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Integrating Computational and Physical Lab Modules in Materials Science and Engineering

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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

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Materials Division (MATS) Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Materials Division (MATS)

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47648

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Paper Authors

biography

Jonathan R. Brown The Ohio State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-4859-9118

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Jonathan Brown (B.S., M.S. Mathematics, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; Ph.D. Materials Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology) is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University. His background is in computer simulations and theory of polymer glasses and block copolymers for energy applications. He teaches introduction to materials science and engineering and computational materials science courses.

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Elvin Beach The Ohio State University

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Abstract

Computational tools play an ever-expanding role in the careers of practicing engineers. As such, in addition to physical labs, our program requires all undergraduate students to take a two-semester sequence in computational materials science called “modeling and simulation” (or ModSim) focusing on practical programming skills and use of commercial CALPHAD and FEA software. These courses are taught in the spring semesters of the sophomore and junior years and formatted as hands-on computational laboratory courses. Originally, the physical lab and ModSim courses were delivered as separate sequences each loosely tied to what the students were learning in their lecture courses. However, while the application of physical labs to engineering practice is clear, students often did not connect what they were learning in ModSim to their future careers, as the computational labs were often written to reinforce basic MSE concepts or fit the capabilities of the computational software. In response to this, we have written two modules in the lab and ModSim sequences that directly make connections back and forth between the sequences. In the first, students are tasked with designing an aluminum alloy to meet certain strength, conductivity, and ductility requirements both physically in the lab and computationally using CALPHAD software, and in the other, students simulate a Jominy end quench hardenability test using CALPHAD and FEA tools, then physically perform the test on steel samples as part of a lab to identify an unknown alloy. Summaries of these modules and how student perceptions of the course and their learning changed as a result of these modules are presented.

Brown, J. R., & Beach, E. (2024, June), Integrating Computational and Physical Lab Modules in Materials Science and Engineering Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47648

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