Bolted Joints by the Numbers
How to design, tighten and check bolted joints: preload and joint stiffness, torque, stretch and angle, separation and fatigue, threads, shear, bolt groups, gaskets and heat.
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- EngineeringDesign, CAD and practical engineering methods83
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Engineering
Design, CAD and practical engineering methods
Buckling by the Numbers
How compression members buckle and how to check them: Euler, effective length, sections, Johnson and secant formulas, bracing, cylinder rods, heat, vacuum and temporary frames.
Bulk Solids Flow by the Numbers
Why powders and pellets behave unlike liquids, and how to size and run bins and silos so they hold what they should, discharge reliably and do not arch, rathole or segregate.
CAD Automation by the Numbers
Build CAD automation that pays: measure the work, choose the level, capture rules, prepare master models, specify, build, test, deploy, generate outputs and support the tool.
CAD Automation That Pays
Automate CAD work that pays: payback, recorded and written macros, the object model, units, selections, assembly traversal, properties, batch export, add-ins and upkeep.
CAD Data You Can Trust
Move engineering files from shared folders to controlled data: numbering, references, revisions, permissions, migration, tested backups, licences, upgrades and supplier exchange.
CAD Standards That Stick
Set up a parametric CAD office so every seat, template, property, library part and model behaves the same, then check, train and change the standard without losing control.
Centrifugal Pumps by the Numbers
Select, run and fault-find centrifugal pumps with numbers: head and power, curves and operating points, NPSH and cavitation, affinity laws, throttling, series and parallel, and life-cycle cost.
Checking Drawings by the Numbers
Check detail and assembly drawings with a method and numbers: title blocks, views, dimension counts, limits and fits, stacks, notes, parts lists and checking records.
Clutches and Brakes by the Numbers
How to size and check friction clutches and brakes: loads and inertia, linings, plate, cone and centrifugal clutches, shoe, band and disc brakes, and spring-applied motor brakes.
Combustion by the Numbers
Burn gas well with numbers: stoichiometric air, excess air from flue oxygen, available heat, flame temperature, meter corrections, turndown, flue dew point, CO and cost per useful GJ.
Compressed Air Plant by the Numbers
Calculate what a compressor room really does: the work of compression, the heat it makes, the water it condenses, and the pressure, storage and pipe choices that set the power bill.
Condensation Control by the Numbers
Keep water out of electrical enclosures and off cold pipes with numbers: dew point, night-sky cooling, breathing, heater sizing, desiccants, insulation and humidity logging.
Cryogenic Design by the Numbers
Design apparatus that works at 40 K and below: heat capacity and cooldown, contraction, materials, supports, thermal straps, radiation, current leads, cryocoolers and test coils.
Cryogenic Liquids by the Numbers
Store, move and use liquid nitrogen safely and economically: pressure and boiling point, flash and boil-off, the nitrogen a part needs, shrink fitting, relief and oxygen deficiency.
Design Simulation by the Numbers
Plan, build, check and report design simulations with hand calculations, restraint and mesh studies, frequency checks, test comparison and a clear release scope.
Designing Welded Joints by the Numbers
Design welded joints with numbers: load paths, butt and fillet weld sizing, eccentric and bending loads on weld groups, matching, fatigue, cost and the weld drawing.
Distribution Transformers by the Numbers
How a factory's distribution transformer works and how to load, cool, protect, buy, test and maintain it with numbers: core and winding losses, fault levels, hot spots, ageing and loss costs.
Drafting Geometry by the Numbers
Build exact 2D drafting geometry with numbers: datums, coordinates, triangles, tangent arcs, bolt circles, slots, ellipses, offsets, mass and cut-ready profiles.
Drawings That Make Parts
Make and read mechanical drawings that suppliers can quote, make and inspect from: sheets, lines, views, sections, dimensions, tolerances, texture and release.
Ductwork by the Numbers
Size and check ductwork with numbers: flow and velocity, round and rectangular equivalents, branches, friction, fittings, fan duty and fan laws, transitions, sheet and balancing.
Electronics Packaging by the Numbers
Package electronics in a mechanical product with numbers: board mounting and vibration, heat paths, sealing and venting, cables, antennas, compliance, testing and release.
Entropy by the Numbers
Use the second law to find where a plant's energy loses its value: Carnot limits, heat pump and cool room COPs, entropy changes, lost work, exergy, throttling and compressors.
Fine Particles by the Numbers
Predict how dust, fume and mist behave by numbers: Stokes settling, slip, relaxation time, Brownian diffusion, impaction, filter capture, duct deposition and measurement.
Fins and Heat Sinks by the Numbers
Size and check heat sinks with numbers: thermal budgets, interfaces, fin efficiency, natural-convection spacing, radiation, fans and pressure drop, spreading resistance and testing.
