Awesome Mechanical Engineering Resources

So many free resources are available for computer science students and I am jealous. Therefore, I started making this list for mechanical engineering students. This section contains some overview resources, rules and regulations, and advice.

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Discuss this list in Reddit r/engineering - 8.3k+ views and 770+ upvotes

Licensed under GNU General Public License v3.0

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Preamble

Open Courses

General

Mechanical Engineering Knowledge Maps
Databases
Online Calculators
Tools and Programs
Useful Websites
Patents
Blog and Forums

Mathematics

Calculus and Linear Algebra
Numerical Analysis

Programming

C++
Python
Julia
Microsoft Excel
Matlab
R
Fortran
LaTeX

Mechanics

Continuum Mechanics
Statics and Dynamics
Strength of Materials
Plasticity

Theory of Machines

Mechanism Design
Control Engineering
Robotics

Thermal Engineering

Thermodynamics
Heat Transfer
Fluid Mechanics
Gas Dynamics

Manufacturing

CAD/CAM
Sheet Metal Forming
Plastic

Finite Element Analysis

Software Packages

for Finite Element Analysis
for Control Engineering
for Robotics
for CAD

Sub Reddits

Top Publication Venues for Different Fields

Journals
Magazines

Competitions

Open Source Design Projects

Qualifying/Certification Examinations

Preamble

I got inspiration from the countless awesome lists in github.

Open Courses

MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT Online Textbooks
edX
InTech, Open Acess book publisher

General

ASME The Unwritten Laws of Engineering, by K.J. King and J.G. Skakoon (1944)
A Dictionary of Units of Measurement UNC.edu
How to be a Star Engineer, by R.E. Kelley
How Complex Systems Fail, by R.I. Cook (Rev.D)
How to Be a Good Graduate Student, by M. desJardins
The Art of Insight in Science and Engineering, by S. Mahajan (2014) MITPress _{^{ISBN: 9780262526548}}

Mechanical Engineering Knowledge Maps

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN, knowledge maps with selectable links
AIRCRAFT & MISSILE DESIGN, knowledge maps with selectable links
STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, knowledge maps with selectable links
VIBRATION & FATIGUE, knowledge maps with selectable links

Databases

MatWeb, database of material properties
MatBase, database of material properties
McMaster-Carr, components supplier with 3D models and drawings
Traceparts online, CAD parts library
3D Cad Browser, 3D models
GrabCAD, models' library and tutorials
Thingiverse, CAD parts, especially for 3D printing
Direct Industry, online catalogs

Online Calculators

Desmos, online graphing calculator
EngineeringPaper.xyz, engineering calculator with units support, plotting, and equation solving
fxSolver, solver for engineering and scientific equations
MechaniCalc, mechanical calculator with extensive documentation
WolframAlpha

Tools and Programs

Linkage, quick prototyping of linkage mechanism
LyX, document processor based on LaTeX
SumatraPDF, lightweight pdf reader
Pandoc, a universal document converter

Useful Websites

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
eFunda, engineering fundamentals
Ryerson Stock List for structural profiles
How Stuff Works articles explaining how everyday things work
Google Scholar Classic Papers
507 Mechanical Movements, animated movements
Animated Engines, animated engines
thang010146, 2100+ animated mechanisms (downloadable) youtube
DMG Lib, Digital Mechanism and Gear Library
KMODDL, collection of mechanism and machines Cornell.edu
Engineering ToolBox
Thermopedia
Wolverine Industries
Omega Engineering
Electrical Training
NASA Technical Report Server

Patents

Blogs and Forums

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Mathematics

Calculus and Linear Algebra

Calculus, by G. Strang. Direct download MIT.edu
Online Mathematics Textbooks, list of free books cured by G. Cain
Essentials of Linear Algebra, by 3Blue1Brown youtube
Introduction to Tensor Analysis, by H.D. Block. Out of print Cornell.edu
The Matrix Cookbook, by K.B. Petersen, M.S. Pedersen (2012) DTU.dk
Fundamentals of Linear Algebra and Optimization, by J. Gallier and J. Quaintance (2017) UPenn.edu

Numerical Analysis

Numerical Analysis for Engineering, by D.W. Harder and R. Khoury UWaterloo.ca
Numerical Recipes in C, by W.H. Press, B.P. Flannery, S.A. Teukolsky and W.T. Vetterly (1992) Free for personal use
Numerical Methods for PDEs, by Qiqi Wang MIT.edu youtube
Math, Numerics, & Programming (for Mechanical Engineers), M. Yano, J.D. Penn, G. Konidaris and A.T Patera (2013) Draft v2.1 MIT.edu
Iterative Methods for Sparse Linear Systems, by Y. Saad (2003) UMN.edu
Fundamental Numerical Methods and Data Analysis, by G.W. Collins (1990) Harvard.edu
A Pragmatic Introduction to Signal Processing, by T.C. O'Haver (2018) UMD.edu

