Mechanical engineering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Mechanical engineering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mechanical engineering is a very broad field of engineering that involves the application of physical principles for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. The system can be as simple as the design of a chair for comfort or as complex as the operations of a turbo-charge engine for speed. It can be as small as the manufacturing of a nano-sized gear or as large as the structure of a supertanker used to carry oil around the world.
The major divisions of mechanical engineering are designs and controls, thermo-science and fluids, engineering mechanics, and manufacturing. Depending on the colleges and the universities, some mechanical engineering programs offer more specialized programs, such as mechatronics, robotics, transport and logistics, cryogenics, and biomechanics, if a separate department does not exist for these subjects.
Modern analysis and design processes in mechanical engineering are aided by various computational tools like finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). In system design and controls, a mechanical engineer may apply CAD/CAM systems to feed �instructions' to computer numerically-controlled (CNC) machines such as robots, milling machines, and lathes. In this way the engineer could automate the manufacturing process without the need for intermediate drawings. A mechanical engineer working in thermo-fluid might design a heat sink, an air conditioning system, or an internal combustion engine. Other processes might focus on the fluid itself, such as a fan to cool an electrical system"
