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Evaluating performance of heat sink designs without finite element simulation

I have the opportunity to do a few metal 3D prints for just the material cost, and would like to experiment with the performance of heat sink designs (mostly for fun). Since I have no experience designing heat sinks, I would say that the expected…
PlasmaHH
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Beam support weight in motion

Let me state I was once an Engineering student but am now a professional software engineer working on a side project that involves something similar to the question below. I have a box hanging from a beam and the box weighs 200 pounds. The beam is…
nathan89615
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Why is it called "Model predictive control"?

This will sound like a super silly question, but: Why is it called "Model Predictive Control"? I mean : the other types of control also compute the control input based on prediction of what is going to happen based on the "Model", no?
edamondo
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How to let a "screw" leave and reenter a thread

The setup Consider a cylinder inside another cylinder (placed with their symmetry axis horizontal). The inner cylinder is about Ø100 mm in diameter and a centimeter or two in lenght/thickness. On the perimeter there is a thread. This cylinder is…
Steeven
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Rigid bumpers vs shock absorber bumpers

This question got into my mind when I am cleaning my motorcycle. If spring shock-absorbers like the one below absorbs shock from road imperfections, reducing strain in the motorcycle body as your drive, then why does car manufacturers use rigid…
Jem Eripol
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Is a wing that runs the length of an aircraft viable?

I was thinking about fighter aircraft like the Harrier which have thrust vectoring and computer-controlled stabilisation nozzles. Also an anhedral angle on the (small) wings. The aircraft relies so much on the computer stabilisation, and flies like…
jhabbott
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How can I detect black spots?

I am researching about ways to continuously determine black spots (size 50+ micron) in our product stream. This stream consists of imperfect spherical polymer beads (size 3 mm) of different materials (ABS, SEBS, etc.) and colors (opaque and…
nluigi
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What does "28" and "27" mean on my metric thread pitch gauge?

I have a metric thread pitch gauge that came in a tap and die set, it has pitches like $0.75$, $0.8$, $1.25$, etc. which is the distance between each thread. However there are two gauges that say $27$ and $28$ - I thought maybe it means $0.28\text{…
jhabbott
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Whats the purpose of a main metering system in a carburetor?

I'm confused on how to differentiate mixture control from the main metering system, and why we even need one at all. Let's say we had a large resovior, and a needle type mixture control system. The differential pressure would push/pull fuel from the…
ApolloMission4
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LabView or another software for experiments

I used LabView for a lot of my BME undergrad, but the labs focused mainly on things dealing electrical signals. In the real world I'm working mostly on ME projects, but we lack a good deal of experimentation equipment. What are the limitations of…
William B.
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Cutting flattened out "threads" to prevent small-scale slipping

I have a product where we transmit quite a lot of shear force through a small bolted join. On our current design the contact area is about 10mm², the bolt is M2, and the force is 45N, and it works quite well. But now we want more, the requirements…
Jack B
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Is there a pressure relief mechanism that operates faster than sound in a material?

In the event of an explosion through a high pressure gas pipe, is there a way to vent the pressure wave, in order to protect downstream objects? The mechanism must be faster than sound; pressure relief valves and even rupture discs are actually too…
L. Jones
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How many decimal places of GPS should be stored to be accurate within a few feet?

I'm building a software application that uses GPS for a purpose related to roads. I'd like to know how many decimal places of GPS data should be stored to provide measurements that are accurate to within a few feet?
noɥʇʎԀʎzɐɹƆ
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Could a Fuel Breathing Engine Rather Than an Oxidizer Breathing Engine Work?

Here on Earth, the atmosphere is ideal for jet engines which combust a fuel using the native oxygen as an oxidizer. On another planet, might it make sense to carry oxidizer in the fuel tanks and scoop the fuel from the air (assuming the planet…
Rafael
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Significant figures

I have a question about the significant figures topic: Problem: Find the volume of a cylinder having a diameter measured as 2.3 ft and length measured as 8.25 ft. Solution: V = π(D^2 /4)h = π((2.3)^2)(8.25)/4 = 34.276739 cu ft = 34 cu…
isaint
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