First-of-a-Kind Technology by the Numbers
Measure what novelty costs: readiness levels, pioneer-plant evidence, scale-up, qualification tests, ramp-up curves, contingency graded by novelty, and ways to buy the risk down.
Fits That Work
Follow a mechanical assembly from functional limits to tolerance budgets, temperature checks, measurement uncertainty and a defensible release decision.
Gears by the Numbers
Work through one spur gear pair from ratio and geometry to contact ratio, backlash, tooth strength, contact stress and the data a gear drawing needs.
Heat Exchangers by the Numbers
Size and rate heat exchangers with numbers: energy balances, LMTD and F correction, overall and film coefficients, fouling, effectiveness–NTU, plate or shell, pressure drop and boiling.
Heat Pumps and Refrigeration by the Numbers
Use the second law to judge heat pumps and refrigeration: Carnot limits, COP, the vapour-compression cycle, heat pump water heating, cold room loads, compressor energy and refrigerant rules.
Heat Transfer by the Numbers
Calculate heat flows in plant: energy and power, conduction through walls and pipe insulation, convection, radiation, economic insulation, heat exchangers and heating and cooling times.
Housings That Rebuild
Model a two-part plastic housing with hybrid surface and solid methods: clean curves, chosen continuity, shells that solve, robust references and a master model split into parts.
Humidity Control by the Numbers
Size and check air-handling processes with moist-air balances: properties, the chart, room loads, mixing, heating and humidifying, cooling coils, reheat, evaporative cooling and condensation.
Industrial Electric Heating by the Numbers
Design, size and run electric process heating from first principles: Joule heating, conductor and cable temperatures, fuses, elements, ovens, furnaces, induction, control and cost.
Inertia and Flywheels by the Numbers
How to work with rotating inertia: moments of inertia, reflection through drives, ratio choice, move profiles and RMS torque, heavy starts, flywheel energy and design, and safe rim speeds.
Layouts That Plot to Scale
Set up CAD layouts that print true to scale: viewport factors, text heights, dimension and linetype scales, line weights, PDF output, mixed-scale sets and file units.
Louvres and Ventilators by the Numbers
Design and make weather louvres by numbers: airflow and free area, blade pitch and overlap, pressure drop, rain penetration, mesh, stack ventilation, movable blades, wind loads and cut lists.
Machine Noise Control by the Numbers
Control machine noise with numbers: decibel arithmetic, sound power, octave bands, exposure, room absorption, barriers, enclosures, silenced openings, vibration isolation and measurement.
Machine Part Repairs by the Numbers
Repair machine parts with numbers: repair or replace, reading the failure, shaft stresses, building up journals, keyways, straightening, gears, cast housings, vehicle parts and the repair record.
Metal Fatigue by the Numbers
How metal parts fail under repeated stress and how to design them not to: cycles, endurance limits, notches, Goodman lines, S-N lives, Miner's rule, shafts, bolts, springs and surfaces.
Microstructures by the Numbers
How to get trustworthy numbers from a polished section: phase fractions, grain size, particle sizes, porosity, inclusions and microhardness, with their errors.
On-Site Power and Heat by the Numbers
Judge on-site power and heat with engineering thermodynamics: Carnot limits, Otto, Diesel, Brayton and Rankine cycles, turbochargers, waste heat recovery and the cogeneration business case.
Performance Solutions by the Numbers
Follow one mezzanine stair through the NCC's Performance Solution process: requirements, design brief, assessment methods, evacuation arithmetic, evidence and final report.
Permanent Magnets in Machines by the Numbers
How to choose and use permanent magnets in machines: materials, load lines, heat and demagnetisation, couplings, brakes, servos, separators, sensors and safe handling.
Pipe Flow by the Numbers
Size and check liquid piping with numbers: continuity, head and the energy equation, Reynolds number, Darcy friction, fittings, system curves, balancing and natural circulation.
Plain Bearings by the Numbers
Design and check oil-lubricated plain bearings: film formation, PV, Petroff friction, Sommerfeld number and film thickness, clearance, heat balance, oil supply, thrust pads and failures.
Pneumatics by the Numbers
Size a pneumatic cylinder, time and cushion its stroke, choose valves and a safe fail state, count air and leak costs, supply clean air and commission and maintain the system.
Polymer Chains by the Numbers
Use the physics of long chains to judge resin grades, regrind, solvent cements, cleaners and storage: molar mass averages, coil size, viscosity, phase separation and solvent attack.
Process Chillers by the Numbers
Size, check and run a process-water chiller with numbers: cooling load, the cycle from NIST R-134a data, saturation, flash gas, compressor work, temperature lift, cost and faults.
