MECH 1901 Automotive Engineering and Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

http://mech1901ae.ust.hk/

Course Description:

    This introductory course teaches fundamental technologies in automotive engineering. It is targeted at the general student body and opens to all students of science, engineering, or even business majors. It will cover the major and important aspects of automobile engineering and technologies, including its history, development, and current state. Content wise, it will cover key components of an automobile, i.e., the engine, transmission (both manual and automatic), drive-axle system, suspension system, brake system, control, etc. In addition, it will cover the managerial and operational aspects of modern automobile companies.

    There will be little calculation involved in the teaching of this course. Instead, the focus of the course is on teaching the fundamental working principles of an automobile. For example, students will learn why the torque of the engine drops after the engine speed reaches certain level and thus obtain a firm understanding of the physical meaning of the torque vs. RPM graph. However, how exactly this graph is calculated will not be covered. As another example, students will learn why a suspension system usually uses a shock absorber by studying the general spring-mass system; however, they will not be tangled with how to solve the accompanying differential equations.

    The course will be taught using the lecture+lab method. Basically, after a new system/component is taught in the lecture, e.g., the internal combustion engine, the students will spend the next three hours in using a CAD software (SolidWorks) to design a simple internal combustion engine and to watch its computer simulation. The "design" will be mostly done using "canned" software modules and tools. In other words, students will not learn how to design; rather, they will go through the design process which will help solidify what they have just learnt in the lecture.

Instructor:

      Dr. Kai Tang  Dept. of Mech. Engineering; E-mail: mektang@ust.hk; Tel: 2358-8656; Room: 2544; Office hours: Any time (just come to see me or email me to set up an appointment time if you like).

Textbook:

•     Classnote PPT files only

Grading Policy:      

•     Lecture: final exam (open book) 50%

•     Lab:      (a) in-class exercises 15%; (b) projects 35%

Time and place:  

      Please pay special attention to the venues. The class will be conducted in an alternating manner between lectures and tutorial labs: one week lecture and then one week lab. The lecture will be taught in room 2464, while the tutorial labs will be conducted in the ME UG Lab room 4225C (near lift 24). The exact schedule and venue are shown below.

Lecture or Lab time on both Monday and Wednesday: 9:00 - 10:20

Lab TA:      

•     HU Pengcheng; Email: pchu@ust.hk; Office hour: Monday and Wednesday 10:30 - Noon; Room 4225C.

Lab Materials:

      PPT files

      SolidWorks model files

      Others

Announcements

Syllabus and Schedule:  

Part One:  Introduction to automobiles                

                        An overview

                        Electric Vehicles

                        Basic scientific principles

Part Two:  Engines

                        Internal combustion engines

                        Power vs. torque

Part Three:  Transmissions

                        Manual transmission

                        Automatic transmission

Part Four:  Axles and drives

                        Axles and drives

Part Five:  Suspensions

                        Suspensions

Part Six:  Steering systems

                        Steering systems

Part Seven:  Axles and drives

                        Brakes

Part Eight:  Review questions

                        Review questions