Machine Design Dr.

Nabeel Alshabatat

INTRODUCTION:
The subject Machine Design is the creation of new and better machines and improving the
existing ones. A new or better machine is one which is more economical in the overall cost of
production and operation. The process of design is a long and time consuming one. From the
study of existing ideas, a new idea has to be conceived. The idea is then studied keeping in mind
its commercial success and given shape and form in the form of drawings. In the preparation of
these drawings, care must be taken of the availability of resources in money, in men and in
materials required for the successful completion of the new idea into an actual reality. In
designing a machine component, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of many subjects such
as Mathematics, Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials, Theory of Machines, Workshop
Processes and Engineering Drawing.

Classifications of Machine Design

The machine design may be classified as follows:
1. Adaptive design. In most cases, the designer’s work is concerned with adaptation of existing
designs. This type of design needs no special knowledge or skill and can be attempted by
designers of ordinary technical training. The designer only makes minor alternation or
modification in the existing designs of the product.
2. Development design. This type of design needs considerable scientific training and design
ability in order to modify the existing designs into a new idea by adopting a new material or
different method of manufacture. In this case, though the designer starts from the existing design,
but the final product may differ quite markedly from the original product.
3. New design. This type of design needs lot of research, technical ability and creative thinking.
Only those designers who have personal qualities of a sufficiently high order can take up the
work of a new design.

General Procedure in Machine Design

In designing a machine component, there is no rigid rule. The problem may be attempted in
several ways. However, the general procedure to solve a design problem is as follows:
1. Recognition of need. First of all, make a complete statement of the problem, indicating the
need, aim or purpose for which the machine is to be designed.
Machine Design Dr. Nabeel Alshabatat

2. Synthesis (Mechanisms). Select the possible mechanism or group of mechanisms which will
give the desired motion.
3. Analysis of forces. Find the forces acting on each member of the machine and the energy
transmitted by each member.
4. Material selection. Select the material best suited for each member of the machine.
5. Design of elements (Size and Stresses). Find the size of each member of the machine by
considering the force acting on the member and the permissible stresses for the material used. It
should be kept in mind that each member should not deflect or deform than the permissible limit.
6. Modification. Modify the size of the member to agree with the past experience and judgment
to facilitate manufacture. The modification may also be necessary by consideration of
manufacturing to reduce overall cost.
7. Detailed drawing. Draw the detailed drawing of each component and the assembly of the
machine with complete specification for the manufacturing processes suggested.
8. Production. The component, as per the drawing, is manufactured in the workshop.

General Considerations in Machine Design

Following are the general considerations in designing a machine component:
1. Type of load and stresses caused by the load. The load, on a machine component, may act in
several ways due to which the internal stresses are set up.
2. Motion of the parts or kinematics of the machine. The successful operation of any machine
depends largely upon the simplest arrangement of the parts which will give the motion required.
The motion of the parts may be:
(a) Rectilinear motion which includes unidirectional and reciprocating motions.
(b) Curvilinear motion which includes rotary, oscillatory and simple harmonic.
(c) Constant velocity.
(d) Constant or variable acceleration.
3. Selection of materials. It is essential that a designer should have a thorough knowledge of the
properties of the materials and their behavior under working conditions. Some of the important
characteristics of materials are: strength, durability, flexibility, weight, resistance to heat and
corrosion, ability to cast, welded or hardened, machinability, electrical conductivity, etc.
Machine Design Dr. Nabeel Alshabatat

4. Form and size of the parts. The form and size are based on judgment. The smallest
practicable cross-section may be used, but it may be checked that the stresses induced in the
designed cross-section are reasonably safe. In order to design any machine part for form and
size, it is necessary to know the forces which the part must sustain. It is also important to
anticipate any suddenly applied or impact load which may cause failure.
5. Frictional resistance and lubrication. There is always a loss of power due to frictional
resistance and it should be noted that the friction of starting is higher than that of running
friction. It is, therefore, essential that a careful attention must be given to the matter of
lubrication of all surfaces which move in contact with others, whether in rotating, sliding, or
rolling bearings.
6. Convenient and economical features. In designing, the operating features of the machine
should be carefully studied. The starting, controlling and stopping levers should be located on the
basis of convenient handling. The adjustment for wear must be provided employing the various
take up devices and arranging them so that the alignment of parts is preserved. If parts are to be
changed for different products or replaced on account of wear or breakage, easy access should be
provided and the necessity of removing other parts to accomplish this should be avoided if
possible. The economical operation of a machine which is to be used for production or for the
processing of material should be studied, in order to learn whether it has the maximum capacity
consistent with the production of good work.
7. Use of standard parts. The use of standard parts is closely related to cost, because the cost of
standard or stock parts is only a fraction of the cost of similar parts made to order. The standard
or stock parts should be used whenever possible; parts for which patterns are already in existence
such as gears, pulleys and bearings and parts which may be selected from regular shop stock
such as screws, nuts and pins. Bolts and studs should be as few as possible to avoid the delay
caused by changing drills, reamers and taps and also to decrease the number of wrenches
required.
8. Safety of operation. Some machines are dangerous to operate, especially those which are
speeded up to insure production at a maximum rate. Therefore, any moving part of a machine
which is within the zone of a worker is considered an accident hazard and may be the cause of an
injury. It is, therefore, necessary that a designer should always provide safety devices for the
Machine Design Dr. Nabeel Alshabatat

