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Recent content by kirrer

  1. kirrer

    New job offer - vacation time

    My wife and I just looked into FMLA 2 years ago - and employers are only required to honor it if you have worked 1 year at the employer (on top of other requirements, like the number of employees in the office). So even if the OP gets the response "Yes, we honor FLMA", it probably won't be...
  2. kirrer

    "Training" isn't as it seems..Boss frustrations...

    I agree with MintJulep. If the president is taking the time to groom you, as it sounds like he/she is doing, then do the very best at each of the tasks you are assigned. There must be a reason for this which is larger than just getting the most profitability out of you, right out of the gate...
  3. kirrer

    Interviewing Help/Tips

    Isaac, I was going more for benefit to society than coolest way to carve a turkey... but lightsaber is certainly a close second. Though there's no telling how fast 'faster than light' travel is, I suppose, and therefore how practical the technology would be. Too bad there are no second...
  4. kirrer

    Interviewing Help/Tips

    MadMango, sounds like you're working in a great office environment, within a great geographical region. Lucky you! Also, Star Wars all the way, I'd take the Force but that's not technology and therefore I'd have to say a hyperdrive unit.
  5. kirrer

    Engine braking calculation

    With only low-throttle, no-ignition, the only net torque comes mainly from friction and pumping - you can estimate this as appx. 1 bar for a 4-stroke NA engine at no-throttle. Then, the torque can be calculated from T=MEP*V_displacement/(2*PI*N_c), where N_c is the number of strokes per power...
  6. kirrer

    Crankshaft Modification

    140Airpower, just from the animation alone it looks critical but it's hard to tell whether it will be a dealbreaker or not. The large force on the sliding cylinder bearing certainly will generate a lot of friction and has the potential for creating too much wear; of course, as mentioned it is...
  7. kirrer

    Crankshaft Modification

    One of my biggest concerns is with the force transmission angle during the compression stroke. See attached diagram --> in order to achieve a required force on the piston, the reaction loads through the intermediate arm will be much greater, and therefore, the torque required to compress will be...
  8. kirrer

    Gearboxes - Can this speed reducer work as a speed increaser?

    I may be missing something here, but your original statement that the thrust loads are in the same direction doesn't make sense to me. If I have just two helical gears in mesh running in the same direction, torque from gear A will produce thrust loads in the opposite direction as thrust loads...
  9. kirrer

    Choice between Chief Engineer or Project Manager (non Technical)

    To me it seems the Chief Engineer role is the way to go. Being in the Chief Engineer position typically involves many facets of business administration by default, letting you stretch your MBA muscle. Additionally, you'll learn about other aspects of engineering that your current role hasn't...
  10. kirrer

    Struggling to get my footing in Mechanical Engineering

    Seconding the tips about your own projects/hobbies. Creating and running your own project shows that you have the capability to identify the goals you want to achieve, conceptualize a design, analyze the design, create preliminary or advanced drawings, manufacture parts, etc. For instance, if...
  11. kirrer

    Career Change / Career Direction Change

    Being a CFD analyst or a simulation engineer requires operating software, true - but it's the base analysis & fundamentals of the software which are most important. I'm also not in those fields, but I've looked into it myself and it seems that the jobs are open to the engineers which have both...
  12. kirrer

    Calculate pressure generated by fixed volume water in closed container

    Just for reference, above 374.1C, there is no 'boiling point' anymore - over the critical point, there is no difference to define 'liquid' vs 'gas'. As to the final pressure, it depends mostly on the ratio of water volume to total volume of the chamber, and somewhat on the elastic deformation of...
  13. kirrer

    Supplier for off the shelf torque-to-yield (TTY) fasteners

    1gibson - this is a good tip, but I don't know what size & material bolt is used in what application, other than to buy one & measure it. Do you know of some sort of database / catalog for stock rocker arm / head bolts? CoryPad - ARP is an excellent recommendation, I started with them actually...
  14. kirrer

    Supplier for off the shelf torque-to-yield (TTY) fasteners

    That's what I was afraid of. Even the ones which are mass produced to an existing design are not typically available due to NDA's and proprietary details of the design. And like you, I have also not found any off-the-shelf parts - like you described, the screw design & joint design must fit, and...
  15. kirrer

    Supplier for off the shelf torque-to-yield (TTY) fasteners

    You're spot on, Screwman1 (fitting name, too!) - we've made a joint study and designed the fastener for the specific joint (thread dia/pitch, material class, length, reduced shank diameter, thread length, etc). A question came up whether we can use an existing TTY screw instead of a new custom...

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