Resources to learn about scaling arguments

[jonander]

TL;DR

Good resources to learn to make scaling arguments

Hi everybody,

After watching the first lecture by Walter Lewin from MIT, I'm finding hard to follow the part in what he talks about scaling arguments. I've been watching around the Internet for resources to get my head around it but I couldn't find much or maybe I'm not using the right keywords.

Does anybody know good resources and exercise where I can get a clearer picture of how to make scaling arguments?

Thanks

 

[Chestermiller]

Google "dimensional analysis"

 

[jonander]

Hi Chester, thanks for replying. I know that in the lecture Walter performs a dimensional analysis, but that's after the scaling argument with the femur.

 

[Chestermiller]

Maybe you can provide more context? Are you talking about scale-up of a system (or scale-down)?

 

[jonander]

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean with the "scale-up"

In the lecture, he performs a scaling argument with femurs based on a Galileo's assumption. He makes several operations involving proportionality with the mass and lengths of the femurs. These kinds of analysis and the procedure are what I'm looking for.

 

[Chestermiller]

My experience is that scaling typically starts with dimensional analysis. Maybe someone else can give you a better answer.

 

[sophiecentaur]

but that's after the scaling argument with the femur.

Having heard the scaling argument, perhaps you could revisit the earlier parts of the lecture. I agree with @Chestermiller that dimensional analysis is probably the key here.

 

[Lord Jestocost]

In the lecture, he performs a scaling argument with femurs based on a Galileo's assumption. He makes several operations involving proportionality with the mass and lengths of the femurs. These kinds of analysis and the procedure are what I'm looking for.

"Galileo realized that simple geometric scaling does not work when the mechanical strength of structures is taken into account."
Have a look at:
[PDF]SCALING - GALILEO