Programming

Free programming books github
Project Euler, math/programming problems archives
Programming Notes for Professionals, books compiled from StackOverflow Documentation goalkicker
Rosetta Code, implementations of common algorithms in many programmming languages

Fortran

LaTeX

WikiBooks: LaTeX (PDF) wikibooks
LaTeX Notes for Professionals goalkicker
Learn LaTeX in 30 min sharelatex
EbookFoundation #LaTeX github

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Mechanics

Continuum Mechanics

Introduction to the Mechanics of a Continuous Medium, by L.E. Malvern (1969) Out of Copyright Archive.org
Many lecture notes links available from iMechanica (2007)
Applied Mechanics of Solids, by A.F. Bower (2012) [Amazon] _{^{ISBN: 978-1439802472}}
Continuum Mechanics, by B. McGinty (2012)
Introduction to Continuum Mechanics for Engineers, by R.M. Bowen (1989) Tamu.edu

Theory of Plates and Shells

Theory of Plates and Shells by S. Timoshenko and S. Woinowsky-Krieger (1959) Archive.org _{^{ISBN: 978-0070647794}}

Statics and Dynamics

Introduction to Statics and Dynamics Cornell.edu
Bolted Joint Analysis
Lug Analysis

Strength of Materials

Mechanical Metallurgy, by G.E. Dieter (1961) Archive.org
Applied Strength of Materials for Engineering Technology, by B. Dupen (2017) IPFW.edu
Mechanics of Materials, by J.M. Gere and B.J. Goodno (2012) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-1111577735}}
Mechanical Behavior of Materials, by N.E. Dowling (2012) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0131395060}}
Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain, by W.C. Young and R.G. Budynas (2001) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0070725423}}
Strength of Materials
Beam Stress and Deflection
Column Buckling
The Engineering of Structures Around Us edX Dartmouth
Elements of Structures edX MIT
Mechanical Properties of Materials
Mechanics of Materials, by M. Vable (2009) MTU.edu
Mechanical Properties of Materials, by D. Roylance (2008) [Direct] MIT.edu

Plasticity

The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity, by R. Hill (1950) Archive.org
Computational Methods for Plasticity, by E.A. de Souza Neto, D. Peric & D.R.J. Owen Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0470694527}}

Theory of Machines

Mechanism Design

Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design, by R.G.Budynas and J.K. Nisbett (2014) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0073398204}}
Introduction to Mechanisms, by Yi Zhang with S. Finger, S. Behrens. CMU.edu
Mechanisms/Machines, by L. Teel (1972) Archive.org
U of Minessota 'YouTube'
[NPTEL IIT Kgp Mechanisms and Robot Kinematics] (https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc18_me18) 'NPTEL'
MIT Fundamentals of Design 'MIT'
NPTEL- Kinematics of Machines 'Courseware'
Middle East TU Mechanisms 'Courseware'
Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library (KMODDL) by Cornell U
Mechanism Design: v. 1: Analysis and Synthesis by Arthur G. Erdman, George N. Sandor, Sridhar Kota Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0130408723}}
Mechanism Design: v. 2: Analysis and Synthesis by Arthur G. Erdman, George N. Sandor, Sridhar Kota Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0130408723}}
Design of Machinery by Robert L Norton Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0071236713}}
Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook by by Nicholas Paul Chironis, Neil Sclater Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0070113565}}

Control Engineering

Modern Control Engineering, by K. Ogata (2009) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0136156734}}
Automatic Control Systems, by F. Golnaraghi and B.C. Kuo (2017) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-1259643835}}
Control Systems Engineering, by N.S. Nise (2015) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-1118170519}}
Linear Robust Control, by M. Green and D.J.N. Limebeer (1994) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0131022782}}
Essentials of Robust Control, by K. Zhou with J.C. Doyle (1997) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0135258330}}
Feedback Control Theory, by J.C. Doyle, B.A. Francis and A.R. Tannenbaum (2009) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0486469331}}
Feedback Systems by K.J. Åström and R. Murray (2011) CalTech.edu
Classical Control Theory, by Brian Douglas youtube
Control Systems wikibooks
System Design for Uncertainty, by F.S. Hover & M.S. Triantafyllou (2009) MIT.edu