Process Steam by the Numbers
Use steam tables to size and run a plant steam system: boiler output, process steam flow, pressure reduction, pipe velocity, traps, flash steam, condensate return, cost and safety.
Railway Clearances by the Numbers
Railway clearances with numbers: rolling stock outlines, centre and end throw, cant lean, the kinematic envelope, safety margins, track centres, refuges, infringements and out-of-gauge loads.
Railway Track Geometry by the Numbers
Track geometry with numbers: curves and versines, cant and equilibrium speed, cant deficiency, transitions, grades and vertical curves, turnouts, balloon loops, tolerances and handover.
Random Error and Drift by the Numbers
Separate noise, random walk and drift in production measurements by numbers: averaging, correlated noise, Allan deviation, thermal noise, line speed, recalibration and uncertainty budgets.
Random Vibration by the Numbers
Specify, analyse and test equipment for random vibration: power spectral density, RMS and peaks, single-degree-of-freedom response, isolation, fatigue under random loading and test time compression.
Real Gases by the Numbers
Size, fill, draw and check high-pressure gas supplies with real-gas numbers: compressibility, contents, temperature, throttling, vapour pressure, critical points and line flow.
Reverse Osmosis by the Numbers
Size, check and run a brackish-water reverse osmosis plant from first principles: osmotic pressure, recovery, flux, temperature, polarisation, scaling, pretreatment, energy and cleaning.
Roof Drainage by the Numbers
Size roof drainage from the design storm: catchment flows, eaves and box gutters, outlets, rainheads, overflow, materials and thermal movement, then install and maintain it.
Roof Lights by the Numbers
Design and make a glazed roof light by numbers: daylight area, kerbs and flashings, glass and bars, hip and valley geometry, condensation, solar heat, movement, sashes and safety.
Rooftop Solar for Factories by the Numbers
How solar cells turn sunlight into power and how to size, check, mount, monitor and pay for a factory rooftop array with numbers: yield, strings, shading, wind and cost.
Rubber Parts by the Numbers
Design rubber parts that stretch, inflate and grip with numbers: hardness and modulus, large stretch, biaxial thinning, inflation limits, friction, temperature and ageing.
Scale Models by the Numbers
Use dimensions, dimensionless groups and similarity laws to plan a scale model, scale its results to full size, fit power laws to test data and know when the model stops telling the truth.
Shaft Alignment by the Numbers
How to align coupled machines and prove it: misalignment, foundations, levelling, soft foot, pipe strain, dial indicators, rim and face, reverse indicator, thermal growth, shims and couplings.
Shape Memory Alloys by the Numbers
Design with nickel-titanium shape memory wire and superelastic parts using numbers: transformation temperatures, stress shifts, stroke, bias springs, current, cooling and fatigue.
Sheet Metal Joints by the Numbers
Design mechanical joints in sheet with numbers: rivet shear, bearing and tear-out, pitch and edge distance, clinches, threads in thin sheet, lock seams, galvanic pairs, testing and cost.
Simulating Noisy Systems by the Numbers
How to simulate equipment driven by random inputs: generate noise properly, choose time steps and methods, count runs, estimate first-passage times and rare events, and check the results.
Springs by the Numbers
How to check and specify mechanical springs: rate and energy, compression, extension, disc, torsion, bar and flat springs, fatigue, and the springs that set forces in machines.
Stiffening Sheet Metal by the Numbers
Make thin sheet metal panels stiff, flat and quiet with numbers: plate deflection, thermal buckling, flanges, wired edges, beads, hat stiffeners and drumming.
Stress Transformation by the Numbers
How stress changes with direction and where it peaks: transformation, principal stresses, Mohr's circle, tubes, thick walls, 3D states, rosettes, fits and thermal restraint.
Surfaces That Make Parts
Build complex CAD shapes from surfaces and turn them into parts that can be checked, moulded and made: curves, lofts, patches, trimming, knitting, continuity and draft.
Thermal Expansion by the Numbers
Calculate how parts, pipes, liquids and gases change with temperature: growth, measuring at 20 °C, thermal stress, pipe loops, shrink fits, expansion vessels, gas pressure and machine design.
Trips and Alarms by the Numbers
How to set trip and alarm thresholds on noisy signals: predict nuisance trips from the noise, then choose filters, deadbands, on-delays and voting, and prove the settings work.
Vacuum by the Numbers
Size, run and check an industrial vacuum system with numbers: gas quantity, molecular flux, flow regimes, conductance, pumping speed, pump-down time, gas loads, leaks and gauges.
Variable-Speed Drives by the Numbers
How variable-speed drives control induction motors and how to size, cool, apply and maintain them with numbers: switch physics, losses, junction temperature, energy savings and life.