safety of the operator. The safety appliances should in no way interfere with operation of the
machine.
9. Workshop facilities. A design engineer should be familiar with the limitations of his
employer’s workshop, in order to avoid the necessity of having work done in some other
workshop. It is sometimes necessary to plan and supervise the workshop operations and to draft
methods for casting, handling and machining special parts.
10. Number of machines to be manufactured. The number of articles or machines to be
manufactured affects the design in a number of ways. The engineering and shop costs which are
called fixed charges or overhead expenses are distributed over the number of articles to be
manufactured. If only a few articles are to be made, extra expenses are not justified unless the
machine is large or of some special design. An order calling for small number of the product will
not permit any undue expense in the workshop processes, so that the designer should restrict his
specification to standard parts as much as possible.
11. Cost of construction. The cost of construction of an article is the most important
consideration involved in design. In some cases, it is quite possible that the high cost of an article
may immediately bar it from further considerations. If an article has been invented and tests of
handmade samples have shown that it has commercial value, it is then possible to justify the
expenditure of a considerable sum of money in the design and development of automatic
machines to produce the article, especially if it can be sold in large numbers. The aim of design
engineer under all conditions, should be to reduce the manufacturing cost to the minimum.
12. Assembling. Every machine or structure must be assembled as a unit before it can function.
Large units must often be assembled in the shop, tested and then taken to be transported to their
place of service. The final location of any machine is important and the design engineer must
anticipate the exact location and the local facilities for erection.

Factor of safety
Failure is avoided by designing machines based on solid knowledge of its operation, exposure, as
well as normal and limits of performance. The safety factor can be defined as:
Allowable strength
SF 
Applied Stress
Machine Design Dr. Nabeel Alshabatat

Reasons for Applying Safety Factor:

A factor of safety is applied because we don’t know everything exactly (i.e., uncertainty).
 If everything were known precisely about the materials used, the loading conditions and the
part geometry, a factor of safety of 1 could be used.
 Never in engineering do we know everything precisely, there is always part variability,
material inconsistency, variations in loading and limited knowledge about the life factors.
 Factors that influence the uncertainty
1. FS material = Uncertainty in the EXACT material properties
2. FS Stress = Uncertainty in the EXACT loading
3. FS geometry = Uncertainty due to tolerances and variability in manufacturing.
4. FS failure theory = Uncertainty in the application of the exact failure theory
5. FS reliability = Uncertainty in the reliability contribution
Sal 
FS  FS mat  FS load  FS geom  FS Failth  FS Re liab 
 
ap

FS mat to be Extent of knowledge

applied

1.0 Material properties well known, experimentally obtained from specimens

known to be identical to the materials of the design
1.1 Material properties known from a handbook or the manufacturer.

1.2 - 1.4 Material properties not well known.

FS load to be Extent of knowledge

applied

1.0 – 1.1 Load is well defined static or fluctuating, no anticipated overloads or

shock loads and accurate stress analysis was used
1.2 – 1.3 Load nature is defined in an average manner with overloads of 20-50%
and stress analysis is with little anticipated error.
1.4 - 1.7 Load is not well known or stress analysis method has some question.
Machine Design Dr. Nabeel Alshabatat

FS Geom to be Extent of knowledge

applied (unit to unit variations)

1.0 Tight manufacturing tolerances can be held

1.0 – 1.1 Manufacturing tolerances are considered average

1.1 – 1.2 Dimensions either are not or cannot be closely held.

FS Fail theory to Extent of knowledge

be applied

1.0 – 1.1 Failure analysis derived from state of stress as in uni-axial or multi-axial static
stresses or fully reversed uni-axial fatigue.
1.1 – 1.2 Failure analysis is a simple extension of multi-axial, fully reversed or uni-
axial nonzero mean fatigue stresses
1.3 – 1.5 Failure analysis is now well developed as with cumulative damage or multi-
axial nonzero mean fatigue stress

FS reliab to be Extent of knowledge

applied

1.0 – 1.1 Reliability need not be high, usually less than 90%

1.2 – 1.3 Reliability is an average of 92-98%.

1.3 – 1.5 Reliability must be higher than 99%

A reliability of 90% means that the failure of 10 parts out of every 100 manufactured parts
might be considered an acceptable failure rate!
Machine Design Dr. Nabeel Alshabatat

"Rule-of Thumb" Factors of Safety

VALUE Range Extent of knowledge
Lower Higher
Value Value Material uncertainty Factor of Safety
Material properties well known, experimentally obtained from
1.0 specimens known to be identical to the materials of the design
1.0 1.2
1.0 1.2 Material properties known from a handbook or the manufacturer.
1.2 1.4 Material properties not well known.
Load uncertainty Factor of Safety
Load is well defined static or fluctuating, no anticipated overloads or
1.0 1.1 shock loads and accurate stress analysis was used
1.2 1.3 Load nature is defined in an average manner with overloads of 20-50%
1.2 1.3 and stress analysis is with little anticipated error.
1.4 1.7 Load is not well known or stress analysis method has some question.
Geometry uncertainty Factor of Safety
1.0 Tight manufacturing tolerances can be held
1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 Manufacturing tolerances are considered average
1.1 1.2 Dimensions either are not or can not be closely held.
Failure theory uncertainty
Failure analysis derived from state of stress as in uni-axial or multi-
1.0 1.1 axial static stresses or fully reversed uni-axial fatigue.
Failure analysis is a simple extension of multi-axial, fully reversed or
1.1 1.2
1.1 1.2 uni-axial nonzero mean fatigue stresses
Failure analysis is now well developed as with cumulative damage or
1.3 1.5 multi-axial nonzero mean fatigue stress
Reliability uncertainty
1.0 1.1 Reliability need not be high, usually less than 90%
1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3 Reliability is an average of 92-98%.
1.3 1.5 Reliability must be higher than 99%
Combined Factor of Safety
1.6 2.7
(recommended based on values selected for these categories)