Robotics

Awesome Robotics List, by @Kiloreux github
A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation Caltech.edu

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Thermal Engineering

Thermodynamics

NASA's Introductory Thermodynamics Notes NASA
MIT OpenCourseWare: Thermodynamics & Kinematics Lecture Series MIT.edu
Wikibooks: Engineering Thermodynamics Wikibooks
Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, by M.J. Moran & H.N. Shapiro. Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0471274711}}
Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, by Y.A. Cengel & M.A. Boles. Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0073398174}}

Heat Transfer

MIT OpenCourseWare: Introduction to Heat Transfer MIT.edu
A Heat Transfer Textbook, by J.H. Lienhard IV and J.H. Lienhard V (2017) MIT.edu
Wikibooks: Heat Transfer Wikibooks
Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer , by F.P. Incropera & D.P. DeWitt. Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0471386506}}

Fluid Mechanics

NASA's Basic Fluid Mechanics Notes NASA
MIT OpenCourseWare: Fluid Dynamics MIT.edu
Wikibooks: Fluid Mechanics Wikibooks
Thermophysical properties of water and steam: International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam
Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics, by B.R. Munson, D.R. Young & T.H. Okiishi. Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0471442509}}

Gas Dynamics

NASA's Compressible Fluids/Aerodynamics Notes NASA
Modern Compressible Flow: With Historical Perspective, by J.D. Anderson. Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0072424430}}

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Manufacturing

Fundamentals of Manufacturing Processes edX MIT
A.J. Hart's Presentations slideshare
Building Prototypes, by D. Gelbart youtube
Fabrication Labs, Labs available globally

CAD/CAM

Theory

Shape Interrogation for CAD and Manufacturing, by N.M. Patrikalakis, T. Maekawa & W. Cho (2009). MIT.edu (Amazon) _{^{ISBN: 978-3540424543}}
Geometric and Solid Modeling, by C.M. Hoffman (1992) Out of Print Purdue.edu
Computer Aided Geometric Design, by T.W. Sederberg (2006) BYU.edu
Curves and Surfaces in Geometric Modeling by J. Gallier (1999) Out of Print UPenn.edu _{^{ISBN: 978-1558605992}}
Geometric Modeling: A First Course, by A. Requicha (1996) Draft USC.edu
Computer Aided Design in Mechanical Engineering Slides ULiege.be

Learning and Tutorials

Vertanux1, Training Guides: Creo, Solidworks, NX, Inventor, Rhino3d.
- vertanux1's channel youtube

Technique

Resilient Modeling Strategy (RMS)
- A Resilient Modeling Strategy, by R. Gebhard (Slides) Siemens
  - RMS Presentation youtube
- Learn RMS
Horizontal Modeling
- Horizontally structured CAD/CAM modeling-vertical to horizontal conversion [US 7472044 B2] patent
- Product/Process Design using Horizontally Structured Modeling, by Delphi Automotive dezignstuff.com
- Going Horizontal (The failed promise of parametric CAD, part 4) 3dcadworld.com

Sheet Metal Forming

Mechanics of Sheet Metal Forming, by Z. Marciniak, J.L. Duncan and S.J. Hu (2002) Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-0750653008}}
MDLPostech Mechanical Properties of Steel youtube
SheetMetal.me

Plastic

Polymer Processing UMich.edu
BASF Snap-Fit Design Manual
Bayer Snap-Fit Joints for Plastics
Living Hinges Design Guide MIT.edu
Bayer Part and Mold Design Guide
DuPont General Design Principles for Engineering Polymers
Bayer Reaction Injection Molding (PolyUrethanes), Part and Mold Design Guide
3D Hubs Knowledge Base

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Finite Element Analysis

Finite Element Procedures, by K.J. Bathe (2014) MIT.edu _{^{ISBN: 978-0979004957}}
Introduction to the Finite Element Method, by C.S. Jog
Introduction to Finite Element Methods Colorado.edu
- Advance FEM
- Nonlinear FEM
FINITE ELEMENT MODELING CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT , (NASA FEMCI book)

Good Reads

Meshing of complex geometrical domains stackexchange
What Is a Good Linear Finite Element? by J.R. Shewchuk (2002) Berkeley.edu
How Can I learn Finite Element Analysis? simscale
Why CAD Surface Geometry is Inexact pointwise

Code

deal.II (C++ library)
FEniCS Project (C++ and Python library)
List of FE packages wikipedia

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Software Packages

For Finite Element Analysis

ANSYS

Student/Free version: Available for anyone with limited capability and usage for learning purpose. This is a video explaining how to download and install ANSYS Student Release 17.2 from Ansys How To official channel

ABAQUS

Student/Free version: Available, 1000 nodes limit.

