Solution Stories

This Solution Story comes from Dr. Bryan R. Becker. Teaching a class of mechanical engineering undergraduates, he has asked his students to do research on the lubrication methodologies involved in reciprocating pistons.

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Knovel Solutions are the stories of engineers who have used Knovel to solve real life problems. In this story, an engineer working at a watchmaking company is looking to update the process and materials in the manufacturing of wrist watches.

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Knovel Solutions are the stories of engineers who have used Knovel to solve real life problems. Knovel’s neighbor in the Big Apple is getting an eco-friendly update. Upon completion of the program, the Empire State Building will reduce its total energy usage by more than 38 percent, energy costs by $4.4 million annually, and carbon emissions by 105,000 metric tons over the next 15 years.

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From milk bottles to folding chairs, plastic materials are molded into shapes and designs that are used in almost every aspect of our daily life. In this solution story, a plastics engineer is investigating the feasibility of improving the quality of plastic containers by replacing the material from which they are made.

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See how these students used Knovel to research biodegradable plastics that could be disposed of by composting without costly recycling. 

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Every spring season, fans flock to baseball stadiums and cheer for their favorite teams and players. With an average attendance rate of 25,000 fans per game, stadium engineers need to create structures that ensure the safety and comfort of all attendees. This problem comes from a design engineer working on replacing the sunshade support beams in a baseball stadium.

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This problem comes from a marine engineer. As a part of the modernization plan at the shipyard where he works, the engineer needs to order new welding equipment. He decides to use Knovel to find images about more about advanced welding technologies suitable for marine applications.

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The engineer responsible for logistics at a drilling site needs to calculate the weight of materials to be ordered for a well drilling operation. In this solution story, we calculate slurry yield for an A class cement with recommended water-to-cement ratio and allow for 25% excess of material without taking into account the additives.

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An engineer needs to protect the steel shaft and die-cast aluminum brush hub of a hard floor scrubber machine from failure in a locked-rotor condition. One method of protection is to design a shaft key that fails before there is any damage to more expensive parts.
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An engineer needs to design a temperature trigger to be used in a steam control valve. The valve is installed on a live steam line in a tank with water that is being pre-heated from 20 to 80ºC. In this solution story, we gather all the information and calculations needed to fully design the temperature trigger for the given application.

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An engineer working at a shipyard’s sheet metal fabrication shop has to calculate the maximum bend length for a metal sheet that needs to be bent 90° without bottoming. In this solution story, we calculate the bending capacity of the break for both dies in order to figure out the optimal cutting pattern for the sheet metal during fabrication.

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Relief valves protect pressure vessels and other equipment from being subjected to pressures that exceed their design limits. In this solution story, we size a bellows pressure relief (PR) valve  in line with the mass flow rate for a gas pipeline with natural gas under critical flow conditions.

The Lake Champlain Bridge spanned the state line between Crown Point, New York and Chimney Point, Vermont and has recently been demolished due to severe structural deterioration and unsafe conditions. In this solution story, we analyze the cause of problems in the Lake Champlain Bridge, and suggest how these problems could be addressed in the new bridge

A major energy company is engaged in a new project transporting oil sands. An engineer must prevent sand from settiling in the pipeline during transportation. Follow this user-submitted problem step-by-step to learn more about how you can use and apply Knovel to your everyday work.

In this solution story, we walk through designing a product to customer specifications using Knovel. Follow each step a metallurgist at a steel mill takes- from custom request to material selection and the optimized solution.

Vibrations in mechanical systems are often signals that there may be a problem within a component. A mechanical engineer working on a transmission was hearing high vibration noises within the gearbox whenever the engine was running. Upon further inspection he found that the bearings were in need of replacement. He replaced the bearings, but after awhile the problem arose again. Check out this problem and how Knovel was able to help solve it.

After a few years of operation, major failures are detected throughout an oil sands pipeline. It has been established that corrosion and erosion have occurred at an unexpectedly high rate due to the failure of a natural rubber pipeline lining. It was decided that the old pipeline should be dismantled and that a new pipeline be constructed. An engineering team must address the failure by finding a replacement lining and an approximate material cost for the new lining in comparison to the old. The team also needs to provide a reasonable and quantitative explanation as to why and how the previous pipeline, made of seamless carbon steel pipes, failed. Find out how Knovel can be used to solve this problem.

Whether your job title is "industrial engineer” or not, you may be tasked with improving processes and finding better ways to design, develop, produce, deliver or service products. In this issue, we'll walk you through a case where an engineer working for a chemical manufacturer is asked by his manager to find a way to optimize the flow rate of acrylonitrile from a tank.

Millions of tons of plastic packaging and other plastic waste are hauled to over-flowing landfills every year around the world and will remain there for a very long time. The plastics industry is continuously searching for solutions to this problem by implementing “green” technologies, including the development of biodegradable plastics. Knovel recently helped one engineer who was looking into utilizing soybeans in the manufacture of biodegradable plastics.

Greenfield, a town in Upstate New York is considering an environmentally friendly wind farm as a sustainable source of electricity for the community. An engineering firm is hired to research turbines, confirm the needs, and estimate the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour produced by turbines. In this story, read how Knovel could help power a town with wind turbines

International and government standards and regulations require that companies reduce or eliminate waste at the source by modifying production processes, implementing conservation techniques, and re-using materials rather than putting them into the waste stream. We walk through the steps an engineer takes to investigate, troubleshoot, and make recommendations for a complete solution to complying with OSHA standards.