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Free Body Diagrams with Animated GIF Files

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Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Computer-Based Games and Animations in Education

Tagged Division

Computers in Education

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/p.26957

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/26957

Download Count

5357

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Paper Authors

biography

Shih-Liang Wang P.E. North Carolina A&T State University

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Shih-Liang (Sid) Wang is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina A&T State University.

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Abstract

A free body diagram (FBD) is a graphic representation of a body (element or segment of an element, sub-assembly, or assembly) in which all connecting bodies have been removed, or the body is “freed” from connecting bodies, to shows all forces acting on the body. Drawing a FBD is to facilitate writing equations of equilibrium to determine the unknown forces and moments. Drawing a FBD correctly is thus an important skill for engineering students. Many students have troubles master this skill as there are insufficient examples in the textbooks, especially in the junior and senior level of design courses. Over the year, the author has created many FBDs to assist student’s learning, and in this paper, the author presents several examples using animated GIF files to guide students to develop FBDs step-by-step. The animated FBD file is analogous to the animated exploded view commonly seen in CAD software packages, and the animated GIF file can be easily incorporated in PowerPoint presentation.

Wang, S. (2016, June), Free Body Diagrams with Animated GIF Files Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26957

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