Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raghu Echempati, Kettering University; Enayat Mahajerin, Saginaw Valley State University; Anca Sala, Baker College Of Flint

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

andGallagher11 developed a web-based FE program as an aid in teaching deformable (Solid)mechanics course. There are several math tools and textbooks available12-21 in the literature thatcan be used to enhance the basic understanding of a typical FEA course. Other relevant literatureon this subject area are also included in the bibliography22-24.Common Course Learning Objectives (CLOs):The instructors teaching this course have identified the following common course learningobjectives which will facilitate using common assessment tools for this course.1. apply the knowledge of Matrix Algebra, Statics, CAE and Mechanics of Materials courses to a basic understanding of the Finite Element Method and its engineering applications2. understand the assumptions

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanical Systems: What's New

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raghu Echempati, Kettering University; Richard Dippery, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. Also, prerequisites knowledge test is veryhelpful to assess their concepts and to conduct any extra help sessions. Figure 1 and 2 inAppendix – I show charts of students’ overall grade in Statics and Solid Mechanics, respectively.Although many students did well in Statics course, few of these students had difficulty inunderstanding the difference between rigid body mechanics (Statics) and deformable bodymechanics (Solid Mechanics). This contributed to only a moderate performance on MachineDesign course.Conventional teaching methods (lectures, class work and team-home work, mini- and term-ending projects) are followed for this course. The final take-home project enhanced the students’understanding of the material covered in the entire course

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Benson, Kettering University; Ada Cheng, Kettering University; Odesma Dalrymple, ASU Polytechnic

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

immediately and accurately apply these centralprinciples means that students will find that the impact of these knowledge gaps is recurring.While coping skills may enable a student to pass a class or “get through” a topic, if they chooseto repair their knowledge gaps they may find themselves re-learning these concepts/skills whileat the same time learning advanced concepts that depend upon these skills.A simplified example of a trajectory essential to mechanical engineering is the concept of the dotproduct, also known as the scalar inner product. Figure 1 shows a representative program ofstudy in Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University with the intersections of the dot producttrajectory with various classes highlighted. Mechanical Engineering

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Garrett Clayton, Villanova University; James O'Brien, Villanova University; Kenneth Kroos, Villanova University; Amy Fleischer, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

aspects of ME and tohelp students develop general skills needed to be successful ME students and engineer. Theseobjectives are achieved through a hands-on, project-based laboratory coupled withcomplementary theory-based lectures. This class differs from typical introduction to engineeringcourses because it is offered to sophomores, which enables higher-level engineering content tobe covered. The topics addressed in this paper are the initial development of the course, theevolution of the course over the past eight years, the current state of the course, studentassessment of the course, and plans for future development.1. IntroductionIn this paper, the development and evolution of the sophomore-level introduction to MechanicalEngineering (ME

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angkee Sripakagorn, Chulalongkorn University; Kuntinee Maneeratana, Chulalongkorn University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Chulalongkorn UniversityAct transformed the status of the university from a public university into an autonomousuniversity. The loss of fiscal security and benefits also brought further challenges. Moreover, thecompetition for students from local institutions and globalization present new threats, challengesand opportunities that a program has to accept and adapt [1]. Thus, it is clear that the methods ofteaching and learning must be radically changed in order to ensure the success of the program.This paper describes an experience in implementing design as the integrative experience of anengineering program via a capstone design course: 2103-499 Mechanical Engineering Project.Prior to this work, the learning experience and assessment in this course was

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kuntinee Maneeratana, Chulalongkorn University; Angkee Sripakagorn, Chulalongkorn University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

only. Additionally, the final grade average was found topredominantly reflect the performances in lecture-based engineering courses.I. IntroductionThis paper originated during the ongoing process of program revisions in the Department ofMechanical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University (CU), Thailand. The current bachelor’s andgraduate programs have been in use since 2002 and are due for a major adjustment in 2011. Bothcurrent and proposed bachelor’s degree curricula are very traditionally structured as they are bestdescribed by a series of courses and the corresponding content [1].As the opening for formal curriculum flexibility is very limited due to the stringent requirementson compulsory courses and credits, as demanded by the Commission on

