机械工程导论翻译第二章.docVIP

2 problem-solving skills 2.1 OVERVIEW In this chapter we begin discussing some of the steps that engineers follow when they solve problems and perform calculations in their daily work .Mechanical engineers are fluent with numbers,and they are organized when obtaining numerical answers to questions that involve a remarkable breadth of variables and physical properties.Some of the questions that you will encounter in your study of mechanical engineering are force,torque,thermal conductivity,shear stress,fluid viscosity[visk?s?ti] n. [物] 粘性，[物] 粘度,elastic modulus ,kinetic nergy,Reynolds[ren?ldz] n. 雷诺兹（姓氏）reynolds number 雷诺数 reynolds stress n. 雷诺应力 reynolds equation 雷诺方程 number,specific heat,and so on.The list is very long indeed.The only way that you will make sense of so many quantities is to be very clear about them in calculations and when explaining results to others. Each quantity in mechanical engineering has two components :a numerical value and a unit.One is simply meaningless without others,and practicing engineers pay as close and careful attention to the units in a calculation as they do to the numbers.In the first portion of this chapter,we will discuss fundamental concepts for systems of units and conversions between them and a procedure for checking dimensional consistency that will serve you well in engineering calculations. Aside from the question of units,engineers must obtain numerical answers to questions- how strong ？how heavy？how much power?what temperature?—often in the face of uncertainty and incomplete information.At the start of a new design,for instance,the shape and dimensions of the final product are not known ;if they were ,then it wouldn,t be necessary to design in the first place .Only rough estimates of the force applied to a structure might be available.Likewise,exact values for material properties are rarely known,and there will always be some variation between samples of materials.Nevertheless,an engineer still has a job to do