Department of Mechanical Engineering
Course Descriptor - 2014/15
MECH101P – Introduction to Mechanical Engineering
Code: MECH101P
Alt. Codes: None
Level: 1
UCL Credits/ECTS: 0.5/7.5
Start Delivered: September
End: December
Module Owner: Dr Manish K Tiwari
Taught by: Dr Manish K Tiwari, Dr P. Fromme and PGTA’s
Prerequisites:
No previous experience of Mechanical Engineering is required.
Course Overview:
The course will provide an introduction to Mechanical Engineering, covering fundamental concepts
of Applied Mechanics (Statics) and Introduction to Thermofluids.
The Statics part will aim to teach the basic analytical methods, that is, the fundamental concepts and
techniques of engineering mechanics (Statics). Building on mathematical skills from A-levels
Mathematics (including for some students Mechanics modules) and concurrent first year Mathematics
course, basic concepts of Statics are introduced, practiced and applied to simple engineering
problems. Students will obtain modelling knowledge, tools and experience appropriate for a first year
engineering course, providing the foundation for higher level courses.
The second part aims to teach fundamentals of Thermofluid sciences. Building on the mathematical
skills and physics learning from the A-levels and the concurrent first year Mathematics course, the
basic concepts of control volume and control mass are introduced – this teaches students how to
analyse systems with and without flows. These fundamental features are then used to perform mass,
momentum and energy balance - both in isothermal and non-isothermal systems - with various levels
of assumptions. The energy balance is introduced via the first law of Thermodynamics and solution
of several analytical problems drawn from practical engineering applications.
Method of Instructions:
Two sets of lectures and tutorials, each with a total of two hours duration per week. Tutorial sheets
and other exercises will be used.
Additional online and reading materials will also be provided where students are expected to selflearn. Conceptual ideas learnt will be reinforced through the moderated and student focused solving
of tutorial examples and questions.
Practical laboratory classes (one each for Statics and Thermofluids) related to the reinforcement
of conceptual ideas taught in this subject will be conducted to provide hands-on experience of
engineering structures and systems with mandatory requirement of attendance but no formal
assessment.
Assessment
The course has the following assessment components:
Written Test (2 hours, 80%)
2 Laboratories (20%)
To pass this course, students must:
Obtain an overall pass mark of 40% for all sections combined
The rubric for test is:
Answer a total of FOUR out of FOUR questions. TWO questions will be from the Applied Mechanics part
and TWO from the Introduction to Thermofluids. The students must answer all questions from each side.
All questions carry equal weight.
Resources:
Reading Material
Note that the recommended textbooks may vary each year and the subject lecturers will provide further
information.
1. Mechanics of Fluids: Bernard S. Massey and John Ward-Smith, 9th Edition, Taylor & Francis.
2. Thermodynamics – An Engineering Approach: Yunus A. Cengel and Michael A. Boles,8th
Edition, McGraw-Hill
3. Principles of Engineering Thermodynamics: Moran, Shapiro, Boettner and Bailey, 7th Edition,
Wiley
4. Engineering Mechanics: Statics, R.C. Hibbeler (SI Units), Pearson – Prentice Hall
Online Support
Identify how moodle and any other online resources will be used to support the learning in the
course.
All course material (lecture notes, tutorial sheets, numerical answers etc.) and supporting material
will be made available to students on Moodle.
Additional Information:
None.
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Content:
Applied Mechanics - Statics
1. Forces and Moments
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Force Vectors
1.3. Force Definitions
1.4. Moment of a Force – Scalar Definition
1.5. Vector Representation of a Moment and Resultant Moment
1.6. Static Equivalent Reduction of a System of Forces
2. Rigid Body Equilibrium
2.1. Conditions for Rigid Body Equilibrium
2.2. Free Body Diagram (FBD)
2.3. Support Reactions
2.4. Weight and Centre of Gravity
2.5. Equations of Equilibrium
3. Friction
3.1. Static Friction
3.2. Kinetic Friction
3.3. FBD for Friction
4. Analysis of Structures
4.1. Simple Trusses (Planar Pin-Jointed Frame)
4.2. Method of Joints
4.3. Zero-Force Members
4.4. Method of Sections
5. Distributed Forces and Centre of Gravity
5.1. Resultant of Distributed Forces
5.2. Static Equivalent Reduction of a Distributed Force System
5.3. Centre of Gravity and Centroid of a Body
6. Internal Forces and Moments in Structures
6.1. Internal Loadings in a Beam
6.2. Beams with Concentrated Loads
6.3. Beams with Uniformly Distributed Loads
6.4. Differential Equations
Introduction to Thermofluids
1 Introduction to thermodynamics and the related concepts of fluid mechanics
 Continuum
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

What is flow?
Basic properties such as density, viscosity and surface tension
2. Fundamental principles and properties of fluid media
 Pressure and temperature
 Concept of system properties (intrinsic and extrinsic)
 Zeroth law of Thermodynamics
3. Analysing systems and devices
 System and surrounding
 Control volume and control mass
 Principles of mass, momentum and energy balance – introduction
 Hydrostatic pressure calculation
4. Pressure and hydrostatic head
 Container shape independence
 Manometers
 Concept of pressure head
 Gauge and vacuum pressures
5. Mass balance and energy in isothermal conditions
 Applications of continuity equation
 Ideal Bernoulli equation
 Concept of static and dynamic heads
 Venturi
6. Flow analysis
 Pressure drop
 Reynolds number (Laminar and Turbulent flows)
7. Principle of energy conservation
 First law of Thermodynamics without flow
 Heat and work equivalence
 Internal energy
 Control mass calculations
8. First law of Thermodynamics with flow
 Control volume analysis
 Steady state steady flow
 Examples of power plant components
9. Applications of First Law
 Ideal gas equations
 Examples from engine and power plants
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General Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge and Understanding
Upon completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the essential facts, concepts, theories and principles
underlying Statics, Thermofluids, Systems and System Boundaries.
Skills and attributes
Upon completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the essential facts, concepts, theories and principles
underlying fundamentals of applied mechanics and thermofluid sciences. Teach the basic analytical
methods, that is, the fundamental concepts and techniques of engineering mechanics (Statics) and
thermofluid sciences.
Develop ability to apply appropriate quantitative techniques and mathematical tools to the analysis
of problems arising in applied mechanics and thermofluid sciences. Building on mathematical skills
from A-levels Mathematics (including for some students Mechanics modules) and concurrent first
year mathematics course, basic concepts of Statics and thermofluids are introduced, practiced and
applied to simple engineering problems.
Have a physical feeling for key mechanical engineering components such as an internal combustion
engine. Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary context of the underlying theory,
including its applications to engineering design and application to real world problems.
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