Category: Stress Flow / Hand Calcs

Sliding joint mechanisms are everywhere. We see them on mobile equipment outriggers, sliding glass doors and scissor lifts. I made a critical mistake on my first tube in tube sliding joint. I'll...

I have always said, "There is no such thing as a quick FEA." In my opinion, FEA is one of the slowest tools in our tool belt. It seems like it would speed things up by not having to do hand...

As an engineer, there are many times where designing a beam by stress alone just isn't good enough. Walkways and decks are designed for deflection because the the human mind feels the movement and...

Beam tables give information on and assume that the deflection calculation is based on a constant cross section.  So, what do we do if our beam has a cross section that changes over the length...

As engineers, we want accurate model for finite element analysis, but with more accuracy comes longer run time and difficulties meshing.  The method shown below is a way to gain maintain...

It is often the case that my beam is loaded in a way that is not in a design table.  So what do I do? There are several approaches to calculate beam moments when your load case in not in a...