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hui Shen, Ohio Northern University; Richard F. Miller, Ohio Northern University; David Sawyers, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

common concern for engineering educators today is that the number of American studentsentering the engineering field is not high enough to meet future demand.1-4 In recent years,fewer than one-third of college students have pursued science and engineering degrees5. Theenrollment of engineering freshman declined from 1985 to 2005, according to data by theEngineering Workforce Commission.6 As studies have shown, in recent years “the number ofengineering Ph.D. graduates has increased very little.”7 Undergraduate research focusing oninterdisciplinary projects has been shown to have a positive impact on retention in theengineering majors, enrollment in engineering graduate schools, and the career development ofengineering graduates.8-12 In most

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics & Structural Modeling Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vincent Sabatini, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Ryle Maxson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Darris White, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Jack McKisson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; William Haupfear, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 15.1233.2maintaining consumer acceptability. Because of the availability and efficiency of electricity andelectric power systems, vehicle electrification was identified as a key technology for this project.The modern automotive is the result of over a century of evolution. A wide range of propulsionsystems have been attempted with electric, hybrid-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles havingbeen developed as starting in the late 1800s. GM developed an experimental plug-in hybridvehicle, called the XP-883, in 1969 (1). Despite notable efforts to increase the degree of vehicleelectrification, the cost, weight, and complexity of these systems has prevented widespreadmarket acceptance. Recent advances in battery, and control system

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanical Systems: What's New

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashok Kumar Manoharan, Auburn University; P.K. Raju, Auburn University; Chetan Sankar, Auburn University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

technical and/or business issue that has actuallybeen faced by managers together with surrounding facts, opinions, and prejudices upon whichmanagement decisions must depend. These real and particularized cases are presented to studentsfor considered analyses, open discussion, and final discussion as to the type of action that shouldbe taken. The fundamental principles underlying the case study method of teaching, assummarized by Barnes et al.5, are:1. The primary of situational analysis: Analysis of some specific situation forces the student todeal with “as is” and not the “might be.”2. The imperative of relating analysis and action: The traditional academic focus has been toknow; the practitioners’ focuses have been on action. The case study

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions - Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Goodarz Ahmadi, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

environmental processes involve particle transport,deposition and removal. In the last decade, significant research progress in the areas ofnano- and micro-particle transport, deposition and removal has been made. A series ofcourses was developed to make these class of new important research findings availableto seniors and graduate students in engineering through developing and offering ofspecialized curricula. This project involved integration of numerical simulations andexperiments in the developed courses. The course materials were mostly made availableon the web and some courses were taught at University 1 and University 2 campusessimultaneously. Based on the course materials, a series of short courses was also offeredat several countries. The

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christine Valle, Georgia Institute of Technology; Wayne Whiteman, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

is a relatively new approach inAmerican universities, generally observed since the late 1980’s, though in other parts of theworld such as Europe, the first engineering degree has always required a minimum of five yearsof study and been considered equivalent to the MS degree.These BS/MS programs vary in their details at different academic institutions. For the most part,they offer the qualified student: 1) the possibility to earn their BS and MS degrees in less time than it would take to pursue both degrees separately, and 2) the opportunity to deepen and diversify their technical and professional skills, which will help make them more competitive and marketable in the global marketplace.As BS/MS programs grew more popular

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer-Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Israel Urieli, Ohio University-Athens

