Quickly Master Complex Engineering Concepts

Whether you’re just starting out on your engineering journey or are an experienced professional, our aim is to provide you with all the resources you need to master tricky engineering concepts.

Step 1 – Learn

Learn the fundamentals of mechanical and civil engineering with the help of our articles and videos

Step 2 – Test

Check your understanding of different engineering topics using our detailed quizzes

Step 3 – Improve

Use resources like our summary sheets to continually develop and improve your knowledge

Featured Topics

Not sure where to start? Here are a few featured topics that cover a range of interesting engineering concepts.

Trusses

Trusses are structures (e.g bridges or roofs) made up of members that can only carry tensile or compressive axial loads.

Buckling

Buckling is a sudden deflection that occurs in slender columns or members that are loaded in compression.

The Finite Element Method

The finite element method is a numerical method used to approximate the solution to complex problems governed by differential equations.

Thermal Radiation

Radiation is the heat transfer mode where an object emits energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation due to its temperature.

One-Page Summary Sheets

The Efficient Engineer summary sheets are designed to present all of the key information you need to know about a particular engineering topic on a single page. It doesn’t get more efficient than that!

You can use them as study aids, or just as handy references guides for whenever you need to brush up on a troublesome topic.

Get Summary Sheets

Latest Video

Watch the latest video from the Efficient Engineer YouTube channel.

The Incredible Properties of Composite Materials

The latest Efficient Engineer video covers composite materials.

This video explores the different types of composites, and how their use to create materials with incredible properties has completely transformed how some of the most advanced enginering problems can be solved.

Question of the Day

Test your understanding of engineering concepts with the question of the day.

Which point on the shear force diagram below corresponds to the maximum bending moment?

Point A

Point B

Point C

Point D

Explanation

The relationship between shear force and the change in bending moment is given by the following equation.

$$\frac{\mathrm{d} M}{\mathrm{d} x} = V$$

From this equation we can see that when the shear force is equal to zero the change in the bending moment will also be zero. This will correspond to a local minimum or maximum in the bending moment diagram. As the applied loading will cause the beam to sag, the bending moment will be positive along the full length of the beam. As such the bending moment is largest at point C.

The beam configuration that would result in this shear force profile is shown below.

 

Scroll to Top