The Sagan Research Project for Exploring Statistical Parameters of Typical Mechanical Properties

Xiaobin Le; Richard L. Roberts; Herb Connors; Vitaliy Victorovich Saykin; Mohammed Khalid Alhuwayrini

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Undergraduate Research and a Force and Moment Lab
Tagged Division: Mechanical Engineering
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29010
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/29010
Download Count: 569

Paper Authors

biography

Xiaobin Le P.E. Wentworth Institute of Technology

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Professor, Ph.D, PE., Department of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA 02115, Phone: 617-989-4223, Email: Lex@wit.edu, Specialization in Computer Aided Design, Mechanical Design, Finite Element Analysis, Fatigue Design and Solid Mechanics

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Richard L. Roberts Wentworth Institute of Technology

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Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Technology,
College of Engineering and Technology,
Wentworth Institute of Technology, 550 Huntington Ave.,
Boston, MA 02115

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Abstract

The involvement of undergraduate students in research is very important for engineering education. Research can not only significantly enhance student engagement and enrich student learning experience, but it is also useful as a tool to enhance undergraduate engineering education. However, it is a big challenge for a small teaching institution to do this because most of the faculty don’t have funded research projects, their primary job is teaching a full load. In addition, some frequently raised questions from lectures or labs could be used as research projects for undergraduate students in the teaching institute. Tensile test labs were used for obtaining stress-strain curves in the MECH2500-Mechanics of Materials course to observe material behaviors under tensile load and to obtain some typical mechanical properties of materials, such as Young’s modulus, yield strength, and ultimate strength. Some undergraduate students in mechanical engineering majors frequently asked why the results of the same materials under the same type of equipment and same test procedure were different when they conducted the tensile tests on an Instron universal test machine. In spring 2016, to help the students find answers by themselves, a research project was initiated with heavy student involvement to explore statistical parameters of typical mechanical properties. This team includes 3 faculties from two different departments, one staff from the Strength Test Center and several students. After one-year’s work, 4 sets of test data had been obtained by the student research team and can be used to answer their questions. This paper will describe and present in detail the research activities. In the research, students implemented what they learned in classrooms to the research, designed and manufactured specimens, created test procedures, ran tensile tests, wrote test reports and conducted data analysis. Through the research, students gained hands-on research experience and had a better understanding of the mechanical properties and their statistical descriptions of materials. Some students showed great interest in doing research in future. Through this research, it was shown that some fundamental common questions or topics raised by the students during their courses can be used as undergraduate research projects. Students benefit greatly from such research projects.

Citation
Format

Le, X., & Roberts, R. L., & Connors, H., & Saykin, V. V., & Alhuwayrini, M. K. (2017, June), The Sagan Research Project for Exploring Statistical Parameters of Typical Mechanical Properties Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--29010

TY - CPAPER
AB - The involvement of undergraduate students in research is very important for engineering education. Research can not only significantly enhance student engagement and enrich student learning experience, but it is also useful as a tool to enhance undergraduate engineering education. However, it is a big challenge for a small teaching institution to do this because most of the faculty don’t have funded research projects, their primary job is teaching a full load. In addition, some frequently raised questions from lectures or labs could be used as research projects for undergraduate students in the teaching institute. Tensile test labs were used for obtaining stress-strain curves in the MECH2500-Mechanics of Materials course to observe material behaviors under tensile load and to obtain some typical mechanical properties of materials, such as Young’s modulus, yield strength, and ultimate strength. Some undergraduate students in mechanical engineering majors frequently asked why the results of the same materials under the same type of equipment and same test procedure were different when they conducted the tensile tests on an Instron universal test machine. In spring 2016, to help the students find answers by themselves, a research project was initiated with heavy student involvement to explore statistical parameters of typical mechanical properties. This team includes 3 faculties from two different departments, one staff from the Strength Test Center and several students. After one-year’s work, 4 sets of test data had been obtained by the student research team and can be used to answer their questions. This paper will describe and present in detail the research activities. In the research, students implemented what they learned in classrooms to the research, designed and manufactured specimens, created test procedures, ran tensile tests, wrote test reports and conducted data analysis. Through the research, students gained hands-on research experience and had a better understanding of the mechanical properties and their statistical descriptions of materials. Some students showed great interest in doing research in future. Through this research, it was shown that some fundamental common questions or topics raised by the students during their courses can be used as undergraduate research projects. Students benefit greatly from such research projects.
AU - Xiaobin Le P.E.
AU - Richard L. Roberts
AU - Herb Connors
AU - Vitaliy Victorovich Saykin
AU - Mohammed Khalid Alhuwayrini
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - The Sagan Research Project for Exploring Statistical Parameters of Typical Mechanical Properties
UR - https://peer.asee.org/29010
DO - 10.18260/1-2--29010
ER -