50+ Mechanical Engineering

Interview Questions
*What is the mechanism?
Answer :- A mechanism is an assembly of different parts which perform
a complete motion and is often part of a machine.
*Why are large boilers water tube type?
Answer :- Water tube boilers raise steam fast because of large heat
transfer area and positive water circulation. Thus they respond faster to
fluctuations in demand. Further single tube failure does not lead to
catastrophe.

*What is extruded aluminum?

Answer :- Extrusion is the process where a metal or a metal bar is
pulled through a mandrel to elongate it and/or give it a final shape.
Extruded Aluminum is a common form of making small aluminum wire,
bars or beams and many varieties of small non-structural, decorative
pieces.

*What is the difference between hard water and soft water?

Answer :- Hard water contains an excess of scale forming impurities
and soft water contains very little or no scale forming substances.

*What is a Newtonian fluid?

Answer :- A Newtonian fluid possesses a linear stress-strain relationship
curve and it passes through the origin. The fluid properties of a
Newtonian fluid do not change when any force acts upon it.

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*What is caustic embrittlement?

Answer :- It is the actual physical change in metal that makes it
extremely brittle and filled with minute cracks. It occurs particularly in
the seams of riveted joints and around the rivet holes.

* What is annealing?
Answer :- It is a process of heating a material above the re-
crystallization temperature and cooling after a specific time interval.
This increases the hardness and strength if the material.

* What is ductile-brittle transition temperature?

Answer :- It is the temperature below which the tendency of a material
to fracture increases rather than forming. Below this temperature, the
material loses its ductility. It is also called Nil Ductility Temperature.

* Which theories of failure are used for (a) ductile materials and (B)
brittle materials?
Answer :- For ductile materials, theories of failure used are maximum
shear stress theory, and maximum energy of distortion theory; while
for brittle materials, the theory of maximum principal stress, and
maximum strain are used.

*What does thermal diffusivity of metals signify?

Answer :- Thermal diffusivity is associated with the speed of
propagation of heat into solids during changes in temperature with
time.
*What is enthalpy?
Answer :- Enthalpy is the heat content of a chemical system.

*What is a positive displacement pump?

Answer :- A positive displacement pump causes a liquid or gas to move
by trapping a fixed amount of fluid or gas and then forcing (displacing)
that trapped volume into the discharge pipe. Positive displacement
pumps can be further classified as either rotary-type (for example the
rotary vane) or lobe pumps similar to oil pumps used in car engines.
These pumps give a non-pulsating output or displacement, unlike the
reciprocating pumps. Hence, they are called positive displacement
pumps. Which parameter remains constant in a throttling process?

*Which parameter remains constant in a throttling process?

Answer :- Enthalpy

*Which reactor produces more fissionable material than it consumes?

Answer :- Breeder reactor.

*Which reactor uses natural uranium as fuel?

Answer :- Gas-cooled reactor.

*Which reactor uses heavy water as a moderator?

Answer :- CANDU.

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*Which reactor requires no moderator?
Answer :- Breeder reactor.

*What is ferrite?
Answer :- Magnetic iron rock

*What is the difference between projectile motion and a rocket

motion?
Answer :- A projectile has no motor/rocket on it, so all of its
momentum is given to it as it is launched. An example of a projectile
would be a pen that you throw across a room.
A rocket or missile does have a motor/rocket on it so it can accelerate
itself while moving and so resist other forces such as gravity.

*Explain Otto cycle.

Answer :- Otto cycle can be explained by a pressure-volume
relationship diagram. It shows the functioning cycle of a four-stroke
engine. The cycle starts with an intake stroke, closing the intake and
moving to the compression stroke, starting of combustion, power
stroke, heat exchange stroke where heat is rejected and the exhaust
stroke. It was designed by Nicolas Otto, a German engineer.

*What is a converter reactor?

Answer :- A reactor plant which is designed to produce more fuel than
it consumes. The breeding is obtained by converting fertile material to
fissile material.
*Explain nuclear reactor in brief.
Answer :- A plant which initiates, sustains, controls and maintains
nuclear fission chain reaction and provides shielding against radioactive
radiation is the nuclear reactor.

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*What is gear ratio?

Answer :- It is the ratio of the number of revolutions of the pinion gear
to one revolution of the idler gear.

*Which heating value is indicated by a calorimeter and why?

Answer :- Gross heating value because steam is condensed and heat of
vapour formed is recovered.