Vehicle Mechanics by the Numbers
Calculate what a site vehicle needs to climb, pull, stop, turn and stay upright, using one battery-electric tow tractor and its trailers as a worked case.
Vibrating Machine Elements by the Numbers
Find the natural frequencies of belts, guy ropes, shafts, isolator springs and panels from wave speed, then keep them clear of what drives the machine.
Viscosity by the Numbers
Understand and use viscosity: units, gases and liquids, temperature, grades, pressure and shear, measurement, flow in lines, leakage, viscous heating and oil condition.
Water Hammer by the Numbers
Size pressure surges in a pumped water main from wave speed and velocity change, check valve closure and pump trip, and choose protection before a pipe bursts.
Whirling Shafts by the Numbers
How rotors behave at speed: critical speeds by Dunkerley and Rayleigh, foundation stiffness, balance grades, one- and two-plane balancing, centrifugal and gyroscopic loads, starts and spectra.
Yield and Plastic Flow by the Numbers
How metals yield and flow and how to use it: elastic constants, tensile tests, true stress and work hardening, hardness, von Mises and Tresca, proof tests, bending, rolling and residual stress.
Engineering Design Practice
Calculations, tolerances, drawings, data, simulation, professional duty and what failures teach.
Fluids, HVAC and Building Services
Air, water and heat in buildings: psychrometrics, HVAC design, heating, ventilation, controls, commissioning, pipe flow and pumps.
Machine Elements and Mechanical Design
Choosing materials, joints, drives, bearings, seals and structures that carry their loads and last.
Practical Mathematics for Engineering and Manufacturing
Fractions, ratios, formulas, units, geometry, trigonometry, graphs, logarithms, vectors, matrices, probability and spreadsheets.
Manufacturing
Tooling, factory production and quality
Accept or Reject by the Numbers
Make better accept and reject decisions: Bayes' rule, readings near the limits, cost-based guard bands, gauge studies, repeat checks, combined evidence, thresholds and sampling.
Adhesive Bonding by the Numbers
How to design, prepare, cure, test and prove bonded joints in metal and plastic parts, from contact angles and surface energy to lap shear, peel and thermal movement.
Arc Welding by the Numbers
Plan and cost arc welding from first principles: arc power, power sources, duty cycle and cables, electrodes and deposition, weld metal, arc time, arc blow, fume and cost per metre.
Architectural Sheet Metal by the Numbers
Develop building sheet metal by numbers: profile girth, square, angled and raking mitres, penetration and wall flashings, copings with movement and wind, and curved and gored work.
Bills of Materials by the Numbers
Build bills of materials that order the right parts: levels, quantity roll-ups, units of measure, scrap and yield, phantoms, variants, costed roll-ups, effectivity and CAD BOMs.
Blanking and Piercing Dies by the Numbers
Plan, size and check a blanking and piercing die with numbers: cutting force, clearance, punch strength, stripping, strip layout, centre of load, setting, wear and tool cost.
Blending Bulk Solids by the Numbers
How well a blend can be mixed, how to measure it, why it unmixes, how feeders and extruders smooth or pass on variation, and how to sample and prove a blend without fooling yourself.
Branched Fittings by the Numbers
Develop branched sheet metal fittings with numbers: oblique cones and frustums, breeches with equal, unequal and angled prongs, three-way manifolds, and a pipe joining a cone.
Brazing and Soldering by the Numbers
Design and make brazed and soldered joints with numbers: capillary flow and joint gaps, thermal expansion, lap length, fluxes, filler and solder alloys, heating, fume and cost.
Contact Temperature Sensors by the Numbers
Choose, wire, install and calibrate thermocouples, Pt100s and thermistors with numbers: Seebeck voltages, cold junctions, lead errors, immersion, response time and uncertainty.
Control Charts by the Numbers
Design, read and trust control charts: subgroup statistics, false alarms and run lengths, CUSUM and EWMA for small shifts, attribute charts, autocorrelation, tool wear and capability.
Cutting and Gouging by the Numbers
Cut and gouge metal with numbers: carbon arc, air carbon arc gouging and back-gouging, plasma and its cost per metre, lasers, waterjets and saws, oxygen and thermic lances, fume, noise and choice.
Deep Drawing and Spinning by the Numbers
Work out drawn and spun sheet metal parts with numbers: blank size, draw ratios and redraws, press force, blank holding, die clearance, trim, ironing, spinning and draw-or-spin costs.
Defect Maps by the Numbers
How to map where defects fall on parts, test whether they are random or clustered, and use the pattern to find causes, predict yield, chart counts and plan inspection.
Diffusion by the Numbers
Calculate diffusion in steel parts by numbers: Fick's laws, error-function profiles, Arrhenius temperature effects, carburised case depth, decarburisation, scale and hydrogen bake-out.