Official Abaqus | Learning Resources (requires free account)

LS Dyna

Student/Free version: Not available but a student license can be obtained for less than $150 AFAIK.

LS Dyna Official Examples Site
LS Prepost Tutorials
Jim Day FAQ

COMSOL

Comsol was known as FEMLAB before and is a academic spin-off from Stanford University. Comsol integrated multiphysics simulation capability for the first time in a commercial package and is pretty popular in many unconventional industry.

Student/Free version: Not available.

Hyperworks (Radioss, Optistruct)

Hyperworks is a complete commercial suite of Preprocessing, Solving, and Postprocessing tools for FEA by Altair Engineering. The flagship product is Hypermesh - a meshing software widely popular in CAE industry only challenged by ANSA, a new entrant from Beta CAE Systems. Hyperworks includes many software for different purposes though the mostly used ones are Optistruct and Radioss solvers besides Hypermesh.

Student/Free version: Available only for students with limited capability.

Simscale

Website: https://www.simscale.com/

Cloud based FEA/CFD

Autodesk Moldflow

Moldex

For Control Engineering

MATLAB

Control Tutorials for MATLAB and Simulink

For Robotics

ROS

For CAD Modeling

CATIA

Website: https://www.3ds.com/products-services/catia/

Student Edition until Nov. 26th. Promo code: CATIA4FREE17

NX

Formely known as Unigraphics.

Website: https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en/products/nx/

Student Edition: N/A

NX Resources Siemens

Creo

Formerly known as Pro/ENGINEER.

Website: https://www.ptc.com/

Student Edition: https://www.ptc.com/en/academic-program/products/free-software

SolidWorks

Website: https://www.solidworks.com/

Student Edition: request (60 Days)

Solidworks Resources Solidworks

Solid Edge

Website: https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/it/products/solid-edge/

Student Edition: request (45 Days)

Solid Edge Resources Siemens

OnShape

Website: https://www.onshape.com/

Cloud Based CAD

OpenSource

FreeCAD

Website: https://www.freecadweb.org/

Geometric Kernel OpenCASCADE

A FreeCAD manual GitBook
CadQuery Plugin for FreeCAD, python based language for building parametric models [Wiki]
- CadQuery Documentation

OpenSCAD

Website: http://www.openscad.org/

Script based modeller

Geometric Kernel OpenCSG + CGAL

BRL-CAD

Website: http://brlcad.org/

Coming Soon

SpaceClaim

AutoCAD

Surface Modelling

Blender

SketchUp

Rhinoceros 3D

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SubReddits Related to Mechanical Engineering

/r/AskEngineers: Non-school Q&A
/r/CAD: Computer Aided Design
/r/CFD: Computational Fluid Dynamics
/r/Engineering: About all things related to engineering
/r/EngineeringStudents: For wee engineerlings
/r/FEA: Finite Element Analysis
/r/FluidMechanics
/r/CivilEngineering: Civil Engineering
/r/Manufacturing: Manufacturing Industry
/r/Materials: Materials Engineering
/r/MechanicalEngineering: Mechanical Engineering

Misc

/r/EngineeringPorn: porn for engineers (safe for work)
/r/Mechanical_gifs: perfect loops of mechanical things
/r/SpecializedTools
/r/MachinePorn
/r/ToolPorn
/r/ThingsCutInHalfPorn

Other

/r/Aerospace: Aerospace Engineering
/r/AskElectronics: CE/EE Q&A
/r/AskScience: No-nonsense science Q&A
/r/BioEngineering: Biological
/r/Biology
/r/Biotech: Biotechnology
/r/ChemE: Chemical Engineering
/r/Chemistry
/r/Coding
/r/ComputerScience
/r/Construction: Construction
/r/CSBooks: Computer Science
/r/ECE: General EE & CE discussion
/r/ECEComponentExchange: Parts swap
/r/EE: Electrical Engineering
/r/EEBooks: Electrical Engineering
/r/Electronics
/r/Lectures
/r/Math
/r/MathBooks: Mathematics
/r/Physics
/r/PhysicsBooks: Physics
/r/Programming
/r/Science

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Top Publication Venues for Different Fields

Journals

Open Access

DOAJ, Directory of Open Acess Journals
SCIRP, Modern Mechanical Engineering
SAGE journals, Advances in Mechanical Engineering
The Royal Society

Magazines

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Competitions

Altair Contests

Altair Optimization Contest (AOC)

