How to do engineering calculations?

   / How to do engineering calculations? #21  
I thought he was asking about building a simple ramp... I'll re-read his post as I must have missed where he asked about getting an engineering job designing aircraft fuselages.

I think reading a book about welding would get you started in welding a few simple projects, like maybe a ramp or something to begin with.
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #22  
Why read a book when you have the internet and youtube? All you would ever need to know...

Seriously, they are many things you can learn and do on your own with the help of the internet. Building a skyscraper is not one of them however :)

Or what he said...
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #23  
The title of the OP asks "How to do engineering calculations?"

...To me this means that the OP would like to learn a little about the theory behind a task for a project...not just mimic something arbitrarily...
 
   / How to do engineering calculations?
  • Thread Starter
#24  
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'm going to have to read and reread the thread to get an understanding of the options presented and decide which way to go. Not much time to go through it right now.
I will try to get the trailer laid out and get pics of the bowing so you can get an idea of where the problem lies, with different angles of pics and such.
I am not trying to get an engineering degree from the internet. I still wish that was the field I had chosen young in life, but there was no money for the schooling at that time. I ended up being a SQL Server DBA, which I like, as long as I can partake in my one of my favorite activities, things involving large machinery and a welder.
The big thing here is I would like to know how to be a bit more scientific about designing and building things so that in cases where size, or weight matters, I can make the right decisions. No, there are no space shuttles or sky scrapers in my future, but some small time engineering so I can build cool things like I see in these forums.
Here's a pic of the boat trailer ladder I designed and built from aluminum this summer. I experimented with that by cutting up an old step ladder and clamping it onto the trailer. After I saw how badly it would twist when a little weight was added, I decided to make it out of 1/8" x 1.5" x 3" channel. It turned out really nice, and clamped in two places on the trailer, is solid as a rock.

20130705_185826.jpg

Thanks again,
Chris
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #25  
TORQUIN,
Just recognize that some of the projects you will see are over built simply to add weight to the implement. For your ramp I would guess that that 1.5x3.0 rectangular box tubing with .125 wall thickness would work for you and still be light enough to lift easily.
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #26  
As has been suggested check out trailers with ramps and copy.:thumbsup:
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #27  
I'm with you Egon,
I wouldn't mess about trying to redesign that tailgate for 3000#.
Just make some ramps.
Fini
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #28  
The equations do take a while to get used to. I suggest getting an fe exam practice book as your first reference then buying more books on what specific topic you are interested in. The guys that say you can't learn it on your own are wrong. You just need to do lots of practice problems to get a feel for it. Statics for dummies would be another good starting point.
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #29  
Machinery's Handbook has detailed information about engineering calculations for about any shape beam you can think of. I think you can download it free online.
 
   / How to do engineering calculations? #30  
The problems with the angle is that it doesn't put enough material far enough away from the centerline. W flange beams are the stronest for a clean loading situation, but they are hard to connect. Pipe is OK, but the amount of material parallel to the centerline is minimal. Square tube has the max material parallel to the centerline so it's strong and the square shape is easy to work with. For your application, some channel would work nicely. Flat face is easy to weld and it still has significant material parallel to the centerline. The disadvantage to a channel is that it's not symetrical around the Y axis so it will be prone to buckling. That said, it'll still work for your application. Don't forget to make the lap connection long enough to restrain the rotation at the conneciton points.
 

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