Eddy-Current Inspection by the Numbers
How eddy-current testing works and how to use it with numbers: penetration depth, conductivity and temper, coating thickness, cracks, sorting, tubes, thresholds and records.
Electroplating by the Numbers
Specify, check and cost electroplated finishes: Faraday's laws, current efficiency and density, thickness distribution, preparation, hydrogen embrittlement, zinc life and rinsing.
Fixtures That Repeat
Design and qualify a repeatable fixture using explicit constraints, force and stiffness checks, machining access, trial data and controlled maintenance.
Forge Welding by the Numbers
Forge welding with numbers: how solid-state welds form, the fire and its fuel, scale and fluxes, joint shapes and stock, the seconds at heat, what welds, strength, chain, laminates and repair.
Hand Forming Sheet Metal by the Numbers
Plan hand-formed sheet metal work with numbers: strain and thickness, dome blanks, raising and sinking, shrinking flanges, wheeling, hand wiring, checks and noise.
Hardfacing and Surfacing by the Numbers
Fight wear with weld deposits: how surfaces wear, building up versus hardfacing, dilution, choosing alloys, manganese and carbide deposits, processes, preheat and cracking, patterns and cost.
Heating and Cooling Times by the Numbers
Estimate how long parts take to heat through and cool down: Biot and Fourier numbers, lumped and one-term solutions, semi-infinite surfaces, product solutions and finite differences.
Induction Hardening by the Numbers
How induction hardening works and how to control it: frequency and the Curie point, power and heating time, coils, steel condition, quench and temper, case depth, cracking and charts.
Industrial Gases by the Numbers
Understand workshop gases from first principles: carbide and acetylene, generators, purity, oxygen and hydrogen production, shielding gases, liquid storage, piping, leaks and hazards.
Infrared Temperature Measurement by the Numbers
Measure hot parts and running plant without contact, with numbers: thermal radiation, emissivity errors, wavelength choice, ratio pyrometers, reflections, spot size, thermography and uncertainty.
Inspecting to the Drawing
Turn a detail drawing into an inspection plan: balloon every requirement, set limits, choose instruments, decide near the limits and report a first article.
Laser Processing by the Numbers
How metals absorb laser light and how to plan laser cutting, welding and marking with numbers: focus, power density, heat flow, assist gas, safety and cost per part.
Machining by the Numbers
Calculate cutting data, power, deflection, tool life, cycle time and cost for turned, milled and drilled parts, and turn the numbers into a defensible quote.
Magnetic Workholding by the Numbers
How magnets hold steel and how to prove they will: pull from flux density, air gaps, thin plates, milling and grinding forces, chucks, lifting magnets and demagnetising.
Marking Out by the Numbers
Mark out sheet and plate by hand with known accuracy: datums, squareness, lengths, divisions, angles, polygons, large arcs, ellipses and old shop rules tested.
Metal Casting by the Numbers
How a sand casting is made right: melt energy and cycle, charge blending, pattern allowances, gating, Chvorinov's rule, riser feeding, gas and grain, T6 heat treatment and Brinell checks.
Oval Sheet Metal Work by the Numbers
Lay out and make oval sheet metal work with numbers: four-centre ovals, perimeters, capacities, flared ovals as part cones, patterns, seams, flat ovals, material and checks.
Oxy-Fuel by the Numbers
Set up, measure and cost oxy-acetylene cutting and heating: flame chemistry, cylinders, regulators, flow, flashback protection, cut quality and the cost of a metre of cut.
Pipe Welding by the Numbers
Weld pipe with numbers: welded against threaded joints, wall thickness and pressure, fit-up, positions, root passes and purging, filling passes, stainless, preheat, testing and estimating.
Plastic Parts by the Numbers
Design an injection-moulded part with numbers: wall, draft, ribs, bosses, snap fits, shrinkage, gating, clamp force, cycle time, tool cost and first-off approval.
Plate Work by the Numbers
Lay out and fit steel plate with numbers: mean diameters, rolled shells, springback, cones and hoppers in thick plate, openings, rings, nesting, roundness and mass.
Power Presses by the Numbers
Choose, set and check a power press with numbers: tonnage curves, flywheel energy, frame deflection, hydraulic and servo drives, shut height, feeding, stopping time and cost.
Quoting Sheet Metal Work by the Numbers
Quote sheet metal jobs with numbers: scope, blanks and nesting, laser time, folding, joining and finishing, setups and batch size, rates and margin, GST, and learning from actuals.
Rectangular Duct Fittings by the Numbers
Develop rectangular duct fittings with numbers: radius and mitred elbows, single and diagonal offsets, transitions, shoe branches, seams, cleats, cross-breaking and the take-off.
