Conference Session

Improving Mechanics of Materials Classes

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul Steif

Engineering Educationobservable phenomena through the concepts of physics, provides proof of thisproposition16. Instructors in science and engineering should help students develop theability to relate observable aspects of the everyday world to the subject they are learning.Another view of this idea is due to Laurillard17, who contends that learning at theuniversity level means, at least in part, working effectively with representations ofphenomena of interest in the world. Moreover, as she puts it, learning includes “relatingthe sign to the signified.” In engineering, this means relating the variable to what itrepresents. In mechanics of materials, displacement and deformation of bodies are themost readily observed quantities. Thus, if students can

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Mukai

Session #3630 Effectiveness of Various Components in a Mechanics of Materials Course David J. Mukai University of Wyoming Civil and Architectural EngineeringIntroductionThe pressures on undergraduate Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology (SME&T)education are well documented (1). Some of these problems include: undergraduateSME&T courses tend to filter out students, leaving only a few highly-qualified graduates;low retention in SME&T courses because students find them boring; and an increasedamount of knowledge that needs to be transmitted. This project modifies materialsdeveloped by Gregory Miller at the

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics of Materials Classes

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jr., Hartley T. Grandin, Hartley T. Grandin,; Joseph Rencis, University of Arkansas

, USAAbstract This paper assumes the importance of educating our engineering students to question, testand verify “answers” to all of their problem solutions. It presents an approach currentlypracticed by the authors in teaching an introductory mechanics of materials course. In problemsolving, emphasis is placed on: (1) writing the governing equations in symbolic form with a bareminimum of algebraic manipulation, (2) solving the equations with a commercially available,student choice, computer equation solver and (3) most importantly, developing andimplementing test case scenarios to verify the validity of the problem solution. There are threemajor advantages to this approach. First, the development of the equations in symbolic formrequires the

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics of Materials Classes

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Ing-Chang Jong

Session 2468 Effective Teaching and Learning of the Conjugate Beam Method: Synthesized Guiding Rules Ing-Chang Jong University of ArkansasAbstractThere are different established methods in Mechanics of Materials for determining deflections ofbeams. No matter which established method is used, one rightfully expects an identical solutionto be obtained for the same problem. Well, not so fast! One will here see a puzzling scenariowhere a certain problem is amenable to solution only by the conjugate beam method, but not byany of the

Conference Session

Improving Mechanics of Materials Classes

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Hall; Nancy Hubing; Vikas Yellamraju; Ralph Flori; Timothy Philpot

Session 2468 Teaching the Superposition Method With Internet-based Instructional Software Timothy A. Philpot, Richard H. Hall, Ralph E. Flori, Nancy Hubing, and Vikas Yellamraju University of Missouri – RollaAbstractIn the Mechanics of Materials course, one method used to determine beam deflections and support reactions forstatically determinate and indeterminate beams is based on the concept of superposition. To help explain the theoryand art of the superposition method, a series of 14 animated movies

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Approaches

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jessica Matson; David Elizandro

Session 2439 Using Concepts from Statics and Mechanics of Materials to Teach Engineering Economy David Elizandro, Jessica Matson Tennessee Technological UniversityAbstractThe spectrum of topical knowledge ranges from an awareness of a lack of knowledge toapplication of the knowledge without thought about the implied knowledge. The acquisition ofknowledge can be facilitated when previous knowledge or experience can be applied to thelearning process.In Engineering Economy, the toolbox calculations are based on algebraic expressions for therelationship

Conference Session

Lab Experiments in Materials Science

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Amy Hsiao

Session 3264 Using Everyday Materials to Examine Characteristic Mechanical Properties of Metals, Polymers, and Ceramics Amy C. Hsiao Union CollegeIntroductionThis paper will describe an active laboratory exercise designed to introduce key mechanicalproperties of metals, polymers, and ceramics. The materials investigated are common andeveryday in the sense that they can be found in the desk, classroom, or refrigerator of a student,i.e., in his or her life. The exercise is presented as a “real-world” project, in which the studentsare newly

