San Antonio, Texas
June 10, 2012
June 10, 2012
June 13, 2012
2153-5965
Materials
9
25.1385.1 - 25.1385.9
10.18260/1-2--22142
https://peer.asee.org/22142
768
Barry Dupen is an Associate Professor of mechanical engineering technology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW). He has nine years’ experience as a metallurgist, materials engineer, and materials laboratory manager in the automotive industry. His primary interests lie in materials engineering, mechanics, and engineering technology education. He is also an experienced contra dance caller.
Undergraduate Design and Modification of a Tensile Testing Fixture for BiomaterialsIn the freshman materials class of a Mechanical Engineering Technology program, students runtensile tests on a 270 kN universal test machine using standard metal specimens having a cross-sectional area of 130 mm2. A Biology professor studying the development of crabs asked theMET program for help with measuring mechanical properties of crab shells. This material is anatural, porous composite. Very small test specimens with a cross-sectional area of 5 mm2 arecut from the crab shells because larger specimens have too much curvature. With expected loadsbelow 75 N, the 270,000 N universal testing machine was not suitable. Instead, a 250 N tabletoptensile tester was purchased. This tester pulls specimens 80 mm long, so it required modificationto test crab shell material. The MET students designed clamps to hold the crab shell securelywithout crushing it, at a predetermined gauge length. The students customized the software toproduce meaningful results. This project was good training for future engineers because it helpedstudents learn to work on an interdisciplinary problem for an external customer (the Biologyprofessor) where the inputs were not all known at the beginning.
Dupen, B. (2012, June), Undergraduate Design and Modification of a Tensile Testing Fixture for Biomaterials Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22142
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