Resistance Welding by the Numbers
Set, check and cost resistance welds from first principles: Joule heating, the welding window, transformers, electrodes, joint design, seam, projection and flash welds, and testing.
Sheet Metal Parts by the Numbers
Design and draw folded sheet metal parts with numbers: bend radius, K-factor, bend allowance, flat patterns, springback, features near bends, forces and tolerances.
Sheet Metal Patterns by the Numbers
Develop sheet metal patterns with numbers: girth, slant cuts, segmented elbows, branches, cones, triangulation, rectangle-to-round transitions, seams, wired edges and nesting.
Sheet Metal Production Runs by the Numbers
Plan a sheet metal production run with numbers: capacity and fill lines, flared blanks and corners, nesting yield, routing times, setups, batch size, learning, unit cost and first-article inspection.
Strain Gauges and Load Cells by the Numbers
How strain gauges turn stretch into resistance and how load cells, bridges and weighing systems are designed, installed, calibrated and kept accurate, worked with numbers.
Tanks and Hoppers by the Numbers
Calculate tanks and hoppers with numbers: capacity and freeboard, frustums and the prismoidal formula, level tables, mass and loads, sheet area, and cone and hopper patterns.
Testing Welded Joints by the Numbers
Plan, run and read weld tests with numbers: joint efficiency, measurement uncertainty, scatter and sample size, bend strain, hardness, impact, macro, NDT, sampling and qualification.
Thermit Welding by the Numbers
Understand aluminothermic welding from first principles: the reaction and its heat, sizing the charge, moulds, preheat, shrinkage, alloying, rail welding, testing and cost.
Transitional Elbows by the Numbers
Develop sheet metal fittings whose ends are not parallel by triangulation from coordinates: inclined ends, transitional, tapering, rectangular, flat-oval, twisted and helical elbows.
Weld Repairs That Hold
Plan weld repairs to steel plate around damage assessment, shrinkage, joint preparation, sequence, preheat, patches, inspection and a repair record that others can check.
Weldability by the Numbers
Understand why each metal welds differently: heat flow, expansion, oxides, carbon and contamination, with worked repairs on cast iron, steel, aluminium, copper, nickel and mixed joints.
Welder Training by the Numbers
Train welders with numbers: how skill grows with practice, what an hour of practice costs, how to assess and qualify fairly, how skill fades, and when training pays back.
Welding Automation by the Numbers
Automate welding with numbers: levels of automation, the self-regulating arc, travel speed and heat input, fixtures and fit-up, robot cell payback, programming, sensing, monitoring, safety and skills.
Welding Distortion by the Numbers
Understand and control welding distortion with numbers: shrinkage, gap closure, bowing, angular distortion, buckling, restraint, welding sequence, presetting and straightening.
Machining and Metal Parts
Cutting, finishing, tooling, casting and measuring metal parts accurately and economically.
Manufacturing Operations and Design for Manufacture
Make or buy, forecasting, flow, BOMs, fixtures, fabrication, plastics, additive, automation and exporting.
Manufacturing Quality
Quality tools, measurement systems, SPC, FMEA, PPAP, traceability and zero-defect methods for small factories.
Operations
Processes, Lean and operational improvement
Breakdowns and Buffers by the Numbers
Model breakdowns, repairs, buffers, maintenance crews, spares and standby machines as Markov processes, and use the results to choose improvements that raise a line's output.
Cooling Towers by the Numbers
Specify, run and check an industrial cooling tower with numbers: wet-bulb and approach, heat loads, Merkel performance, evaporation and blowdown, treatment, Legionella, fans, siting and tests.
Shop Floor Optimisation by the Numbers
Solve the hard choices of a job shop: machine loading, line balancing, project selection, bar cutting, sheet nesting, sequencing, cells and simulated annealing.
Solvent Vapours by the Numbers
How solvents evaporate, mix, burn and condense in a workshop, and how to calculate headspaces, evaporation, ventilation, oven exhaust and recovery to control them.
Welding Health and Safety by the Numbers
Welding safety with numbers: risk management, fume and its measurement, extraction and ventilation, respirators, eyes and radiation, electric shock, fire and confined spaces, noise, heat and records.
Lean, Maintenance and Continuous Improvement
Lean as a system, problem solving, DMAIC, maintenance, TPM, OEE, warehousing and turnarounds.
Operational Data, Records and Controls
Master data, identifiers, documents, timesheets, internal controls, continuity and safety decisions.
Projects
Planning, control, risk and project delivery
Building Approval for Factory Projects
Work through the NCC questions behind a factory fit-out: classification, storeys, fire compartments, occupants, exits, fire equipment, amenities and approval.