ASME Competitions

Robotics Competitions

Robocup Virtual Robot Competitions | RoboCup 2017
Robocup Soccer
Robocup Rescue
Robocup Home
Robocup Industrial
Robocup Junior
FIRST Robotics Competition
Wearable Robotics Innovation Competition at WearRAcon 17 by Wearable Robotics Association
To be added

Other Competitions

Elsevier 3D Printing Grand Challenge

Challenges

CAD

GrabCAD Challenge, product design challenges
Fusion360 Monthly Challenge Autodesk Community Philippines
- Video Playlist Youtube
Model Mania Challenge SOLIDWORKS World
Reddit CAD Challenge (Inactive) /r/CAD
- Archived version Github

Misc

Open Source Design projects

Civilization Starter Kit Mechanical Design Project

Open Source Ecology-Build Yourself
Open Source Ecology wiki
Global Village Construction Set

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Qualifying/Certification Examinations

Qualifying examinations are a kind of certification to engineers - PE in USA, GATE in India

Note: If you're from another country than USA or India, feel free to add a section relavant to your country's professional certification or equivalent examination. If you're not sure how to do that in Github, send me an email

Altair Certification

Certification website

Mechanical Engineering & Related PE License for USA

A PE license is probably the most useful certification that a mechanical engineer can obtain. A PE license is only actually a requirement if you want to provide services directly to the public, but it is still a good thing to have regardless. It is a sign to employers and clients that you are a competent engineer, and the act of studying for the exam will sharpen your skills. This examination is organized by NCEES - National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.

Official Practice of Engineering(PE) License Examination Website

Information about the Exam

ME PE specific Books

Michael R. Lindeburg - Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-1591264149}}
Michael R. Lindeburg - Mechanical PE Practice Examination Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-1591264170}}
Michael R. Lindeburg - Practice Problems for the Mechanical Engineering PE Exam Amazon _{^{ISBN: 978-1591264156}}
NCEES - PE Mechanical Engineering: Machine Design and Materials Practice Exam Amazon

GATE for India

GATE Official Website

GATE or Graduate Aptitute Test in Engineering is a qualifying examination conducted by a consortium of Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. Even though the official reason to conduct GATE is for post-graduate admissions only, PSUs and Govt. research entities often recruit students on the basis of GATE score.

Information about the Exam

Topper's Story or How to Prepare

GATE 2015 Topper Interview: Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in CSE Although this interview is from a CSE topper, who happens to be a mechanical engineer by education, it shows the power of strategy in clearing an examination like GATE.

GATE specific Books

GATE yearwise and topicwise solved papers from 2003

GATE specific Websites

Mechanical - GATE Overflow

PSU & Govt Entities Recruiting Through GATE

These companies recruit engineering and management trainees using GATE score as qualifier. They are ordered alphabeticallly. Not all of them recruit every year which is indicated by Y/N

An exhaustive list is available here - List of 40+ PSUs Recruitment Through GATE 2017

AAI - Airports Authority of India N
NTPC - National Thermal Power Corporation Y
BARC - Bhaba Atomic Research Centre Y
BBNL - Bharat Broadband Network Limited N

awesome-mecheng

Awesome Mechanical Engineering Resources

Table of Contents

Preamble

Open Courses

General

Mechanical Engineering Knowledge Maps

Databases

Online Calculators

Tools and Programs

Useful Websites

Patents

Blogs and Forums

Mathematics

Calculus and Linear Algebra

Numerical Analysis

Programming

C++

Python

Julia

Microsoft Excel VBA

MATLAB

R (statistics)

Fortran

LaTeX

Mechanics

Continuum Mechanics

Theory of Plates and Shells

Statics and Dynamics

Strength of Materials

Plasticity

Theory of Machines

Mechanism Design

Control Engineering

Robotics

Thermal Engineering

Thermodynamics

Heat Transfer

Fluid Mechanics

Gas Dynamics

Manufacturing

CAD/CAM

Theory

Learning and Tutorials

Technique

Sheet Metal Forming

Plastic

Finite Element Analysis

Good Reads

Code

Software Packages

For Finite Element Analysis

Further reading

ANSYS

ABAQUS

LS Dyna

COMSOL

Hyperworks (Radioss, Optistruct)

Simscale

Autodesk Moldflow

Moldex

For Control Engineering

MATLAB

For Robotics

ROS

For CAD Modeling

CATIA

NX

Creo

SolidWorks

Solid Edge

OnShape

OpenSource

FreeCAD

OpenSCAD

BRL-CAD

SpaceClaim

AutoCAD

Blender

SketchUp