Conference Session

Innovative & Computer-Assisted Lab Study

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Daniel Walsh

characterize the behavior and crackingsusceptibility of numerous alloy systems. Students identify two key parameters of crackingsensitivity, the Nil Strength Temperature (NST) and the Nil Ductility Temperature (NDT) foralloy systems they test. Students pull samples to failure on heating to the NST and on coolingfrom the NST. Students record strength and ductility of each sample. This approach providesquantitative strength and ductility data under thermomechanical conditions which approximateindustrial environments. Students examine fractured samples using scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM), optical microscopy (OM) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA).The laboratory allows students to observe changes in the mechanical properties of materials as

Conference Session

TIME 8: Materials, MEMS, and Nano

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

sudhakar vadiraja; Hector Cervantes

Session # 3566 SMART MATERIALS: TEACHING APPROACHES FOR UNDERSTANDING AND EVALUATING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE K.V. Sudhakar, Hector Cervantes Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla, Santa Catarina Martir, Puebla 72820, MexicoAbstractThis paper discusses some of the specific teaching methods and supplemental experimentalmethodologies for learning smart materials. This course is introduced as an elective formechanical engineering undergraduate students who want to

Conference Session

TIME 8: Materials, MEMS, and Nano

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Christopher Byrne

Session ____ Delivery of Materials Science to Engineering Freshman Chris Byrne Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green KentuckyAbstract This paper describes the ongoing efforts to teach introductory materials science in acourse offered to first semester mechanical engineering freshman at Western KentuckyUniversity. The WKU mechanical engineering curriculum has other introductory engineeringcourses which students typically take at the same time. One goal of the two courses described inthis paper is to provide exposure to the type of exercises and expectations more

Conference Session

Materials Science for Nonmajors

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Stephen Krause

Origins of Misconceptions in a Materials Concept Inventory From Student Focus Groups Stephen Krause, Amaneh Tasooji and Richard Griffin* Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, E-mail: skrause@asu.edu *Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843, E-mail: rgriffin@mengr.tamu.eduABSTRACTA Materials Concept Inventory (MCI) that measures conceptual change in introductory materialsengineering classes uses student misconceptions as question responses, or “distracters”, in themultiple-choice MCI test. In order to understand the origin of the

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Mechanics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jennifer Stroud Rossmann; Clive Dym

who have not had any of the standard engineering courses in mechanics(i.e., statics, dynamics, or strength of materials). We describe in this paper the course’sdevelopment and its contents, including its many illustrative real-world case studies. We alsoshow how it is uniquely positioned to demonstrate the connections between solid and fluidmechanics, as well as the larger mathematical issues shared by both fields, to students who havenot yet taken courses in fluid mechanics and/or strength of materials. We also discuss our successin introducing continuum mechanics at such an early point in the curriculum, as we detail thecourse’s implementation over eight semesters, its assessment during that time, and the responseof some 300 students who

Conference Session

Materials Science for Nonmajors

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Sarah Leach

circuits, comprise many layers of variousmaterial types. The polymer, ceramic, and metallic materials used to construct andpackage electronic devices are chosen and combined carefully to take advantage of thedistinctive physical and mechanical properties of each material category. During the labsession students dissect and examine devices and electronic packaging systems tounderstand more about the ways materials can be used together to create complexstructures. The lab was designed for lower division students who are not materialsscience majors. Emphasis is placed on understanding the physical and mechanicalproperties involved in material selection, and on understanding how combinations ofmaterial types can be used to satisfy design

Conference Session

Materials Science for Nonmajors

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Bahr; M. Grant Norton

Session 3464 Student Response to a General Education Course on Materials M. Grant Norton, David F. Bahr School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Washington State University Pullman WA 99164-2920AbstractThis paper describes the response that students have had to our general education course onmaterials. The course is now in its fourth year and we have been able to collect data from studentsurveys distributed at the end of each semester. Also included are details of some of theresources that we have found particularly useful in teaching this course.IntroductionTo

Conference Session

Novel Upper-Level Materials Curricula

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Henry; James Bandstra

Session 2164 An Innovative Materials Laboratory Collaboration James P. Bandstra, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Richard J. Henry, Concurrent Technologies CorporationAbstractThe University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown offers a Materials and Manufacturing Laboratorycourse in collaboration with Concurrent Technologies Corporation. This paper describes thecollaboration, the benefits of the collaboration, and the materials laboratory experiences that thecollaboration provides for the Mechanical Engineering Technology students.ObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to provide a description of how

Conference Session

Lab Experiments in Materials Science

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Griffin, Texas A&M University at Qatar

