PPI Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, 13th Edition (Hardcover) – Comprehensive Reference Manual for the NCEES PE Exam

I took the April 2017 Mechanical Engineering Thermal and Fluid Systems exam...and passed! This is THE book to get if you are planning on taking the PE exam. After reading several reviews, I decided that the price was worth it, so I bought the reference manual itself, along with the accompanying question and answer soft cover book. I spent about seven months reading through the entirety of the book and performing about 95% of the study problems. I stayed away from most of the questions that said that they would take at least an hour to solve since I thought they would be outside the realm of what I would have to do on the exam. Granted, they are good if you have the time. All-in-all I used about 400 pages of engineering paper working problems out.I only solved the problems in English units, primarily because I felt more comfortable with SI, so I figured it wouldn't be that big of a stretch to solve an SI based problem. I also did not work out the problems from the Plant Operations and Management section, but I did read through those chapters. They did expose me to many aspects of Mechanical Engineering that I had little to no experience with, so it was definitely worth it from a learning perspective.Some reviewers have said to skip over the first 13 chapters since they are just background skills, but I did go through them and learned a thing or two along the way.I did end up taking a few extra books with me to the exam, although it was wholly unnecessary. I also printed out a few engineering codes that I was able to find online, but again I didn't need any of those. I would have been fine bringing only this book and a calculator. I thought that the morning session was actually pretty straight forward. The afternoon session was a bit more challenging, but I finished both sections with 45 minutes to an hour left on the clock. The extensive study beforehand really paid off.While the book does a great job of giving you usable equations, I would not recommend relying on just finding a "plug and chug" solution to every problem. If you understand how systems actually work, you can solve every problem relatively quickly. If you find yourself using an erf function, you're probably overthinking the solution.Bottom line, if you want to pass the exam with style, get this book.

Great preparation guide and a great general reference. Spend time with it before the exam so you know where everything (generally) is, and tab out the book so you know how to get to places you need to use. A good rule of thumb that I used was, any time I took a practice exam and used the MERM for a lookup, I stickynoted that page, knowing that I needed to tab it later.The book takes you back to first principles, and derives many of the equations you will need to find and use on the exam. It also rigorously uses constants of gravity in the USCS versions of equations. This may inspire you to needlessly divide a pound-force by a pound-mass just for the sake of clearing out units. However, this may be useful to you should gravity not be a constant in the particular problem you're working.It treated me well as my last-ditch effort to get an equation I needed - and in fact it saved my butt at least a couple of times. However, getting those equations to work for me took some trial and error because they weren't in the final form I needed to use.Cameron Hydraulic Data and the ASHRAE Pocket Guide may serve you better for equations that are ready to use right away. Cameron Hydraulic Data especially has a number of equations that you just insert your flowrate in GPM and your pipe size in inches, and out pops your velocity in FPM or your velocity head in feet. Shortcut equations, easy. Not a strong point of the MERM. I went into the test with Cameron, ASHRAE Pocket Guide, ASHRAE Handbook 4-pack, my favorite Thermodynamics textbook (Cengel & Boles 4e from college), Property Tables from Cengel and Boles, and about 20-30 pages of my own handwritten thermo, fluids and HVAC notes. That was enough, I don't think the MERM alone would have been.

I took the April 2015 exam (ME - thermo/fluids) and passed. I used this book as my main study source and read it cover-to-cover. It was useful for getting back into ME subjects that I don't work with everyday. The example problems in this book are lacking, so reference problems elsewhere (I used my school books, not the PPI). I supplemented this book with my books from school, which was somewhat difficult, since this book uses different variables than I am used to.I used this book a bit during the exam for concepts, but for formulas I used my school books and the FE equation book. I would recommend bringing one thermo, fluids, and heat transfer book (if taking thermo/fluids) in addition to this one for the exam. I did not feel that any additional books were needed outside of the depth subjects. This book was sufficient for the remaining ME topics.I gave this 5 stars, since it will make for a great reference for the future and ultimately I passed the exam. I would recommend studying from and bringing this book to the exam.By the way, I studied for 136 hours over 7 weeks before the exam. It was a lot of work, so set a study schedule and stick to it. Make sure to set aside time for practice problems (do the problems, don't jump to the solution). I read through all of the Amazon reviews to get a feel for the exam as well as this book, so I wanted to share what worked for me. Study hard and you will pass!

1週間ほど使用している，現在の感想です．設計職に内定が決まり，勉強のための本を探していた時に知り合いのPEの方から薦めていただいた本です．幅広い分野に対応する参考書で，一つ一つの分野でみてもかなりの分量の資料，問題をそろえております．熱力学の項では化学的な電気陰性度での化合について，制御器の項ではモデル化について触れるなど，内容も深く掘り下げられており，値段は高いですが，納得できる良著です．少し気になるのは，どの項目についてもさっくりとまとめているので，内容を理解するには大学で学んだレベルの事前知識が必要と思います．とはいえ非常によくまとめられており勉強し易いと感じますので，星5にさせていただきます．

It is not a great book as it has all 3 mechanical majors so it's hard to focus on the relevant topics. Bought it and returned it back. Thanks for Amazon's excellent customer service though.