Complete List of the Must Have References for the Machine Design and Materials PE Exam

Please see the below link to the google spreadsheet. You can also read below about a majority of the different references. If you have any suggestions or questions on the list, please email Justin at contact@engproguides.com or you can comment on the spreadsheet or at the bottom of this page.

Link: Engineering Pro Guides Google Spreadsheet of the Complete List of References for the Machine Design & Materials PE Exam

Engineering Pro Guides Materials

The complete and proven study method uses the (3) Engineering Pro Guides prodcuts. The first product is the technical study guide which is used to teach the key concepts and skills necessary to pass the PE exam. The second product is the full exam which tests your understanding of each topic with an 80 question that is designed to be representative of the actual exam through a four step method. The full exam will also test some skills and concepts that are not covered in the technical study guide. Lastly, the references exam will take you through the most important parts of the necessary reference books. The full exam and technical study guide is meant to cover 75% of the PE exam and the references exam should cover the last 25%.

Topics Covered: ALL

Link: EngProGuide's Machine Design Technical Study Guide

Link: EngProGuide's Machine Design Full Exam

Link: EngProGuide's Machine Design References Exam

Machinery's Handbook, Large Print

This book is similar to the Mark’s Standard Handbook, but it has even more information. You should choose either Mark’s Standard Handbook or the Machinery’s Handbook, whichever one you feel more comfortable. As you go through the Engineering Pro Guides technical study guide or sample exam, you should tab the locations in this book for the various referenced tables and component properties. This book is very large and a lot of the information is too detailed for the PE exam, but it is a good safety net for the random supportive knowledge type questions that may occur on the PE exam.

Topics Covered: Section 2.0 – Basic Engineering Practice, Section 8.0 Mechanical Components, Section 9.0 Joints and Fasteners and Section 10.0 Supportive Knowledge

Link: Machinery's Handbook, Large Print

Engineering Unit Conversions

The Engineering Unit Conversions book is a recommended book to use during the exam and while studying for the exam. You should tab the most commonly used conversions that you encounter while studying and doing practice problems.

Topics Covered: Section 2.0 – Basic Engineering Practice – Units & Conversions

Link: Engineering Unit Conversions

Engineering Mechanics - Statics & Dynamics

This book is a great refresher to your college engineering class on statics & dynamics. If you have your college textbooks, then those books should be sufficient for any additional information you need on this topics. However, if you don’t have your college textbook then you can look at getting this book. This book covers statics, kinematics and dynamics. There are also moment of inertia tables and center of gravity tables that are also useful. This book is very expensive and thus it is only recommended if you feel like you are weak in this topic, but if you did well in college on this topic, then the material presented in the Engineering Pro Guides Technical Study Guide should be sufficient.

Topics Covered: Section 3.0 – Engineering Science and Mechanics (10 questions)

Link: Engineering Mechanics - Statics & Dynamics

Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction 9th Edition

Similar to the previous reference, this book is only required if you do not have your college Materials textbook and you are not comfortable with the skills and concepts presented in the Engineering Pro Guides Technical Study Guide. If you have your Materials textbook, but you are not comfortable with Section 4.0 Material Properties, then you should review your textbook. If you are not comfortable and you don’t own a Materials textbook, then you should review this recommended reference. This book covers the mechanical, physical and chemical properties presented on the NCEES Machine Design outline.

Topics Covered: Section 4.0 – Material Properties (8 questions)

Link: Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction 9th Edition

Mechanics of Materials

This book is only recommended if you are struggling in the principles section and do not quite understand the concepts and skills presented in Section 5.0 - Strength of Materials. This book covers in more detail concepts like stress, strain, axial loads, torsion, bending, beam deflection and column buckling. If you feel comfortable with your knowledge in these classes during college, then you should not need this book and you should be okay using the Engineering Pro Guides Technical Study Guide.

Topics Covered: Section 5.0 – Strength of Materials (10 questions) & Section 4.0 – Material Properties (8 questions)

Link: Mechanics of Materials

Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design

This book is recommended for the Mechanical Components section. This book covers a brief overview and some key equations of a good portion of the Mechanical Components presented in the NCEES outline. There is a lot of good information on belt drives & chain drives, gears, spur gears, helical gears, bevel gears, worm gearing, shafts, power screws, springs, mechatronics, clutches, brakes and bearings. Also included in this book are discussions on Section 8.0 Joints & Fasteners and Section 5.0 – Strength of Materials, specifically, Fatigue and Failure Theories. This book does not cover pressure vessels, motors, engines, hydraulics, pneumatics and dampers.

Topics Covered: Section 5.0 – Strength of Materials (10 questions) ,Section 7.0 – Mechanical Components (18 questions) and Section 8.0 – Joints & Fasteners (12 questions)

Link: Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design

Online Articles

These websites help to fill in the gaps in references for Section 2.0 Basic Engineering Practice, Section 6.0 Vibration, Section 8.0 Joints and Fasteners and Section 9.0 Supportive Knowledge.

Topics Covered: Section 3.0 – Engineering Science and Mechanics (10 questions).

This website provides a quick reference to various beam configurations and their shear/moment diagrams.

Link: Beam Design Formulas and Diagrams

Topics Covered: Section 2.0 – Basic Engineering Practice (9 Questions)

These websites provide a quick reference to various beam configurations and their shear/moment diagrams.
Link 1: Welding Symbol Guide
Link 2: Welding Symbol Chart

Topics Covered: Section 2.0 – Basic Engineering Practice (9 Questions)

These items are useful for solving quality control problems. You should have the control charts tabbed in one of your references or you can print out these tables too.
Link 1: Control Charts White Paper
Link 2: Control Chart Constants and Formulas

Topics Covered: Section 6.0 – Vibration (3 Questions)

The following website is a concise, practical guide to selecting vibration isolation. It also provides some background information on vibration topics like frequency, displacement, forcing vs. natural and transmissibility.
Link 1: Control Vibration Isolation

Topics Covered: Section 9.0 – Supportive Knowledge (10 Questions)

The below organizations produce standards that are used in the Machine Design field and you should be knowledgeable of these organizations for the Codes and Standards topic in Section 9.0 Supportive Knowledge.
Link 1: American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Link 2: American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
Link 3: American Welding Society (AWS)
Link 4: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Link 5: Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
Link 6: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)