How are engine mounts designed?

I have always been curious to know how engine mounts are designed? I guess some lengths of tubing are in compression and some are in tension? But what drives the design shape of the mount bars? What if you need to cut the mount and reshape a section for some interference issue, how do you determine what can to be done? This is purely a hypothetical question thrown out there for learning purposes.

They told us in A&P school that Dyna focal mounts are designed so that the mounts all point towards the center of the rotating crankshaft mass. Or something like that, it hasn't come up in any discussions I've had since then. I'm sure others more knowledgeable will chime in.

blueflyer said:

I have always been curious to know how engine mounts are designed? .

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I think the answer is, "Carefully". Something to think about: Certified standards (which I'm sure Vans sticks to, at a minimum, for something so important) call for no catastrophic failure at 50% above rated g load. So, for example, a -10 is rated for 3.8g; 50% more is 5.7g. With a 400 lb engine, that mount has to hold up well over a ton without catastrophic failure.