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Integrating a Design Project to Bridge Experiment for Statics learning in General Engineering Education

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

June 26, 2024

Conference Session

Joint Session: Experimentation and Laboratory-Oriented Studies Division and Civil Engineering Division

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL) and Experimentation and Laboratory-Oriented Studies Division (DELOS)

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--47641

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47641

Download Count

50

Paper Authors

biography

Yingxiao Song Muskingum University

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Assistant Professor in Physics and Engineering Department of Muskingum University

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Abstract

Engineering Statics is one of the fundamental classes for nearly all engineering students, who usually take this class at an early stage in their career development. It is crucial to add hands-on experiments to this course not only to better understand the mechanics concepts and theories, but also to help them become active learners. The bridge experiment is a classical Lab class for learning engineering statics using truss analysis. Commercial bridge modeling kits are typically used in this experiment. However assembling and recording data is inefficient in motivating students to learn the concepts of static equilibrium and truss analysis. This paper presents a design project incorporating a conventional bridge experiment using the Pasco Bridge set ME-6991. In addition to recording the tension/compression values of the truss members, the students were asked to optimize the member dimensions and produce them using 3D printing, replace the optimized truss members, and record the performance. The design and manufacturing processes enhance the learning of truss analysis. The integration of this design project, the assessment method, the background of the students, and student feedback are presented in this paper.

Song, Y. (2024, June), Integrating a Design Project to Bridge Experiment for Statics learning in General Engineering Education Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47641

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