*What is annealing?
Answer :- It is a process of heating a material above the re-
crystallization temperature and cooling after a specific time interval.
This increases the hardness and strength if the material.

*What is fuel ratio?

Answer :- Fuel ratio is the ratio of its % age of fixed carbon to volatile
matter.12. What is ductile-brittle transition temperature?

*What is ductile-brittle transition temperature?

Answer :- It is the temperature below which the tendency of a material
to fracture increases rather than forming. Below this temperature, the
material loses its ductility. It is also called Nil Ductility Temperature.
*On which analysis is based the Dulong’s formula for the heating
value of fuel?
Answer :- On ultimate analysis.

*Which element causes a difference in higher and lower heating

values of fuel?
Answer :- Hydrogen.

*What is a uniformly distributed load?

Answer :- A UDL or uniformly distributed load is a load, which is spread
over a beam in such a way that each unit length is loaded to the same
extent.

*How is martensite structure formed in steel?

Answer :- Martensite transformation begins when austenite is cooled
below a certain critical temperature, called the martensite start
temperature. As we go below the martensite start temperature, more
and more martensite forms and complete transformation occurs only
at a temperature called martensite finish temperature. Formation of
martensite requires that the austenite phase must be cooled rapidly.

*Which two elements have the same percentage in the proximate and
ultimate analysis of coal?
Answer :- Moisture and ash.

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*What is an orthographic drawing?
Answer :- Orthographic projections are views of a 3D object, showing 3
faces of it. The 3 drawings are aligned so that if the page were folded, it
would create part of the shape. It is also called multiview projections.
The 3 faces of an object consist of its plan view, front view and side
view. There are 2 types of orthographic projection, which are 1st angle
projection and 3rd angle projection.

*Which reactor has no moderator?

Answer :- Fast breeder reactor

*What is representative elementary volume?

Answer :- Smallest volume over which measurements can be made that
will yield a representative of the whole.
*What is the effect of inter cooling in gas turbines?
Answer :- It decreases thermal efficiency but increases net output

*Can you use motor oil in a hydraulic system?

Answer :- Hydraulic fluid has to pass a different set of standards than
motor oil. Motor oil has tackifiers, lower sulfur content, and other
ingredients that could prove harmful to the seals and other
components in a hydraulic system. If it is an emergency only should do
it.

*What is the effect of friction on the flow of steam through a nozzle?

Answer :- To decrease both mass flow rate and wetness of steam
*What causes white smoke in two-stroke locomotive engines?
Answer :- That is the engine running too lean (lack of fuel). This
condition will lead to overheating and failure of the engine.

*Out of electric heater and heat pump, which is economical in

operation ?
Answer :- Heat pump.

*Ultimate analysis of coal is elementary analysis. What is it concerned

with?
Answer :- Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur in coal on a weight
percentage basis.

*Why are LNG pipes curved?

Answer :- LNG pipes are curved because LNG is condensed gas (-164
deg cel) so it can expand the pipes that are what engineers designed
the LNG pipes are the curved type.

*Quantities like pressure, temperature, density, viscosity, etc. are

independent of mass. What are these called?
Answer :- Intensive properties.

*What does angular momentum mean?

Answer :- Angular momentum is an expression of an object’s mass and
rotational speed. Momentum is the velocity of an object times it is
mass, or how fast something is moving how much it weigh. Therefore,
angular momentum is the object’s mass times the angular velocity
where the angular velocity is how fast something is rotating expressed
in terms like revolutions per minute or radians per second or degrees
per second.

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*What is the role of nitrogen in welding?

Answer :- Nitrogen is used to prevent porosity in the welding member
by preventing oxygen and air from entering the molten metal during
the welding process. Other gasses are also used for this purpose such as
Argon, Helium, Carbon Dioxide, and the gasses are given off when the
flux burns away during SMAW (stick) welding.

*Which furnace burns low-ash fusion coal and retains most of the coal
ash in the slag?
Answer :- Cyclone furnace.

*What does Greenfield project mean?

Answer :- Greenfield projects are those projects, which do not create
any environmental nuisance (pollution), follows environmental
management system and EIA (environment impact assessment). These
projects are usually of big magnitude.

*Why is boiler purged every time before starting firing of fuel?

Answer :- Purging ensures that any unburnt fuel in furnace is removed,
otherwise it may lead to explosion34. Is it the stress that, produces
strain or strain produces stress?

*Is it the stress that, produces strain or strain produces stress?

