Abstract
A mechanical system, or machine, generally consists of a power source and a mechanism for the controlled use of this power. The power may originate as the flow of water or the expansion of steam that drives a turbine and rotates an input shaft to the mechanism. It may be that instead the turbine rotates a generator and the resulting electricity is used to actuate a distant electric motor connected to the mechanism input. Another power source is the expansion of pressurized fluid or burning air–fuel mixture against a piston in order to drive its linear movement inside a cylinder. The purpose of the mechanism is to transform this input power into a useful application of forces combined with a desired movement. For this reason, machines are often defined abstractly as devices that transform energy from one form, such as heat or chemical energy, into another form, usually work.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McCarthy, J.M., Soh, G.S. (2011). Introduction. In: Geometric Design of Linkages. Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics, vol 11. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7892-9_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7892-9_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-7891-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-7892-9
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)