Complete exam guide
PE Mechanical Machine Design & Materials
Six areas spanning stress analysis to fasteners to manufacturing — the PE Mechanical exam that rewards breadth. It's the right one if your work is machine and product design, mechanical components, manufacturing, or materials. Here's what it covers, where the points are, and exam-real practice with a grounded AI tutor.
01
What this exam is — and who should take it
Machine Design & Materials covers six areas and 34 subtopics. It's built for engineers in machine design, mechanical components and assemblies, product development, manufacturing, and materials. You pass one exam to get licensed — sit the one that matches your work, and plan for breadth.
Comparing the three exams? See which exam to take and the pass rates by exam.
Exam at a glance
- Questions
- 80, on the one exam you sit
- Testing time
- 8 hours (~9-hour appointment)
- Format
- Computer-based, year-round (Pearson VUE)
- Reference
- Closed-book — NCEES Handbook on-screen
- Units
- both SI and U.S. customary
- Calculator
- NCEES-approved model
- First-time pass
- ~61–64%
- Repeat-taker pass
- ~35–39% — the gap is preparation, not ability
Six areas and 34 subtopics — it rewards breadth, so plan your hours toward the higher end. NCEES scores against a scaled cut score — there's no published passing percentage. Expect standard multiple choice plus alternative item types (drag-and-drop, point-and-click, multiple-correct, fill-in). Areas and weights follow the NCEES specification effective October 2025. Pass rates shown are from the July-2026 NCEES refresh (January–June 2026 population); NCEES refreshes them each July and January.
02
What's on the exam — and where we put your reps
6 areas. NCEES gives each a question range, not a fixed count, and every form totals 80 (official area titles + ranges per the NCEES specification).
Mechanics of Materials
17–26 of 80Where points go
The spine — about a quarter of the exam: axial, shear, bending, torsion, buckling, combined loading, static and fatigue failure, thermal/interference stress. It compounds — combined loading, failure theories, and fatigue all build on the fundamentals, so lock the foundation first and the rest follows.
Your reps
Build the spine in the order that makes the chain automatic; the tutor walks the failure theories step by step — the area that decides the most points.
Mechanical Components and Assemblies
16–24 of 80Where points go
Pressure vessels and piping, springs, vibrating systems, beams/trusses/frames, hydraulic/pneumatic systems, and basic mechatronics — a wide block where breadth is the risk.
Your reps
Tagged per subtopic across the breadth so practice matches the real spread.
Basic Engineering Practice
11–17 of 80Where points go
Drawings and GD&T, design methodology, economic analysis, and material properties — cheap points if you've touched them.
Your reps
Covered, with worked solutions you can rehearse.
Mechanical Attachments
9–14 of 80Your reps
Bonds/adhesives and threaded & non-threaded fasteners — discrete, learnable point sources the bank drills directly.
Power Transmission
9–14 of 80Your reps
Gears and gear trains, bearings, shafts and keys, belts/chains/clutches/brakes/power screws, motors and engines — discrete, learnable, and reps-rewarding.
Supportive Knowledge (Machine Design and Materials)
8–12 of 80Your reps
Manufacturing methods, fits and tolerances, codes and standards, computational/FEA, inspection/testing/quality, and chemical processes — covered so the small block isn't a blind spot.
Area titles and question ranges per the NCEES specification (eff. October 2025).
03
How to prepare for this exam
Don't study the areas evenly — weight your time to where the points and the difficulty are.
- 01
Build the mechanics-of-materials spine first — combined loading, failure theories, and fatigue build on each other.
- 02
Master the discrete components: pressure vessels, fasteners and welds, power transmission.
- 03
Get fluent in both unit systems so conversions never cost you time.
- 04
Cover basic engineering practice and supportive knowledge for cheap points.
- 05
Manage the breadth deliberately with a diagnostic — map it and drill the thin spots first.
- 06
Rehearse the closed-book Handbook — the mechanical-design and materials sections.
- 07
Practice timed, then finish with full-length mocks. Budget toward the higher end of study time — it's the broadest of the three.
Drill the high-yield topics:
That's the problem-first method applied to this exam; for the calendar, see how long to study.
04
How CastorPrep covers the Machine Design & Materials exam
Exam-real problems, solved step by step.
Written to your exam's NCEES specification, area by area, and each one comes with a worked solution that shows the method, not just the number. Tagged to all 6 areas and 34 subtopics of the Machine Design & Materials exam, so practice follows the real weighting.
- A worked solution on every problem
- The Handbook section where the method has one
- All five of the exam's item formats, from fill-in to drag-and-drop
4,000 cfm of outdoor air at 95°F mixes with 12,000 cfm of return air at 75°F. Find the mixed-air dry-bulb temperature.
✓ Correct. The correct answer is B.
Worked solution
Weight by mass flow, not 50/50 — the outdoor air is a quarter of the stream:
06
Frequently asked
How is the Machine Design & Materials exam structured?
80 questions over a nine-hour appointment (~8 hours of testing), closed-book with the on-screen NCEES Reference Handbook, computer-based and offered year-round at Pearson VUE. Standard multiple choice plus alternative item types (drag-and-drop, point-and-click, multiple-correct, fill-in).
What units does this exam use?
Both SI and U.S. customary — be fluent in both.
What score do I need to pass?
NCEES uses a scaled cut score and doesn't publish a fixed passing percentage — the goal is mastery of the tested areas, not a magic number.
Is Machine Design & Materials the right exam for me?
It's the right one if your work is machine and product design, mechanical components, manufacturing, or materials. It's the broadest of the three, so it rewards breadth — sit it if it matches your day-to-day.
How long should I study?
Most candidates need ~200–300 hours over about four months; budget toward the higher end here, since it's the broadest of the three.
What if it takes more than one attempt?
It's offered year-round, within NCEES/state-board attempt limits. A retake plan that changes the method — not just the hours — is what moves the score.