MIE 413: Design of Assemblies

Course Syllabus

INSTRUCTOR: Professor James R. Rinderle, ELAB 207c, x5-5901

Office Hours: Immediately following class on Thursdays, Wednesday between 4:15-5:00 and by appointment. Any variations in office hours will be announced in class. I read my e-mail frequently. Address e-mail to rinderle@ecs.umass.edu

COURSE CONTENT

In this course we will study the design of mechanical assemblies. Assemblies consist of a number of parts which interact to achieve the desired function of the device as a whole. The parts contribute not only to the primary functions of the device but also to secondary functions which arise to insure proper interactions among the parts. To design an assembly, the designer must specify components and detail a configuration which executes a design concept.

The specification and detailing of assemblies requires special attention to the interaction of components including issues related to relative motion, force transmittal, material interactions, assembly and power transfer. It also requires attention to the allocation of function, tolerances and costs to the components which comprise the assembly. These topics and the characteristics of some special components employed in assemblies, such as motors, gears and bearings will be the focus of the course.

COURSE MEETINGS

The course will meet in Elab 303 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:45 as scheduled. Discussion section meetings will be arranged and announced during the lecture period. Any schedule adjustments will be announced in class. If you do miss a class be sure to ask a friend about class announcements concerning schedules, exams, homework etc. You are responsible for all class announcements.

I will greatly appreciate it if you will arrive at class meetings on time.

BOOKS

Reading material for the course will be selected from books used in the prerequisite courses including:

• Fundamentals of Machine Component Design by Robert C. Juvinall and Kurt M. Marshek
• Engineering Design and Design for Manufacturing by John R. Dixon and Corrado Poli

Alternative treatments of the material can be found in other design texts including ones by Shigley, Spotts and Dieter. Supplemental material will be distributed in class and will likely include (pending appropriate permissions) material from:

• Product Design and Development by Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D. Eppinger The Mechanical Design Process by David G. Ullman

EXAMINATIONS

There will be two examinations during the semester and a final examination during the final exam period. Exam dates, times, locations and format will be announced in class one week in advance of the exam. Make-up exams will not be given except in the most extreme circumstances because of the infeasibility of providing a truly fair and comparable make-up exam.

HOMEWORK AND MINI-PROJECTS

• As with most courses and other endeavors, deep understanding and mastery will be achieved only with practice. Therefore, homework exercises will be assigned.
  • Although the homework will constitute only a minor portion of the course grade, experience has shown that those who do not complete the homework usually do poorly on examinations and project work.
  • Homework solutions will be made available to you as an educational supplement. You should review the solutions to familiarize yourself with alternative approaches and to understand the nature of your own errors. Although we will emphasize concepts, the practice of engineering requires that the concepts be applied carefully so that our designs work and so that our analysis is correct.
  • Your efforts in obtaining valid results will constitute a significant portion of credit on tests and, therefore, should concern you on homework assignments.
  • Homework will not be accepted late. Homework is offered principally to facilitate learning. Cooperation among students can be an important mechanism for learning and is therefore encouraged. For that reason, homework assignments are graded principally on effort. Nevertheless, submitted work must reflect the individual efforts of the student.
  • Students are allowed and encouraged to work together on homework assignments, to discuss solution approaches and methods but final problem solutions must be worked individually. The use of substantially similar problem solutions from solution manuals or from class materials used in previous years also violates the sprit and the letter of the individual effort requirement. In all cases of cooperative effort and reliance on existing problem solutions, students must state on the first page of any submitted work, the names of cooperating individuals and the source of related problem solutions.

  • In addition to homework exercises, a number of mini-projects will be assigned. Unlike homework exercises, the mini-projects will require independent design effort. These projects will be discussed at greater length in class.

  PROJECT
  
  
  Each student, as part of a group, will be required to complete a project involving the design of assemblies. More specific project requirements will be discussed in class.
  
  
  GRADING
  
  

  • Homework 5%
  • MiniProjects 15%
  • Project 30%
  • In class exams 25%
  • Final exam 25%

  
  
  
  COURSE POLICIES
  
  
  * All assignments, projects, mini-projects and examinations must be completed on time. Make-up exams will not be given. Exceptions will be made only in the most extreme circumstances. * You should retain all graded work until the course grade is given. * All provisions of the Department and University policies regarding academic honesty will be enforced including those provisions which apply to homework. You are responsible for knowing and adhering to these policies. University policies can be found in the booklet Undergraduate Rights and Responsibilities. A copy of The Mechanical Engineering Department Academic Honesty Policy can be obtained from me or by typing on the ECS Vax system COPY D$USERS1:[PASCOE]HONPOL. *.*

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