Commissioning Custom Software
Commission custom software from a developer: decide build or buy, write a brief, choose a pricing model, contract for ownership, run increments, test, go live and support it.
Front-End Planning by the Numbers
Plan slowly, deliver quickly: score project definition, read estimate classes, size the front end, and price exposure and a harvest deadline, worked through one packhouse upgrade.
Modular Projects by the Numbers
Plan and deliver a rollout as repeatable modules: outcome first, module boundaries, pilots, learning curves, exposure windows, cadence and an honest cost comparison.
Project Teams and Contracts by the Numbers
Build one team from many organisations: lump sum, cost-plus and target-cost share calculations, alliances, team size, staffing, decision rights and how contracts shape behaviour.
Reference Class Forecasting by the Numbers
Correct an optimistic project estimate with the outcomes of similar past projects: overrun ratios, P50 and P80 budgets, fat tails, simulation and calibration.
Stage Gates and Stopping Rules by the Numbers
Avoid committing too early and continuing too long: decision trees at each gate, the value of tests and of waiting, sunk costs, escalation, kill criteria and a pivot.
Project Delivery, Procurement and Governance
Delivery models, tendering, early works, completion, programs, gates, PMOs and lessons from major projects.
Project Planning and Control
Project basics, requirements, WBS, schedules, risk, quality, change control, stakeholders and reporting.
Technology
AI, databases, software and digital systems
Engineering Tools People Use
Design in-house engineering tools people use correctly: observe users, design inputs and results, write messages, fit the workflow, test with five users and measure use.
3D CAD Modelling and Design Intent
Parametric modelling, constraints, curves, surfaces, meshes, assemblies and renderings that keep the design intent clear.
AI in Business Practice
Choosing, building, testing, securing, governing and paying for AI that does useful work.
Business Systems, Security and IT Decisions
Choosing and running business software, websites, security, availability and the technology you depend on.
CAD Drafting and Drawing Standards
Templates, layers, units, blocks, annotation, sheet sets, plotting and checks that make CAD drawings consistent.
Database Foundations for Business
What databases do, how business data is structured and modelled, and choosing, securing and backing up a database.
Database Performance, Concurrency and Safe Change
Why systems slow down, how concurrent work collides, and how to change live databases without losing data.
Decision-Making Machines
How automated systems reason under uncertainty, plan ahead and learn from rewards, and how to test them before trusting them.
Reporting, History and Analytical Data
Data warehouses, history, hierarchies, measures, lineage and analysis that turn records into trustworthy reports.
Software and Cloud Foundations for Business Leaders
How software is built, versioned, hosted, connected and released: web apps, APIs, cloud costs, containers, DevOps and Python.
SQL, Queries and Data Correctness
Writing queries that return the right answer and designing rules, keys and tests that keep data correct.
Business
Finance, strategy, governance and leadership
Demand and Benefit Forecasts by the Numbers
Build a volume forecast from drivers, test it against the record, model the ramp-up, measure forecast error, run scenarios, then track benefits and treat surprises honestly.
Engineering Software You Can Sell
Turn an in-house engineering tool into a software product: test the market, secure ownership, package and license it, price with GST, meet consumer law and support it.
Outcome-First Projects by the Numbers
Start a project from its outcome: write the purpose, define measures, baselines and targets, then derive options, trace requirements and test every scope item against them.
Setting Up a Welding Shop by the Numbers
Plan a small welding and fabrication shop with numbers: the work, the floor, the power and gas supply, fume extraction, equipment, fire safety, the hourly cost, pricing and cash flow.
The Small Business Operating Handbook
A complete working handbook for Australian small-business owners to organise operations, understand money, test demand and introduce AI responsibly.
Win Work You Can Deliver
Build a small business pipeline around evidence, viable pricing and reliable delivery, with a continuous worked example and practical exercises.
Read the Numbers, Understand the Business
An approachable, practical guide to reading financial statements, interpreting cash flow, assessing business quality, and asking better valuation questions.
Acquisitions, Groups and Investment Accounting
How acquisitions, group structures and investments in other companies are accounted for and what the numbers mean.
Booms, Bubbles and Business Cycles
How credit, asset prices and confidence create booms and busts, and how a business stays sound through them.
Business Systems and Operating Rhythm
Repeatable systems, handoffs, capacity, weekly reviews and reports that keep a growing business under control.
Buying Well: Procurement and Tendering
Defining what to buy, choosing how to price it, running a fair market approach and agreeing terms before award.
Careers, Confidence and Personal Effectiveness
Choosing and changing careers, coaching yourself, building confidence and spending an owner's time well.
Commercial Law, Contracts and Disputes
How Australian contracts are formed, interpreted, performed and enforced, and how commercial disputes are resolved.
