TE-E/1

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Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
at the University of Pretoriawww.me.up.ac.za
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Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
The application of maths and science to design,
develop, manufacture and maintain mechanical
equipment to meet the needs of society Types of
Mechanical Engineers Theoretician Researcher Des
ign Engineer Development Engineer Industrial/Pro
cess Engineer Manufacturing Engineer Maintenance
Engineer Project Engineer Other
(financial) Management
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Where do Mechanical Engineers Work?

• Private Industry
• Amplats, BMW, Panasonic, Aerosud, Boeing
  SA, Toyota, SAFAIR, Bosch, Kumba, Mittal,
  Columbus Stainless, Aerosud, IST, Carrier,
  Siemens, GEA Aircooled Systems, Bell
  Equipment, BHP Billiton, Anglo-Platinum,
  Ansys Fluent, Oracle, Vodacom, Steinmuller, AMT
  Composites, etc.
• Government Services and Corporations
• Denel, Eskom, SAA, SAAF, Telkom, Sasol,
  CSIR, NECSA, PBMR, etc.
• Consulting Engineers
• LTA, DRA, MMS Technologies, Hatch Africa,
  Babcock, IST, etc.
• Almost all sectors of economy Chemical,
  Mining, Manufacturing, Process,
  Car/Aircraft Manufacturing, Defence, Aeronautical
  Industry, Corporate, Banking, Stock
  Exchange,
• Tertiary Education / Research (University of
  Pretoria, CSIR, etc.)
• Own Business (Entrepreneur)

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Who Becomes a Mechanical Engineer?

• Comfortable with mathematics and science
• Creative ability, Critical thinker
• Enjoy a challenge
• Hard working
• Perseverance
• Organisational abilities and good
  inter-personal relationships

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Women as Engineers?

• Why not?
• You work with you brain not physical strength
• At present 20 to 40 are women
• Better communicators
• Better project leaders/managers
• Doing just as well and even better than men
• Some of our best students are women
• We want 50 (and more) of our students to be
  women

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Disciplines in MechanicalEngineering

• Structural mechanics
• Thermodynamics
• Fluid mechanics
• Dynamics and control
• Design Specialisation at
  the UP
• Aeronautical Engineering
• Maintenance Engineering
• Automotive Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering (from July 2009)

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Structural Mechanics
Structural mechanics deals with the analysis of
the influence of forces on structures and
includes the deformation and failure of
mechanical structures. Simple as well as very
sophisticated computer based finite element
methods are used.
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Thermodynamics
Electronics cooling
Thermodynamics is the study of energy, heat and
work. It also deals with the conversion of
energy from one form (e.g. coal) to another
(e.g. heat, steam, electricity).
Air-cooled heat exchanger (2008 / 9)
Gas turbine blade cooling(2008 - )
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Fluid Mechanics
Fluid mechanics is applied wherever the behaviour
of fluids is of engineering interest. Examples
include flow over aircraft wings, vehicle
aerodynamics, vehicle engine flow processes,
building ventilation, flow boiling inside pipes,
etc.
Refrigerant R-134a condensing inside a
tube-in-tube heat exchanger (2008 - )
Air flow over a SA Navy corvette (2007)
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Dynamics and Control
Dynamics deals with the motion of structures
under the influence of forces. Where a
particular dynamic response is desired, control
algorithms may be employed to get the system
response in accordance with what is desired.
Dynamic road-load simulation
Conversion of Land Rover to fully-autonomous
vehicle (2008/9)
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Design
Design is the activity that draws on the
knowledge gained in the rest of the engineering
disciplines with the aim to create new products,
machines, technologies and services.
Mine roof support system
Chute design for open-cast mining operation
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Aeronautical Engineering
The aeronautical engineer is able to predict the
aerodynamic forces on bodies such as wings, rotor
blades, car bodies, etc. He/she is involved in
aerodynamics, airframe structures, aircraft
propulsion and control during the development of
aircraft.
Development of glider for deployment of special
forces (2006)
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Maintenance Engineering
Maintenance Engineering is the study of machines
and systems with the purpose to increase the
availability and reliability of these machines
and or systems. It is also involved with the
study of failure and how to best devise a
corrective strategy if failure occurs.
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Automotive Engineering
In Automotive Engineering, basic Mechanical
Engineering principles are applied to design and
improve cars, trucks and almost everything else
that move on wheels.
Diesel research
Special fluids cargo carrier (2004)
Computerised hydro-pneumatic suspension system
(2007 - )
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Typical Mechanical/Aeronautical Projects