AC 2004-145: USE OF CAMBRIDGE ENGINEERING SELECTOR IN AMATERIALS/MANUFACTURING COURSERichard Griffin, Texas A&M University at Qatar Page 9.1350.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2004 Use of Cambr idge Engineer ing Selector in a Mater ials/Manufactur ing Cour se Dr. Richard B. Griffin, MEEN Dept. 3123 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-3123Abstr act During the 1998-1999 academic year, Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M Universitydecided to combine a materials course that

Conference Session

DEED Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Somnath Chattopadhyay

theseconsiderations, the aspect of materials selection is seldom addressed.GENERAL CURRICULUM ISSUESIt is the opinion of the author that there is a definite need to include the basic elements ofmaterials selection before one embarks on the aspect of strength design of machineelements. This outlook needs to be introduced early on in the design curriculum. A fewbooks address this aspect, notably by Ashby [5] and Farag [6]. At the American Universityin Cairo, the materials selection course is introduced at the senior level but is not tied tothe course on the design of machine elements. However, very few curricula in the UnitedStates have the course on materials selection and if they do, there is no adequate tie-inwith the mechanical design course. For example

Conference Session

Teaching about New Materials

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Craig Johnson; Mary Vollaro

years. These include:‘more than metals’ and ceramics, polymers and electronics materials.Special topics have surfaced over the years. These include ‘Fracture and Failure’, ‘MaterialsDesign and Mechanical Behavior’, ‘Material and Mechanical Engineering’ and an attempt tocreate a session on ‘Life Cycle Analysis’.A last observation is that of ‘modeling and design’ in materials. With the computationalresources available, more interest and activity is occurring in modeling of materials systems. Theresulting ability to design with respect to materials is reflected in more abstract submissions.In summary, our focus on materials science and engineering education is maintained. Creativeexperiments for students at all educational levels, novel teaching

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Yusuf Mehta

Page 9.742.2textbook used in the class is titled, “Material for Civil and Construction Engineers” by MamloukProceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationand Zaneiwski. 1999. This textbook was easy to teach and complimented the teaching style. Itwas also well received by the students. The laboratory procedure at the end of the textbook wasvery helpful in teaching the laboratory.Mechanical Properties and VariabilityIn the first week of the course, the author explained and reviewed various mechanical properties,responses, modes and behavior of civil engineering materials. In addition, the various sources

Conference Session

Creative Ways to Present Basic Materials

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

M.L. Meier

Section 3664 Integrating Spreadsheets into an Introductory Materials Course Mike Meier Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science University of CaliforniaIntroductionWe hardly have to encourage students to use the latest software for many of their courseassignments, personal business, entertainment, and all the other things our computers can do forus these days. It is clear that they are not reluctant to jump in and teach themselves how to usethese new tools. It seems, however, that this may not be the case for less trendy or

Conference Session

Lab Experiments in Materials Science

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Roth; Fredrick Nitterright, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; Robert Weissbach, Pennsylvania State University-Erie

students understand the various factors that may influence these properties. Page 9.270.2 “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education"In most design situations, it is the mechanical properties of a material that drive the designprocess, these properties tend to be the focus of the laboratory experiments. Traditionally, theseproperties are first established through a series of simple tension, compression, shear, impact,and hardness tests. These first laboratories are designed to aid students in

Conference Session

Curriculums in Transition

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

James Vennes; Phillip Smith

rigid assembly.This course builds on that knowledge and extends it to include methods used in large assemblies.A new assembly method is introduced to facilitate motion and animation of mechanismassemblies. In this assembly method, the student must leave certain degrees of freedomunconstrained to allow the desired motion. Servo motors are defined along with motion analysesutilizing these motors in order to model the behavior of the mechanisms. In general, the studentsbecome quite proficient and enjoy this material. These exercises provide vivid feedback onapplication of trigonometric relations and dynamic concepts of position, velocity, andacceleration. We don’t attempt to introduce forces and resulting stresses in the mechanisms atthis point

Conference Session

Innovations in Learning by Doing

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Doanh Van

as Sr. Manager of Energy and Environmental Affairs for Pfizer, Inc. with global corporateresponsibilities. He is both a mechanical and environmental engineer with advanced academic training in both. Hehas over 20 years of industrial experience prior to joining academia (www.uu.edu/dept/engineering).DAVID WARD is Professor of Physics at Union University. Dr. Ward's research training is in computationalstatistical mechanics, but his current main interest is the improvement of physics teaching. He has been teachingphysics for 17 years and is keenly interested in bringing active learning into the classroom.DENISE THEOBALD ROBERTS has a Ph.D. in Engineering Science with Emphasis in Materials Science andEngineering. Her previous research involved

