Unit Conversion Tables

This document contains information on using units in Mechanica and on converting values between different systems of units. This document includes the following sections: Topic Introduction Basic Equalities System of Units Basic Units Examples of Values for Gravitational Acceleration and Selected Properties of Steel Correspondence Between Mass and Force Correspondence Between Mass and Pounds-mass Conversion of Basic Units Correspondence Between Degrees Celsius and Degrees Fahrenheit Note: Throughout this document, scientific notation is written as you would type it in Mechanica. For example, 2.07 x 1011 is written as 2.07e11.

Introduction
Mechanica does not store information concerning the physical dimensions (units) of the numerical data that you enter. Therefore, whenever you enter numerical data into Mechanica, you must ensure that you are using a consistent set of units. For example, if you enter distance in terms of inches and force in terms of pounds-force, then you must enter Young's modulus in terms of pounds-force per square inch. In this system of units, Mechanica reports stress in terms of pounds-force per square inch. If you do not use a consistent set of units when entering data, the values computed by Mechanica will be meaningless. This document provides an overview of the physical dimensions of many of the quantities in Mechanica. The following abbreviations are used throughout this document: L = length M = mass

T = time F = force E = energy (heat) P = power D = temperature (such as F, C, K) R = angle radian When choosing a consistent set of units, you must decide which quantities will form the basic physical dimensions and which quantities will be derived from the basic dimensions. Usually, you will choose either mass, length, and time (MLT) or force, length, and time (FLT) as the basic dimensions. The connection between these two systems is given by Newton's second law of motion: force = mass x acceleration the dimensions of which are: F = ML/T2 Some quantities in Thermal are usually expressed in terms of energy and power, the dimensions of which are determined from their definitions: energy (work, heat) = force x distance E = FL power = energy time P = E/T

Basic Equalities
Following is a list of many of the quantities in Mechanica and the physical dimensions of each expressed in terms of common physical dimensions and also in terms of MLT and FLT.

Quantity length time mass force temperature area volume velocity acceleration angle, rotation rotational velocity rotational acceleration density moment, torque distributed force along a curve distributed moment along a curve distributed force over a surface, pressure, stress, Young's modulus distributed moment over a surface translational stiffness rotational stiffness coefficient of thermal expansion moment of inertia of beam cross-sectional area mass moment of inertia energy, work, heat (E) power, heat transfer rate (P) temperature gradient heat flux thermal conductivity convection coefficient

Common L T M F D L2 L3 L/T L/T2 R R/T R/T2 M/L3 FL F/L F F/L2 F/L F/L FL/R /D L4 ML2 FL E/T D/L P/L2 P/LD P/L2D

MLT L T M ML/T2 D L2 L3 L/T L/T2 R R/T R/T2 M/L3 ML2/T2 M/T2 ML/T2 M/LT2 M/T2 M/T2 ML2/T2R /D L4 ML2 ML2/T2 ML2/T3 D/L M/T3 ML/T3D M/T3D

FLT L T FT2/L F D L2 L3 L/T L/T2 R R/T R/T2 FT2/L4 FL F/L F F/L2 F/L F/L FL/R /D L4 FLT2 FL FL/T D/L F/TL F/TD F/LTD

specific heat (Cp)

E/MD

L2/T2D

FL/MD

System of Units
To define a system of units, you assign a unit of measure to each of the physical dimensions. This section provides the units of the above quantities in four different systems of units, two different metric systems, MKS and mmNs, and two different English systems, FPS and IPS. The MKS system of units uses MLT as the basic dimensions. The mmNs, FPS, and IPS systems of units use FLT as the basic dimensions.

MKS
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the MKS system: Basic Units M: kilogram (kg) L: meter (m) T: second (sec) D: degree Celsius ( C) Some Derived Units F: kg-m/sec2 = Newton (N) E: N-m = Joule (J) P: J/sec = Watt (W)

mmNS
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the mmNS system: Basic Units F: Newton (N) L: millimeter (mm) T: second (sec) D: degree Celsius ( C) Some Derived Units M: (N-sec2/mm) (kg-m/N-sec2) (1000mm/m) = 1000 kg = tonne(t) E: (N-mm) (J/N-m) (m/1000mm) = J/1000 = mJ P: (mJ/sec) (J/1000mJ) (W-sec/J) = W/1000 = mW

mmKS
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the mmKS system:

Basic Units M: kilogram (kg) L: millimeter (mm) T: second (sec) D: degree Celsius ( C)