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

textbook wasalmost unnecessary. During winter of 2009 I was awarded Professional Leave in order todevelop a complete open-source web-based learning resource independent of any textbook. Thiswas successfully completed and can be found at http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~thermo.The basic structure of this web-based resource is similar to that of a textbook. It includes elevenchapters and is divided into two parts. The first part is designed as an introduction to engineeringthermodynamics for students of all engineering majors, and is structured as follows:Part 1 – An Introduction to the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics Chapter 1: Introductory Concepts, Units and Definitions Chapter 2: Properties of Pure Substances Chapter 3: The

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Maixner, United States Air Force Academy; William Parker, Air Force Research Laboratories

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

analysis under both steady stateand transient conditions.Being an undergraduate institution, no teaching assistants are assigned at USAFA, so thatthe instructor must grade all work submitted; ease of grading was, therefore, an importantconsideration. A ine line had to be walked in ensuring not only the required degree of dificulty,but also allowing that mistakes be easily detected. Figure 1 is a screen shot of the templateprovided to the students, with all material properties and dimensions depicted. Not only werestudents required to provide all equations in the blank cells of this template, but they wererequired to do a certain amount of macro recording and assignment of macros to the controlbuttons shown. Iteration speed for the steady state

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bethany Fralick, Purdue University; Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

10 Likert scale questions that can be seen in Table 1. Each questionused in the pre-survey was given a letter for simplicity during analysis. Demographicinformation collected in the pre-survey was gender, age, previous year enrollment, and previouscoursework. This information was collected and used to describe the subject groups. TABLE 1 PRE-SURVEY QUESTIONS WITH CORRESPONDING ANALYSIS LETTERSBefore designing the experiment: A I have a good understanding of how to design experiments. B I feel the task description was adequate. C I understand the purpose of the experiment. D I understand the physical set-up that I will need to use. E I can identify all of the variables to be manipulated

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanical Systems: What's New

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Walchko, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

instructor canthread through two-dimensional kinematics, as well as, three-dimensional kinematics.1. Introduction One of the most difficult concepts for students in an undergraduate dynamics course isthat of rigid body kinematics. The geometry of rigid body motion, a topic most students arefamiliar with from undergraduate physics, takes on additional complexity as one introducesangular velocities and accelerations of rigid bodies. Couple this with the fact that the majority ofstudents in an undergraduate dynamics course just completed an undergraduate statics coursefree of motion, and the result is clouded confusion and inability to understand what is reallyhappening to the rigid body. Dynamics is a course best taught with

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Harlow, Western Kentucky University; Robert Choate, Western Kentucky University; H. Joel Lenoir, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

performance characteristics.This paper focuses on the DBT process of the test bed and the development of the experiment.Moreover, an assessment of the project is provided through an analysis of the following projectoutcomes: 1) The student worker’s learning experiences during the execution of thisextracurricular project inclusive of both technical and project management aspects and 2) Theimpact of the implementation of this extracurricular project as a course experiment in theExperimentation and Instrumentation course as part of the ME Program’s curriculum sequence.IntroductionThe Mechanical Engineering (ME) Program at Western Kentucky University focuses on creatingprofessional learning experiences in order to “provide students with the opportunity

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ficken, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

pickup and60 toothed wheel. The shaft torque and additional pressures and flows are displayed on the standpanel face. Additional instrumentation is available to provide and select needed electrical signals.The system is shown schematically and pictorially in figures 1 - 4. Note: The schematic omitsthe clutch and frictionally driven flywheel. Page 15.688.3  Figure 1 Rotary Speed Control Arrangement Schematic3 Page 15.688.4 Stand panel (Delta ©  controller is inside

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Shepard, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Camille George, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 15.345.3introduction to aspects of internal and external fluid flows as well as the different formsof heat transfer and how they occur. Some of the final products can be seen in Figure 1. Figure 1. Heat exchanger designsUpon completion, the desalinators were used in a lab utilizing the first law ofthermodynamics and psychrometrics (Appendix B). During the lab student designed heatexchangers were attached to an evaporative cooler which was running with saltwater asopposed to freshwater. In the evaporative cooler air is blown through a membrane whichwas wetted with the saltwater causing water vapor to evaporate and the air temperature todecrease. This moist air then traveled over a heat exchanger through which