• Pebble bed nuclear reactor
• Conventional (steam, hydro, gas turbine) power
  stations
• Air- and water conditioning systems
• Bio-medical equipment
• Mining equipment
• Military equipment
• Design and development of land, sea, and air
  vehicles (Airbus A400M, Boeing 777, Bell heavy
  vehicles, catamarans, unmanned aerial vehicles)
• Petrochemical processes and equipment

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Structures

• Mobile bridge that is able to carry military
  equipment of mass up to 70 ton (tank with
  ammunition) over obstacles. This equipment can
  also be used for disaster relief Role of
  mechanical engineer
• Design
• Manufacturing
• Testing
• Maintenance

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Medical equipment / implants
All medical devices, equipment or implants,
involve mechanical engineering
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Medical equipment / implants
Design and manufacturing of tools and equipment
used by medical profession. Here is an example
where special equipment was manufactured to
repair the broken tusk of an elephant (2005)
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Biomedical equipment
Bio-artificial liver support system (2006 - )
Specialised surgery tools
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Construction equipment

• The role of the mechanical engineer with this
  type of equipment is as follows
• Design of equipment
• Manufacturing of equipment
• Testing
• Maintenance of equipment
• Management of equipment

These photographs depict the largest mobile
feed-mixer in the world. Designed, built, used
and maintained in South Africa
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Mining equipment

• Shown is a monster of the mining industry, namely
  a dragline. This machine is capable of moving
  120 m3 (2.5 big domestic swimming pools) or 360
  tons ( 400 VW Polos) of gravel in a single
  scoop. The role of the mechanical engineer
• Design
• Manufacture
• Testing
• Maintain
• Manage

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Analysis of systems or structures
A major part of the work of a mechanical engineer
is analysis of systems and or structures. Shown
is an example of an analysis done on an
underground mining machine, tested for the effect
falling rock (2007 - )
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Analysis of complex systems
Analysis of flow around bats wings, for
application in mini- and micro unmanned aerial
vehicles (2008 - )
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Aeronautics
Design and development of a human-powered vehicle
moving on a railway track, at 135 km/h, (2009 - )
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Aeronautics

• Shown is the turbine-compressor section of a
  small-scale (5 kW) gas turbine, developed by the
  UP, (2008). Role of mechanical/aeronautical
  engineer
• Design of components various systems and
  subsystems
• Design of manufacturing tooling and equipment
• Simulation and Testing

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Aeronautics

• Low-speed aerodynamics The role of mechanical/
  aeronautical engineers
• Design of small aircraft
• Manufacturing of components and systems
• Simulation and testing
• Management of programme

UP Mini-UAV (2007 - )
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Aeronautics

• Shown is the Seeker II unmanned aerial vehicle
  (UAV) where the mechanical/aeronautical engineer
  will be responsible for
• Design
• Manufacturing
• Testing
• Maintenance

UP-Quiet Propeller designed for Denel Dynamics,
for Seeker II UAV
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Opportunities for mechanical aeronautical
engineers

• Overwhelming demand for engineers (Business
  Times Careers 29 Jan 2008). Third of all
  positions advertised in the Sunday Times over the
  past 6 months were for engineers
• All industries (mechanical, chemical, mining,
  manufacturing, motorcar, aeronautics, defence,
  banking, stock exchange, consulting,
  construction, etc.)
• Lots of advertisements for local talent from
  various countries Saudi Arabia, Australia, New
  Zealand, Canada, etc.
• Companies Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Boeing, NASA,