Some Derived Units F: kg-mm/sec2 = mN E: mN-mm = J P: J/sec = W

FPS
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the FPS system: Basic Units F: pound-force (lbf) L: foot (ft) T: second (sec) D: degree Fahrenheit ( F) Some Derived Units M: lbf-sec2/ft = slug E: ft-lbf P: ft-lbf/sec

IPS
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the IPS system: Basic Units F: pound-force (lbf) L: inch (in) T: second (sec) D: degree Fahrenheit ( F) Some Derived Units M: lbf-sec2/in E: lbf-in P: lbf-in/sec

CGS
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the CGS system: Basic Units Some Derived Units

M: gram (g) F: g-cm/sec2 = 10-5 N = dyne L: centimeter (cm) E: g-cm2/sec2 = 10-7 J = erg T: second (sec) P: g-cm2/sec3 = 10-7 W D: degree Celsius ( C)

Pro/E Default
Following are the basic and some of the derived units of the Pro/E Default system: Basic Units M: pounds-mass (lbm) L: inch (in) T: second (sec) D: degree Fahrenheit ( F) Some Derived Units F: in-lbm/sec2 E: in2-lbm/sec2 P: in2-lbm/sec3

Basic Units
Using the definitions from the previous section, the units of the quantities in these four systems are as follows: Metric (MKS) m sec kg N C m2 m3 m/sec m/sec2 rad Metric (mmNS) mm sec tonne N C mm2 mm3 mm/sec mm/sec2 rad English (FPS) ft sec slug lbf F ft2 ft3 (cu-ft) ft/sec ft/sec2 rad English (IPS) in sec lbf-sec2/in lbf F in2 in3 (cu-in) in/sec in/sec2 rad Units length time mass force temperature area volume velocity acceleration angle, rotation

rotational velocity rad/sec rad/sec rotational acceleration rad/sec2 rad/sec2 density kg/m3 tonne/mm3 moment, torque N-m N-mm distributed force along a curve N/m N/mm distributed moment along a curve N N 2 distributed force over a surface, pressure, stress, Young's modulus N/m (Pa) N/mm2 (MPa) translational stiffness N/m N/mm rotational stiffness N-m/rad N-mm/rad coefficient of thermal expansion /C /C 4 moment of inertia of beam cross-sectional area m mm4 mass moment of inertia kg-m2 tonne-mm2 energy, work, heat (E) J mJ power, heat transfer rate (P) W mW temperature gradient C/m C/mm 2 heat flux W/m mW/mm2 thermal conductivity W/m- C mW/mm- C convection film coefficient W/m2- C mW/mm2- C specific heat (Cp) J/kg- C mJ/tonne- C 2 Note: 1W = 1N-m/sec, 1mJ = 1N-mm, 1mW = 1N-mm/sec, N/m = Pascal (Pa)

rad/sec rad/sec2 slug/ft3 ft-lbf lbf/ft lbf lbf/ft2 lbf/ft lbf-ft/rad /F ft4 slug-ft2 ft-lbf ft-lbf/sec F/ft lbf/ft-sec lbf/sec- F lbf/ft-sec- F ft-lbf/slug- F

rad/sec rad/sec2 lbf-sec2/in4 in-lbf lbf/in lbf lbf/in2 (psi) lbf/in lbf-in/rad /F in4 lbf-in-sec2 in-lbf in-lbf/sec F/in lbf/in-sec lbf/sec- F lbf/in-sec- F in2/sec2- F

The numerical values of conductivity are the same in the MKS and mmNS systems and in the FPS and IPS systems. In Structure, units of modal frequency results are always cycles per unit time or Hz. The units of time are affected by the force/length/time units you used to define the model. Structure never reports modal frequency in terms of radians per unit time.

Examples of Values for Gravitational Acceleration and Selected Properties of Steel

The following table shows examples of approximate values for acceleration, density, Young's modulus, thermal coefficient of expansion, and thermal conductivity: Metric (MKS) 9.81 m/sec2 7830.0 kg/m3 2.07e11 N/m2 12e-6/ C 43.37 W/m- C Metric (mmNS) 9810 mm/sec2 7.83e-9 tonne/mm3 2.07e5 N/mm2 12e-6/ C 43.37 mW/mm- C English (FPS) 32.2 ft/sec2 15.2 slug/ft3 4.32e9 lb/ft2 6.5e-6/ F 5.4 lbf/sec- F (25 Btu/hr-ft- F) English (IPS) 386 in/sec2 7.33e-4 lb-sec2/in4 3.0e7 lb/in2 6.5e-6/ F 5.41bf/sec- F (2.083 Btu/hr-in- F)

Units g (gravitational acceleration) density (steel) Young's modulus (steel) coefficient of thermal expansion (steel) thermal conductivity (steel)