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mathew Hagge, Iowa State University; Gloria Starns, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 15.307.2 in their textbooks and by their predecessors, i.e., “tame problems”[1]. “Wicked problems” cannot be solved conventionally and it is not likely that conventional training will mitigate them. While it is clear that there is a need to grow the numbers of scientists and engineers required to take on the challenge of these types of problems [2], the idea of reforming the way in which they are trained has gained little traction. Recent advances in technology have enabled neurologists and cognitive scientists to map brain activity and describe ways in which people best learn and retain information. Scientists know that for learning to occur, neural pathways must be formed. New neural paths begin with existing

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Forsberg, Hofstra University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

that this might be the source of a veryworthwhile project for my senior mechanical engineering students in the thermal/fluidscapstone design course. Figure No. 1 - The Proposed Cooling System Central Loop HEXSide-Stream To Drain City Water 55 F Page 15.57.2The Capstone Design ProjectA capstone design project should be one that applies knowledge gained in several coursesto the design of a system, process, or device. Ideally, the project should be based on aproblem from

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics & Structural Modeling Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Doughty, University of Portland; Steven O'Halloran, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

the temperature(centerline and surface) of a small aluminum cylinder and a small acrylic cylinder was assignedto introductory heat transfer students. The project demonstrates heat transfer concepts ofconduction and convection as well as numerical solutions to time-dependant partial differentialequations. The geometry of the cylinder is shown in Figure 1. Page 15.23.3Page 15.23.4Page 15.23.5Page 15.23.6 90 Centerline 80

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michele Miller, Michigan Technological University; Anna Pereira, Michigan Technological University; Margot Hutchins, Michigan Technological Universtiy; William Helton, Michigan Technological University; Leonard Bohmann, Michigan Technological University; Chris VanArsdale, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

,seldom, occasionally and frequently. For the questions that involved course work, the choiceswere: no courses, one course, two courses, and more than two courses. One hundred fifty-sixstudents completed both the MAT and the PEQ.Table 1 shows the prior experiences that correlated most highly and positively with MAT score.The list is limited to the activities that had statistically significant correlation (with p<0.05).Some themes are apparent: working with tools, outdoor activities, and instrumental music. Notethat the correlation coefficients are quite low which is likely due to the large number of possibleprior experiences. In other words, a student comes to engineering school with a wide array ofprior experiences, and many different prior

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics & Structural Modeling Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Soutas-Little, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

materials texts.There are two problems with the Macauley functions; first, they are very limited in the type ofload functions that they model and second, for orders above n=1, they are difficult to stop if theregion of application is only between a ∞ x ∞ b , where b is less than the length of the beam. Thedifficulty arises in introducing the negative of higher order polynomials at the point b. A methodwill be presented to analyze any continuous load function w(x) applied on the interval between a ∞ x ∞ b . Therefore, a single expression will be written for any beam loading. This expressionwill be integrated to determine the shear, moment, slope and deflection. Examples of differentbeam loadings are presented for a complete use of discontinuity

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer-Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B.K. Hodge, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

politicalleaders on energy issues. The energy education of future engineers is especially important asneither of the major political parties has yet to champion a realistic and workable energy policyfor the future. Using public domain energy and cost data from the DOE Energy InformationAdministration and the World Bank, a cogent presentation can be crafted that contains elementsof the etiology of the energy crisis, that suits various audiences, and that can be readily updatedas new information becomes available.IntroductionFigure 1, a mosaic of satellites photographs at night of the United States, is a rather dramaticillustration of the population density and dispersion in the United States as indicated by theenergy intensity distribution of night

