Hands-On Method for Teaching Design of Mechanical Components Course

Described in this paper are the salient features of teaching a junior level Design of Mechanical Components course using a hands-on method, taught three times in the past three years with high reviews from students and engineers. Rubrics and grading criteria are presented. The course covers the analysis and design of mechanical components such as fasteners, springs, bearings, gears, shafts, clutches, brakes, etc. Prerequisites include a course on solid mechanics or mechanics of materials. Students coming into the course are expected to be fluent in performing free-body-diagrams, static equilibrium analysis, stress-strain analysis, Mohr's circle analysis, deflection analysis, etc. on structures with various loads (e.g., point forces, moments, distributive loading) in axial, torsional, and bending configurations. On the first day of class, the students form teams of 5 to 6 students per team. Each team picks its choice of a vehicle, machine or system from which they will pick all mechanical components for analysis and design in the course. Each team is required to carry out four mechanical component projects and write project reports and make presentations. Each project covers a time period of three to four weeks. For example, fasteners and springs projects are projects that require three weeks; bearings and gears projects require four weeks. Each team makes a presentation on each of the four projects during the semester. The presentations are judged by engineers from industry. The reports and presentations are required to cover analysis and design of team's selected mechanical component from team's same selected vehicle. The reports and presentations are required to cover component manufacturability and cost, environmental conditions, dimensions, loading conditions, design and statics treatment, stress-strain analysis, fatigue analysis, and simulation. On each project, a team is required to select a team leader and to divide up the workload among all team members. The hands-on method is designed so that (a) the instructor can mentor and coach students' "thinking and doing" in a multidimensional process of learning, (b) peer-to-peer learning is greatly enhanced, (c) students are encouraged to defend their way of thinking resulting in a meeting of the minds between instructor and student, and (d) self-regulated learning is promoted and encouraged.