Correspondence Between Mass and Force

The following list describes the correspondence between mass and force at sea level for four common unit systems: 1 kg weighs 9.81 Newtons 1 tonne weighs 9810 Newtons 1 slug weighs 32.2 lbs 1 (lb-sec2/in) weighs 386 lbs

Correspondence Between Mass and Pounds-mass

In some English systems of units, mass is sometimes given in pounds-mass (lbm). The relationship between pounds-mass and mass in the FPS and IPS systems of units is determined by the fact that one pound-mass weighs one pound-force in the gravitational field of the earth at sea level: lbf = lbm x g where g = 32.2 ft/sec2 = 386 in/sec2

Therefore: lbm = 1/386 lbf-sec2/in lbm = 1/32.2 lbf-sec2/ft = 1/32.2 slug

Conversion of Basic Units

The following tables show conversion factors for various quantities: Length Conversion Factors m

mm

ft

in

1m= 1 mm = 1 ft = 1 in =

1 1.0e-3 0.3048 2.54e-2

1000 1 304.8 25.4

3.281 3.281e-3 1 8.333e-2

39.37 3.937e-2 12 1

Mass Conversion Factors tonne (N-sec2/mm) slug (lb-sec2/ft)

kg

lb-sec2/in

1 kg = 1 tonne = 1 slug = 1 lb-sec2/in = Moments of Inertia

1 1000 14.59 175.1

1.0e-3 1 14.59e-3 0.1751 tonne mm2

6.852e-2 68.52 1 12

5.71e-3 5.71 8.333e-2 1 lbf-sec2 -in

kg m2

slug ft2

1 kg m2 = 1 tonne mm2 = 1 slug ft 2 = 1 lbf-sec2-in =

1 1e-3 1.356 0.113

1000 1 1.356e3 113 lb

.738 7.375e-4 1 1/12

8.85 8.85e-3 12 1

Force Conversion Factors N Kg-force

1N= 1 lb =

1 4.448

0.101972 0.453594

0.2248 1 N-mm lb-ft lb-in

Moment Conversion Factors N-m

1 N-m = 1 N-mm = 1 lb-ft = 1 lb-in =

1 1.0e-3 1.356 0.113

1000 1 1356 113 tonne/ mm3

0.7376 7.376e-4 1 8.33e-2

8.851 8.851e-3 12 1 lb-sec2/ in4

Density Conversion Factors kg/m3 slug/ft3

1 kg/m3 = 1 tonne/mm3 = 1 slug/ft3 = 1 lb-sec2/in4 = Stress Conversion Factors N/m2

1 1e12 515 1.07e7

1e-12 1 5.15e-10 1.07e-5 N/mm2

1.94e-3 1.94e9 1 20700 lb/ft2

9.36e-8 9.36e4 4.82e-5 1 lb/in2

1 N/m2 = 1 N/mm2 = 1 lb/ft2 = 1 lb/in2 =

1 1e6 47.9 6890

1e-6 1 47.9e-5 6.89e-3

2.09e-2 20900 1 144 lb/ft

1.45e-4 145 6.94e-3 1 lb/in

Translational Stiffness Conversion Factors N/m N/mm

1 N/m = 1 N/mm = 1 lb/ft = 1 lb/in =

1 1000 14.593 175.118

1.0e-3 1 1.4593e-2 1.7512e-5

6.8525e-2 68.525 1 12 N-mm/rad

5.7104e-3 5.710 8.33e-2 1 lb-ft/rad lb-in/rad

Rotational Stiffness Conversion Factors N-m/rad

1 N-m/rad = 1 N-mm/rad = 1 lb-ft/rad = 1 lb-in/rad =

1 1.0e-3 1.356 0.113

1000 1 1356 113

0.7376 7.376e-4 1 8.33e-2

8.851 8.851e-3 12 1

Thermal Conductivity Conversion Factors mW/ mm- C Btu/ hr-ft- F Btu/ hr-in- F lbf/ sec- F

W/m- C

1 W/m- C = 1 mW/mm- C =

1 1

1 1

0.5777 0.5777

4.817e-2 4.817e-2

0.1249 0.1249

1 Btu/hr-ft- F = 1 Btu/hr-in- F = 1 lbf/sec- F =

1.731 20.76 8.007

1.731 20.76 8.007

1 12 4.626

8.333e-2 1 0.3854

0.2162 2.594 1

Correspondence Between Degrees Celsius and Degrees Fahrenheit

The following two formulas describe the correspondence between the Celsius and Fahrenheit degree scales: C = ( F 32)/1.8 F = 1.8 C + 32 Thus, a temperature difference of 1 C is equal to a difference of 1.8 F.