Conference Session

Lab Experiments in Materials Science

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul Tatum; Mannur Sundaresan; Devdas Pai

An Apparatus for Monitoring the Health of Electrical Cables D. M. Pai1, Paul F. Tatum2 and M. J. Sundaresan1 1 Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures 2 Undergraduate Research Assistant, Intelligent Structures and Mechanisms Lab Dept of Mechanical Engineering North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 27411IntroductionAs with most elements of infrastructure, electrical wiring is innocuous; usually hidden away andunnoticed until it fails. Failure of infrastructure, however, sometimes leads to serious health

Conference Session

Entrepreneurism in BME

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Peter Mente; Marian McCord; Elizabeth Loboa; Susan Blanchard

researchprograms in the US that effectively bridge the gap between biology and materials science andengineering, there is a critical need to transfer this knowledge base to a potential work force. This isparticularly challenging for undergraduate programs in biomedical engineering. Students are unlikely todevelop significant expertise in both cellular and molecular biology or materials/mechanical engineeringindependently. Undergraduate course materials that provide opportunities for integration of these twoareas are necessary. NC State Biomedical Engineering faculty with expertise in biomaterials,biomechanics, and tissue engineering are collaborating on design and development of course andlaboratory materials that provide tissue engineering learning

Conference Session

Novel Upper-Level Materials Curricula

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Amy Hsiao

Session 2164 Illustrating Materials Science Concepts Through Research on the Crystallization Kinetics of An Amorphous Soft Magnetic Ribbon Amy C. Hsiao Union CollegeIntroductionThis paper will present the use of research on the crystallization kinetics of Fe88Zr7B4Cu1, a softmagnetic metallic glass produced in ribbon form, to illustrate various fundamental concepts inmaterials science. This integration of research into teaching is part of the syllabus of thesophomore-level materials science course that is required of all mechanical engineering

Conference Session

TIME 8: Materials, MEMS, and Nano

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Mohammad Elahinia

Session 3566 Teaching Smart Materials to Engineering Undergraduate Students: A Problem Solving Approach Mohammad H. Elahinia Mechanical Engineering Department Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA 24061Summary and IntroductionThis paper describes a problem solving approach for teaching the subject of smartmaterials to Mechanical Engineering undergraduate students. An experiment with aShape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuated robotic arm is designed for the seniorundergraduate laboratory (ME4006) in the

Conference Session

Novel Upper-Level Materials Curricula

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Rita Caso; Jeff Froyd; Dimitris Lagoudas

difficult to assess. As the workby Hestenes and Halloun on the Force Concept Inventory has shown, students may pass scienceand engineering courses but still retain alternate conceptions about the topics presented in thecourses. Therefore, substantial interest in concept inventory assessment instruments for manyengineering subjects, e.g., materials, signals and systems, fluid mechanics, has been generatedand numerous projects are underway. Since smart materials are being introduced intoundergraduate engineering curricula, assessing students’ understanding of these smart materialswould be reasonable. Therefore, two new concept inventories, one on shape memory alloys andone on piezoelectric materials, are being developed as part of a Combined Research

Conference Session

Materials Science for Nonmajors

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jamie Workman

Session 3464 Materials Science Course for Non-Majors: An Exercise in Experiential Learning Jamie Workman-Germann Indiana University Purdue University, IndianapolisTeaching Materials Science courses can be difficult. Teaching Materials Science coursesto non-majors can be even more difficult, but teaching Materials Science courses tofreshmen non-majors who have no chemistry or engineering background can beextremely challenging. The students in the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET)program in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI are required totake an

Conference Session

Trends in ME Education Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Donald Heer

collaborate,with sometimes surprising, and always interesting, results.” Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. President, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteDuring the summer of 2003, a new Mechatronic platform, Figure 2, was created to provide a toolfor hands-on teaching of mechanical systems, control theory, strength of materials, and otherfundamentals of Mechanical Engineering. The platform was constructed as a kit consisting of aprinted circuit board, several motors, and other accessories. Flexibility was built into theplatform to allow it to fit many needs of a mechanical engineering program. Figure 2 – Mechatronix Kit