The Mechanical Design Toolbox® (MDT) has been developed by Dr. Kyu-Jung Kim since the beginning of the new millenuim. This toolbox has been utilitzed as a teaching and learning aid for computer based instruction (CBI) of the machine design classes at Cal Poly Pomona. The toolbox can solve most stress analysis and machine design problems of various mechanical components in the machine design textbook. The toolbox takes advantage of graphic user interaces (GUI) and multiple document interfaces (MDI) for iteractive data input and output result analysis under intergrated computing environments.
MDT is designed to provide the following functionalities to the user.
1) Interactive design: The MDT enables the user to select various input parameters by simply entering information into the text boxes or making selections from the list, popup, and table menus. All the table and graphs in the textbook and some manufacturer catalogs are embedded in the MDT so that the user have no need to lookup tables, graphs, and charts from the textbook. Some input parameters can be entered in either manual or automatic ways. In manual mode, the MDT will display the table or chart for manual selection. On the other hand in automatic mode, the MDT will automatically estimate the parameter from the table or chart.
2) Design analysis & synthesis: Design analysis is readily conducted by prescribing the input parameters and running design simulations. For design synthesis, a design analysis tool can be used through repetitive design simulations until the user can find a design that meets all the design requirements. However, the MDT has a separate design (synthesis) tool in step-by-step fashion so that optimum design will be selected and exported into the corresponding design analysis tool for further design simulation.
3) Design consistency: The input parameters and the corresponding results will all be displayed in the GUIs and thus consistency of the input parameters can be confirmed in visual fashion. The MDT also report any inconsistent design input parameters. All the intermediate analysis results are also displayed in graphic and numeric format using a web browser. A consistent unit system is used for all the design input and output result parameters.
4) Design simplicity: All the tedious design calculations are done by the MDT. Any nonlinear and iterative design calculations can be done in less than a second. Thus, the user has to make creative design decisions to find the feasible and optimum designs based on conceptual understanding on the working principles of the machine component. The entire input and output parameters can be saved to a file or printed for documentation and further design simulations. The analysis results are displayed in HTML format for documentation.
An accompanying totorial textbook is available from Cognella Publishing (Machine design Using the Mechanical Design Toolbox by KJ Kim and C Dinsmore, 1st edition, 2022 at https://titles.cognella.com/machine-design-using-the-mechanical-design-toolbox-9781516537051 ).
