Conference Session

What's New in Statics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shane Palmquist, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

2006-650: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING MECHANICS:INSPECTION AND ANALYSIS OF A HISTORIC TRUSS BRIDGEShane Palmquist, Western Kentucky University Shane M. Palmquist is an assistant professor of civil engineering in the Department of Engineering at Western Kentucky University. Prior to becoming a faculty member at WKU, Dr. Palmquist was a structural engineer for Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers in Natick, Massachusetts. He received a BS in civil engineering from the University of New Hampshire, his MS in civil engineering from the University of Rhode Island, and his PhD in civil engineering from Tufts University. His technical interests include project-based engineering education

Conference Session

Teaching with Technology in Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salim Haidar, Grand Valley State University; Ali Mohammadzadeh, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

powerful tool in analysis and design of dynamical systems.The authors used SIMULINK in analysis and design of an automobile suspension system6 as an Page 11.1141.2exemplary model in vibrations’ class.This model example, which provided for follow-up homework assignments and a project, helpedstudents learn about efficient numerical methods, and how to employ technology tools,MATLAB and SIMULINK, in solving engineering problems, early in the dynamics class. Whatstudents learned here helps them a great deal in the subsequent courses in the curriculum. Thestate form of the governing differential equations of motion, introduced to students in the follow

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shanzhong (Shawn) Duan, South Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

projects were used to evaluate teaching and learning. Eachproject team was formed by three students. The project topic was a component or subsystem ofsenior design project, Mini-Baja project, or a real dynamic system that all team members wereinterested in modeling, designing, analyzing and simulating. Then they would further apply whatthey had learned from this case study to select a proper analysis method for their applications,derive kinematical and force equations, set up equations of motion, and eventually producesimulation results. Figure 5 shows the selected examples of team projects. Figure 5: Selected Team Project Titles in AMDEvaluation of teaching and learning was conducted anonymously. Twelve graduate

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Louis Everett, University of Texas-El Paso; Arunkumar Pennathur; Elsa Villa, University of Texas-El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

than usual.10. The questions that were asked while viewing the simulations/demonstrations confused me more thanever.12. The questions that were asked while viewing the simulations/demonstrations had no relationship tothe class material.14. The simulations/demonstrations are a waste of quality class time.20. The simulations/demonstrations have given me a different approach to dynamics. Help Toward Exams4. I think I performed better on the exams as a result of the simulations/demonstrations.18. I think the simulations/demonstrations misled me when studying for the exams. Modules Help Toward Design5. The project is worked best by guessing.22. The project helped me understand why

Conference Session

What's New in Statics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Dong, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

2006-1283: MAKING STATICS A FRIEND FOR LIFEKevin Dong, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo Kevin Dong, S.E. is an Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering (ARCE) at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. For the past five years he has been teaching classes that emphasize structural systems and structural design to various majors (Architecture, Architectural Engineering, and Construction Management) within the College of Environmental Design and Architecture. His class work utilizes his 13 years of experience with Ove Arup & Partners (ARUP), where he worked in both the San Francisco and London offices. As an Associate with ARUP he worked on a wide variety of projects within the United States and abroad

Conference Session

Back to Basics in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Martinazzi, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown; Brian Houston, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He received his B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. His interests include engineering economics, management and leadership development. He has worked as project engineer for Armstrong World Industries, does engineering management and leadership consulting work and presents seminars on effectiveness and leadership at both the individual and corporate levels. He is Colonel (Ret) in United States Marine Corps Reserves. Page 11.646.1© American Society for

Conference Session

What's New in Statics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

thrust of this project is to provide students with an additional tool to understand andvisualize mathematically complex concepts covered in a typical engineering mechanics-Staticscourse, which will enhance their learning and understanding of this subject. This tool will also beavailable for all subsequent courses that need Statics background. Inadequate knowledge ofStatics, negatively influence the learning and teaching of these subjects as considerable timemust be devoted to review the Statics part. Courses like Strength of Materials, Machine Design,and structural design are examples of subjects that depend primarily in excelling Statics. Figure 1: Main Module Figure 2: Vector addition GUIThe package consists

Conference Session

Back to Basics in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Malmgren, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

at Johnstown, students areencouraged to use this approach on some of their analysis work on their designs projects. Thiscourse is taken after the students have completed Engineering Statics and while they are takingDynamics and Mechanics of Materials. Typically, their design projects (with students workingin groups of three) involve designing a machine to perform a particular task. Through thesynthesis stage of developing the machine’s layout and configuration, followed by force analysisand kinematic analysis, students often just try to get “something that works.” During advisingsessions, they are encouraged to look at a graphical analysis approach to check their results.Many times this can be an epiphany to the students when they visually

Conference Session

Teaching with Technology in Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rungun Nathan, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

was discussed by the whole class. Following the discussion, each studentwas asked to work individually and proceed with the solution to the problem. During thistime, the instructor walked around assessing students’ work and looking for holes in thecomprehension of the concept. Finally the problem was solved in full and was posted onthe web for access outside of class. With the availability of a tablet-pc towards the end offall 2003 – a transition from overhead cameras to tablet was made. The transitionbrought a change in quality of image projection and an overwhelming positive responsefrom the students. The following fall – only tablet-pc was used for all classroominstructions – replacing overhead transparencies and document camera. The

Conference Session

What's New in Mechanics of Materials?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam Creuziger, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Wendy Crone, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

time is spent onproblem solving. In addition to keeping current with course content, the students are assignedweekly homework and a semester long design project. There are two different types ofhomework that are assigned: individual problems and team problems. There are approximatelysix individual problems and three team problems due each week. The design problem isassigned early in the semester with two status reports and a final report due during the year.Topics that included shear stress were distributed throughout the semester. Shear stress in boltsand inclined planes are covered in the first and second weeks. Torsion is covered in the fourthand fifth weeks. Shear in beam bending is discussed in the seventh and eighth week. The ninthand

Conference Session

What's New in Mechanics of Materials?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Hennessey, University of St. Thomas; Luke Hacker, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

-stress as the differential cube rotates,visualization is typically static. What is needed is a true 3D dynamic visualization tool thatpermits one to visualize an arbitrary state-of-stress from the perspective of continuously varyingand arbitrary 3D differential cube orientations, parameterized by a time varying rotation matrix,such as that driven by an Euler matrix with 3 time varying angles.The objective of this educational research project is to: (1) develop the mathematics that permitone to arbitrarily change the orientation of a differential cube and determine the stresses in thenew coordinate system (i.e. 3D tensor change of bases), (2) create a corresponding computer-aided-engineering (CAE) software tool using primarily MATLAB® and

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Szmerekovsky, AFIT; Brian Self, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

technique. Finally, references and advice on how to utilize JiTTwill be supplied to potential users.The Just in Time Teaching ApproachJiTT should not be confused with other uses of “Just-in-Time” that is prevalent in engineeringliterature. Other authors use JIT to represent presenting material just before it will be used, forexample in a laboratory exercise or an assigned project. JiTT on the other hand, is a techniqueused to enhance the interactivity of a lecture period by creating a feedback loop between theinstructor and the student.As discussed in last year’s proceedings1, the JiTT strategy reflects recent efforts in cognitivepsychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, andeducation research to better