Communication and Professional Presence
Listening, questioning, speaking, writing and conducting yourself so that people trust and understand you.
Competitive Strategy and Positioning
Choosing where to compete and how to win: industry forces, value position, focus and durable advantage.
From Approval to Benefits
Carrying approval conditions into the work, handing over well and making sure projects are adopted and deliver their benefits.
Growth, Business Models and New Markets
Business model patterns, platforms, network effects, market entry and selling outcomes instead of products.
Investment Appraisal and Business Cases
Testing whether an investment is worth making: needs, costs, benefits, NPV, scenarios and financing.
Leading People and Change
Leadership as influence, decisions and meetings, speaking up, and helping people through change.
Marketing, Brands and Customer Experience
Understanding customers, building a brand on a small budget, content, advertising, loyalty and service experience.
Pricing, Margins and Profitability
Setting prices, protecting margin, understanding break-even and the costs that decide whether a business makes money.
Project Estimates, Schedules and Costs
Estimating cost and duration, testing schedules, reading cost reports and dealing with late and changing work.
Project Sponsors, Governance and Decisions
Who decides what on a project: sponsors, owners, methods, escalation and when to say no or stop.
Reading Financial Statements
The income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, read the way an owner or lender reads them.
Records, Business Data and Learning from Results
Keeping promises on record, managing commercial and customer data, and learning honestly from pilots and failures.
Risk, Controls and Assurance
Practical risk management: appetite, registers, scores, controls, assurance, rules and the risks you pass on.
Selling and Business Development
Finding, qualifying and winning work, from prospecting and sales calls to tenders, negotiation and keeping customers.
Starting, Funding and Structuring a Business
From the first idea and business structure to funding, co-founders, protection and building a business that outlasts its founder.
Suppliers, Contractors and Government Work
Managing suppliers and contractors after award, sourcing decisions, and working with and for government.
Sustainability and Environmental Management
Running an environmental management system, measuring footprint, avoiding burden shifting and turning waste into value.
Teams, Incentives and Performance
Building and motivating teams, developing people, and measuring and rewarding performance fairly.
Valuing Time, Delay and Uncertainty
Putting a value on delay, waiting, outcomes, information and options, so uncertain decisions can be compared.
Work Habits That Stick
Diagnosing, designing, starting and tracking the everyday habits that make good work routine.
Products
Product development, validation and launches
Accelerated Life Testing by the Numbers
Prove a product's life without waiting years: the Boltzmann factor and Arrhenius model, capacitor life, humidity and thermal cycling, Weibull analysis, sample sizes and HALT.
Configure, Price, Quote by the Numbers
Quote configurable engineered products quickly and correctly: model options and constraints, price from cost, write quotes, link orders to drawings and control discounts.
Connected Products by the Numbers
Develop a connected product with numbers: requirements and architecture, sensing, battery and data budgets, testable firmware, security rules, pilot fleets and service models.
Printed Mechanisms That Run
Design an FDM-printed working mechanism: orientation, measured fits, bearings, printed gears, a Geneva index, fasteners, low-voltage drive and a tested build guide.
Product Acoustics by the Numbers
Design the sound of a product with numbers: acoustic circuits, ports and resonators, small speaker enclosures, drivers, air paths, microphone ports, directivity, fan noise and declared levels.
Prototypes and Simulation by the Numbers
Find design problems while they are cheap: cost of change, prototype fidelity, value of information, test sample sizes, Monte Carlo, queues, discrete-event simulation and reviews.
Product Development and Launch
From customer insight and ideas to prototypes, experiments, R&D governance and a process ready for production.
Specifications, Product Quality and Sustainability
Specifications, value engineering, tested substitutions, recycled materials, durability, LCA and product imagery.
Ideas
Innovation, exploration and practical concepts
How Engineering Shaped Industry: From Aqueducts to the Grid
Water, building, power, navigation, mills, mass production, materials, transport and electrification, and what they teach.
How Engineering Shaped Industry: Power, Networks and the Modern Era
Signals, traction, engines, oil, chemicals, farming, flight, nuclear power, containers, lasers, satellites and electronics.
Judgement, Markets and Learning
How people decide under uncertainty, why markets overshoot, how skills are learned and why training fades.
Research and Evidence for Better Decisions
Methods, surveys, interviews, sampling, analysis, causation, evaluation, ethics and write-ups for research that informs decisions.
About Library
The KEVOS® Library brings together structured, practitioner-written guidance on engineering, manufacturing, operations, projects, technology and business, published to help organisations make sound technical and commercial decisions.
Every title is written to be applied. Read the method in the Library, run the numbers with the matching tools, and when your organisation needs the work delivered, discuss your requirements with KEVOS®.
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