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Integration of Materials Science into an Industrially-Sponsored Engineering Design Course

D. M. Pai, G. J. Filatovs and J. Sankar NSF Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures Department of Mechanical Engineering NC A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411

Abstract

An industrially-sponsored aluminum product design elective course offered over the past six years has dealt with a range of design projects principally chosen from the transportation and structural field. Engineers from industry present the problem and a panel of engineers reviews the end-of- semester oral and written reports. As with many mechanical engineering component design courses, this course tended to primarily emphasize the stress analysis portion of the design process. However, feedback from the sponsors over the years has made it clear that material selection, behavior and a good understanding of manufacturing processes and economics deserves enhanced coverage in such projects. In courses with limited materials science content, it is impossible to cover all the detail and background information really needed. Because the structure-property correlation in materials is a centerpiece in materials science, the authors have utilized it as a bridge between courses that have borderline materials content and truly materials- centric courses. An instantiation of this bridging effort is presented in this paper in the description of a shared project between a graduate-level materials characterization course and the aluminum product design course referred to above. Test specimens from the aluminum course were analyzed by the characterization class and the interaction provided the aluminum class students with specific structural detail and a basis for the micro-level mechanisms which originate the continuum properties required for mechanical design.

Introduction

Design, be it design of structures, manufacturing processes, or software, is becoming a function that involves more than technology/engineering [1]. Designers who decide upon and outline the main features of products and processes need to extend their talents/skills beyond the technology aspects of a business enterprise. The education and training of ‘designers’ must prepare them for commercial as well as technical aspects of the design processes of the 21st century.

The 21st century design engineer will not only account for the performance and manufacturing aspects of the product, but also attempt to optimize the product to accommodate operational and commercial aspects of the business enterprise such as: capacity/profitability tradeoffs in using existing facilities/processes, the methods and mechanics of product delivery/distribution, customer specific attribute preferences, etc.

The authors and their collaborators at the industrial sponsor (Alcoa Technical Center) have been working to shape the education process for engineering design students by collaborating in the offering of a course on aluminum design. This is in concert with the mechanical engineering

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Sankar, J., & Filatovs, J., & Pai, D. (2002, June), Integration Of Materials Science Into An Industrially Sponsored Engineering Design Course Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10308