Mechanical Engineering

RTI’s international team of mechanical engineers are highly skilled in analyzing a device or system of devices to determine how and why, under the set of conditions to which the device was subjected, an unintended event or events occurred.  Often these analyses are aided and enhanced by graphics and animations produced by RTI’s talented Visual Services Division, Magic Motion Studios. RTI's chemical and mechanical testing laboratory, Anamet inc., provides vital support to the Mechanical Engineering Division in the analysis of material failures including, but not limited to, metals, plastics, ceramics, composites, rubber, wood, and glass.

Mechanical engineering, as practiced at RTI, is a broad area of engineering that encompasses a number of diverse topics including, but not limited to:

• the design and operation of mechanical systems,
• the deformation and fracture of engineering materials,
• the mechanics and dynamics of fluid flow, and
• the principles of heat transfer and thermodynamics.

Under the umbrella of these general topics, one will find mechanical engineers working on projects related to nearly every aspect of 21st century life: energy generation and distribution; transportation; food production, packaging and distribution; design and manufacture of biomedical and biomechanical devices; and the design and manufacture of electronic devices that are ubiquitous in our society.  All of these projects yield a product that is the result of a combination of ingenuity and careful hard work. Yet, as well planned and constructed as a device might be, unintended events do occur. 

Rarely in the world of forensic engineering does a root-cause failure analysis involve only one engineering discipline. Aviation accidents and utility failures, for example, are often characterized by a complex chain of events leading up to the accident or failure. The process of deconstructing these events and distilling out the important information requires that individuals with diverse backgrounds be able to communicate their technical expertise effectively with one another.  The experts of RTI’s Mechanical Engineering Division are skilled at participating in multidisciplinary investigative teams, possessing a superior understanding not only of their own discipline but also how their discipline meshes in the matter of interest with other experts’ disciplines.

RTI’s Mechanical Engineering Division also uses powerful computational analysis software that expands our engineering services to an exciting new level. The software is produced by a company called ANSYS, www.ansys.com, and is known as Multiphysics.  ANSYS™ Multiphysics utilizes the finite element method (FEM) to subdivide the complex geometries often found in engineering problems into more tractable, regular geometries that can be easily analyzed for such responses as displacement, stress, and strain.  Multiphysics also provides the capability to couple several different physical behaviors into one parallel analysis, thereby making it possible to model real world events such as the operation of a power transformer, the displacement of a fluid due to the motion of a solid object, and much more in a single computational run.  Specifically, Multiphysics provides capabilities for analyses involving solid mechanics and dynamics, fluid dynamics, thermal transfer, and electromagnetic behavior.

From the initial inspection through the conclusion of an investigation, RTI’s Mechanical Engineering Division is poised to respond quickly, effectively, and completely to any matter.