UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE HONOURS IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PART III

END OF SEMESTER I EXAMINATION

COURSE: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN

CODE: ME306

DATE : DECEMBER 2015

DURATION : 3 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

a. Answer any Four questions.

b. Each Question carries 25 marks
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

a. Answer book
b. Non-programmable Calculator
c. Formulae sheet provided

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Question 1

a) Describe any five characteristics of a good coupling device. [5]

b) As a design engineer you are tasked to select a coupling C shown in Fig Q1. State and explain
the type of coupling you would select. [5]

bearing bearing bearing load

housing housing housing

Driving Shaft driven shaft

Coupling C

Fig Q1 120 Megawatt turbine shaft

c) Design a muff coupling which is used to connect two steel shafts transmitting 20 kW at 400
r.p.m. The material for the shafts and key is plain carbon steel for which allowable shear and
crushing stresses may be taken as 42 MPa and 88 MPa respectively. The material for the muff is
cast iron for which the allowable shear stress may be assumed as 12 MPa. [15]

Question 2

a) Describe the conditions where the following belt materials are best suitable for use and also
where they are not suitable.

i) Balata ii) rubber iii) leather [6]

b) Power of 60 kW at 750 r.p.m. is to be transmitted from an electric motor to compressor shaft

at 300 r.p.m. by V-belts. The approximate larger pulley diameter is 1500 mm. The approximate
centre distance is 1650 mm, and overload factor is to be taken as 1.5. A belt with cross-sectional
area of 350 mm2 and density 1000 kg / m3 and having an allowable tensile strength 2 MPa is
available for use. The coefficient of friction between the belt and the pulley may be taken as
0.28. Take groove angle of pulley to be 35o.
Calculate
i) the number of belts needed and determine the belt type.

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 ii) the inside belt length.
iii) the corrected centre distance.
iv) the dimensions of the pulley. [19]

Question 3

a) Give any two advantages of chain drives and give two practical applications of chain drives
related to these advantages. [5]

b) Design a chain drive to actuate a compressor from 15 kW electric motor running at 1000
r.p.m., the compressor speed being 350 r.p.m. The minimum centre distance is 500 mm. The
compressor operates 16 hours per day. The chain tension may be adjusted by shifting the motor
on slides. [20]

Question 4

a) Give a description of the following causes of gear failures pitting, scoring and abrasive
wear and describe methods of preventing such failures.
[10]
b) Describe interference in gears and give two methods of avoiding it. [6]

c) A bronze spur pinion rotating at 600 r.p.m. drives a cast iron spur gear at a transmission ratio
of 4: 1. The allowable static stresses for the bronze pinion and cast iron gear are 84 MPa and
105 MPa respectively. The pinion has 16 standard 20° full depth involute teeth of module 8 mm.
The face width of both the gears is 90 mm. Find the power that can be transmitted from the
standpoint of strength. [9]

Question 5

a) Describe the important application of springs in the design of machines. [5]

b) A safety valve of 60 mm diameter is to blow off at a pressure of 1.2 N/mm2. It is held on its
seat by a close coiled helical spring. The maximum lift of the valve is 10 mm. Design a suitable
compression spring of spring index 5 and providing an initial compression of 35 mm. The
maximum shear stress in the material of the wire is limited to 500 MPa. The modulus of rigidity
for the spring material is 80 kN/mm2. In your design you should calculate
(i ) diameter of the spring wire,
(ii) mean coil diameter,
(iii) number of active turns, and
(iv) pitch of the coil.

Question 6

Design a wire rope for a vertical mine hoist to lift a load of 55 kN from a depth 300 metres. A
rope speed of 500 metres / min is to be attained in 10 seconds. [25]

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 THE END( SEE CHARTS AND FORMULAE NEXT PAGE)

CHARTS AND FORMULAE SHEET

Table 1 Design dimensions of screw threads, bolts and nuts according to IS : 4218 (Part III)
1976 (Reaffirmed 1996

Shaft standard sizes. 14, 16, 18,20,25,27, 30, 32, 34, 35, 38, 42, 45, 48, 50, 55, 58, 60, 70, 80,
85, 90, 100,110

Table 1. Proportions of standard parallel, tapered and gib head keys.

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Table 2. Number of teeth on the smaller sprocket.

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Table 3 Characteristics of roller chains according to IS: 2403 — 1991

Table 4 Power rating (in kW) of simple roller chain.

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Table 5. Factor of safety (n) for bush roller and silent chains

Table 6. Dimensions of standard V-belts according to IS:2497.1974

The standard inside lengths of V-belts in mm are as follows :

610, 660, 711, 787, 813, 889, 914, 965, 991, 1016, 1067, 1092, 1168, 1219, 1295, 1372, 1397,
1422, 1473, 1524, 1600, 1626, 1651, 1727, 1778, 1905, 1981, 2032, 2057, 2159, 2286, 2438,
2464, 2540, 2667, 2845, 3048, 3150, 3251, 3404, 3658, 4013, 4115, 4394, 4572, 4953, 5334,
6045, 6807, 7569, 8331, 9093, 9885, 10 617, 12 141, 13 665, 15 189, 16 713
According to IS: 2494-1974
The pitch lengths are obtained by adding to inside length: 36 mm for type A, 43 mm for type B,
56 mm for type C, 79 mm for type D and 92 mm for type E.

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Table 7. Dimensions of standard V-grooved pulleys according to IS: 2494–1974.
(All dimensions in mm)

Table 8 Standard pitch lengths of V-belts according to IS: 2494-1974.

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Table 9. Standard wire gauge (SWG) number and corresponding diameter of spring wire.

Table 9. Standard wire gauge (SWG) number and corresponding diameter of spring wire.

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Table 10. Total number of turns, solid length and free length for different types of end
connections.

Table 11. Standard designation of ropes and their applications

Table 12. Steel wire ropes for haulage purposes in mines.

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Table 13. Steel wire suspension ropes for lifts, elevators and hoists

Table 14. Diameter of wire and area of wire rope.

Table 15. Factor of safety for wire ropes.

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Table 16. Sheave diameters (D) for wire ropes.

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