy and entropy. They also show how these definitions are derived.
www.tech.plym.ac.uk/sme/mech225/nfee.pdf
This site gives a good explanation of the non-flow energy equation including constant volume pressure, temperature and adiabatic conditions. It also has a good set of examples to aid understanding.
www.engineersedge.com/thermodynamics/steam_tables.htm
This site gives all of the notation for the steam tables, as well as equations for the relationships that are used with the saturated steam tables. It shows examples of how these are put into practice with questions.
www.mame.mu.oz.au/thermofluids/C6,%20Flow.pdf
This site gives an explanation of energy conservation in steady flow and the steady flow process. It also shows how the steady flow energy equation SFEE is derived.
www.wikieducator.org/EntropyLesson2
This site gives a description of the Carnot cycle and includes calculations for both reversible and irreversible processes.
www.antonine-education.co.uk
This website describes heat engines with the second law of thermodynamics; it is a good recap of A level physics, with clear diagrams and further example questions – and answers – to aid understanding.
http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/heattransfer/heattransfer.html
This website gives lots of information and provides a strong visual explanation of the heat transfer methods and where they are found. It also gives several useful examples of calculations.
Electrical and Electronic Systems
www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/combres.htm
This site allows you to interactively configure several resistor circuits to see the effect of the type of connection on the current and voltage.
www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_2/chpt_3/3.html
This gives a really comprehensive set of notes on series inductor circuits. You can also find notes on parallel indictor circuits. The site explains impedance and lag.
http://utwired.engr.utexas.edu/rgd1/lesson07.cfm
This is a quick step-by-step lesson in mesh analysis, which is simple and easy to follow. Examples are provided at the end.
www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Projects/Labview/combindex.html
This site gives detailed descriptions of how truth tables and logic gates work; it is interactive and has a self-assessment section.
www.csee.umbc.edu/~cpatel2/links/640/lectures/lect17_seq.pdf
This site describes sequential logic in detail. It uses clear diagrams to help explain flip-flops, clocks, timing and more.
www.k-wz.de/physik/threephasegenerator.html
This site shows the three phase generator in action along with a graph of the oscilloscope readings as the magnet rotates. It also touches upon the star and delta connection options.
/www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/osccirc.htm
This site gives an interactive electromagnetic oscillating circuit with variable capacitance inductance resistance and circuit voltage. It also shows how the voltage and current vary with time.
/www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/wheatstone_e.htm
Here you can experiment with the Wheatstone bridge, adjusting the inputs to see the effect on the resistance.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/transformer/index.html
This is another interactive site explaining the transformer. The number of primary and secondary coils and the input voltage can be adjusted to vary the output voltage.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/generator/ac.html
On this site there is a detailed description of how an AC generator works. You can also see the how the voltage changes with time for the generator as the frequency is varied.
Machine Dynamics
http://ocw.mit.edu
This page explains the mathematics behind kinetic energy and work for a 2D rigid body. It explains the internal, external and conservative forces and also gives some example questions.
www.freestudy.co.uk/dynamics/inertia%20and%20mechanisms.pdf
On this page the inertia forces in mechanisms are covered through a series of examples. They start off simply and move on to more complex mechanisms including pulleys, pistons and cranks.
www.valdosta.edu/~pbaskin/phys1111ch7notes.doc
This page is on impulse and momentum. Using examples with diagrams, these are explained along with particle impact and pendulum impact.
http://online.cctt.org
Angular momentum is described and the associated equations explained. There are also examples to follow through
