Continuum mechanics in a restructured engineering undergraduate curriculum
- Autores: D.C. Lagoudas, J. D. Whitcomb, D. A. Miller, M. Z. Lagoudas, Kristi J. Shryock
- Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 16, no. 4, 2000, págs. 301-314
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
The framework of the revised undergraduate engineering curriculum at Texas A&M Universityconsists of the basic conservation principles and their application to engineering science. Theconservation principles are presented in a way consistent with the Kolb learning cycle and an activeapproach to teaching. Utilizing these principles, a unified pedagogical process is developed, whichcan be applied to cover topics traditionally taught under statics, dynamics, fluid mechanics,thermodynamics, heat transfer, solid mechanics, materials science and electrical circuits. Using thisinstructional framework, the students can analytically solve simple engineering problems, whilethey learn how to formulate complex problems at early stages of their undergraduate education.Since their technical ability to analyze such complex problems is limited during their second or eventhird year of the undergraduate curriculum, the utilization of computer software enables them tonumerically solve advanced problems in the above engineering topics. In particular, the use of thefinite-element method as an enhancement tool to solve solid mechanics and heat transfer problemsin a sophomore year course on continuum mechanics and more advanced problems in stress analysisin a junior level course on solid mechanics is discussed in this paper. Students use computer softwareto formulate and solve boundary value problems in a variety of structures, to verify analyticalsolutions for simple structural problems, and finally to test the various assumptions that permitapproximate analyses in solid mechanics.