Answer :- A Force applied to an object will cause a displacement. The
strain is effectively a measure of this displacement (change in length
divided by original length).
Stress is the Force applied divided by the area it is applied. (E.g. pounds
per square inch)
Therefore, to answer the question, the applied force produces both
“Stress and Strain”. “Stress and Strain” are linked together by
various material properties such as Poisson’s ratio and Young’s
Modulus.

*What is the principle of mechanical refrigeration?

Answer :- A volatile liquid will boil under the proper conditions and in
so doing will absorb heat from surrounding objects.

*How does iron ore turn into steel?

Answer :- To make Steel, Iron Ore is refined into iron and all the carbon
is burned away using very high heat (Bessemer). A percentage of
Carbon (and other trace elements) are added back to make steel. 36.

*What is knurling?
Answer :- Knurling is a machining process normally carried on a center
lathe. The act of Knurling creates a raised crisscross pattern on a
smooth round bar that could be used as a handle or something that
requires extra grip.

*What type of boiler does not need a steam drum?

Answer :- Supercritical pressure boiler.

*What is the mechanical advantage of a double pulley?

Answer :- It only takes half the effort to move an object but twice the
distance.

*What are the points in the stress-strain curve for steel?

Answer :- Proportional limit, elastic limit or yield point, ultimate stress
and stress at failure.

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*When is maximum discharge obtained in nozzle?

Answer :- At the critical pressure ratio

*How much is the work done in an isochoric process?

Answer :- Zero

*What does F.O.F. stand for in the piping design?

Answer :- FOF stands for Face of Flange. A flange has either of the two
types of faces:
a) Raised face
b) Flat face
The F.O.F is used to know the accurate dimension of the flange in order
to avoid the minute errors in measurement in case of vertical or
horizontal pipelines.

*State the laws of thermodynamics

Answer :- Thermodynamics is a physical science which studies the
interrelation between heat, work and the internal energy of any
system. Thermodynamics helps study all the systems of mechanical
engineering. There are three laws of thermodynamics.
First Law: Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only
change forms. In any process in an isolated system, the total
energyremains the same.
Second Law: The second law of thermodynamics states that the
entropy of any isolated system not in thermal equilibrium almost
always increases.
Third Law: As the temperature approaches absolute zero, the entropy
of a system approaches a minimum.

*What is Hess law?

Answer :- According to the Hess law, the energy transfer is simply
independent of the way being followed. If the reactant and the product
of the whole process are the same then the same amount of energy will
be dissipated or absorbed.

*One unit of BTU is how many Joules?

Answer :- 1 BTU=1055.06 Joules

*What does a pump develop? Give the reason to support your

answer.
Answer :- The pump is a device that is used to transfer fluid from one
place to another place which means it develops flow not pressure.

*Explain the difference between pipe and a tube.

Answer :- A pipe is measured based on its inner diameter (ID) whereas
a tube is measured based on the outer diameter (OD). Other than the
dimensions there is no major difference between the two.

*What is Bauschinger effect?

Answer :- According to Bauschinger, the limit of proportionality of
material does not remain constant but varies according to the direction
of stress under cyclic stresses

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*List two effects of manganese in plain carbon steels.

Answer :- Manganese increases tensile strength and hardness. It

decreases weldability.

*What is PS?
Answer :- Personal Statement. It is something that gives an informative
background about an individual.

*What is a bearing? What are the different types of bearings?

Answer :- The bearing is a device that helps smoother movement with
minimal friction which in turn helps enhances efficiency and speed.
Considering two types of loading, radial, and thrust, there are different
types of bearings which help handle these loads. The basic difference in
the types of loads is essentially due to their ability to handle the weight
and different kinds of loads for various applications. Different types of
bearings are:
(a) Ball bearing
(b) Roller bearing
(c) Ball Thrust bearing
(d) Roller thrust bearing
(e) Tapered roller bearing
(f) Magnetic bearings
(g) Giant Roller Bearing

*What is a time and motion theory?

Answer :- Frederick Taylor was a pioneer of the time and motion
theory. This technique monitors the amount of time required to
complete a task along with observing the steps taken by a worker to
complete the given task.

*Which is the hardest material on earth?

Answer :- Diamond is currently the hardest material, made up of
carbon atoms which cannot move. Carbon is the only atom that can
have four electrons in the second shell surrounding the carbon nucleus,
precisely why making a diamond the hardest material. However, there
also are claims by a few to a new rare material called Wurtzite Boron
Nitride which has a structure similar to a diamond but has some other
atoms in place of carbon.

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