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions - Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Willis, Southern Methodist University; Paul Krueger, Southern Methodist University; Alice Kendrick, Southern Methodist University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, and the titles and descriptions are provided in Table 1. Theseminars emphasized aspects of experimental methods and were designed to provide skills thatwould benefit both their REU experience and their professional careers. The PIs also assignedthe participants 3 activities related to their seminar experience: an uncertainty analysis, a finalreport, and a poster presentation competition. The uncertainty analysis was assigned after thecompletion of the “Uncertainty in Experiments” seminar and required participants to perform anuncertainty analysis related to their project. Although the students did not have much experiencewith their research projects at that time, the exercise required them to think independently andcritically about their

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer-Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Mativo, The University of Georgia; Arif Sirinterlikci, Robert Morris University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

areas such as space and human body. A challenge facing TEGs is their low efficiencydue to obtaining their energy from low energy sources such as waste heat and a low figure ofmerit (ZT) that enable conversion of heat into electricity1. , where T is the absolutetemperature, s is Seebeck coefficient, is electrical conductivity, and k is thermal conductivity.In power generation, the Seebeck effect enables the direct conversion between heat and electricenergy streams. Heating one end of the unit cell while holding the other end cooler induceselectromotive force within the material and may be harnessed for electrical power2. In Figure 1,two dissimilar semiconductors A and B are connected electrically in series but thermally inparallel with

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent Nelson, Northern Arizona University; Constantin Ciocanel, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

regress in their conceptual understanding, regardlessof their academic performance within the class.1 Students frequently fail to understand how toapply mathematical concepts to real problems.Within mechanical engineering curriculum, heat transfer is considered a notoriously difficultcourse for students.2,3 Concept inventories have been developed to assess students’ level ofconceptual understanding; reported student scores on these inventories have been quite low, withaverage performance in the range of 50%.2,4 The incorporation of active learning approacheswithin classes and programs have been shown to increase conceptual understanding of corecontent,5 but are infrequently utilized in core content engineering courses such as those in thethermal

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir Karimi, University of Texas, San Antonio; Randall Manteufel, The University of Texas at San Antonio

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

moistair. It provide several examples demonstrating the efficiency of “Solver” and “Goal Seek” toolsof Excel in solving problems requiring iterative processes.Definitions and Basic Equations PsychrometricsThe following paragraphs provide the basic definitions and equations used in psychrometricanalysis.At low pressures a mixture of air and water vapor behaves as an ideal gas. Therefore, ideal gasequations can be used for thermodynamic analysis of moist air close to atmospheric pressures.The equation of state for ideal gases can be expressed in the following forms: PV ? nR T ? mRT (1)where, R is the universal gas constant, R ? R M , and M is the molecular weight of

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Vuksanovich, Youngstown State University; Darrell Wallace, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

-produce the worldduring WWII. Innovation put us on the moon and fueled the computer and internet boom of the1990’s. Studies going back as far as 1959 have identified engineering creativity as a vitalcontributor to industry competitiveness and the national welfare. 1 A preponderance of literaturepublished in the past five years points to a lack of soft skills, including creative innovation, asfactors in declining global competitiveness. 2,3,4,5 At the root of this problem is a deeplyentrenched educational paradigm that does not encourage creative thinkers.This innovation was possible because there were people that not only understood engineeringprinciples; they also knew how to apply them in ways that satisfied a human need. Theseengineers were

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics & Structural Modeling Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Natasha Smith, University of Southern Indiana

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

between the questionsaddressed by Statics (i.e. forces on rigid bodies) and those they will face in Strengths ofMaterials. The final objective is to demonstrate how stiffness is affected by both geometry andmaterial, highlighting implications for design. The lab has been conducted in various forms inboth an introductory design course and as a first lab in Strengths of Materials.IntroductionTwo vital skills for an engineering graduate are the abilities to reason and communicateeffectively. ABET outcomes for baccalaureate engineering programs include abilities to"analyze and interpret data" as well as "to communicate effectively" 1. The Boeing Corporationalso lists these critical thinking and good communication as skill sets in their published