A course project in plasticity course: experiments vs simulations

Author: RaminBabaei

Created: 2019-09-23 06:39pm

Edited: 2019-12-09 05:53am

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, Small Classroom Teaching, Theory versus experiments, computational thinking, numerical methods

Derived from: Learning design in Numerical Methods

Description:

Context

The course “Plasticity: theory and modeling” has been offered this semester for the second time as an elective master degree course which is designed for 3rd semester mechanical engineering master students at the Engineering Department (around 10 students). The course focuses on the subject of materials behaviour in nonlinear plastic regime. The purpose is to strengthen the students’ understanding of the physical origins of materials nonlinearity and various mathematical models to describe plasticity behaviour.

Learning activity

This learning design is a transformation of previous excersise to enable students making a direct connection between course materials and real-world engineering problems. I asked a local company this year to provide me a challenging problem related to the subject of the course which they currently working on. Then I modified the problem to make it feasible for the students. In this project, students are divided in group of two and I provide each group a specimen but without telling them which material is it made from.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

Perform laboratory experiments and material characterization tests
Apply appropriate theoretical models to describe different nonlinear material behaviour
Be able to apply correct numerical boundary conditions corresponding to experimental setup and to perform Finite Element computer simulations
Prepare a scientific report and presentation based on their results

Resources		Tasks		Supports
Out-of-class activities (preparation phase)
Detailed project Description Series of web tutorials Online virtual experiments platforms	→	Read the project description Watch online tutorials Conduct a virtual tensile experiment ↓	←	N/A
Lab Experiments (experiment phase)
Laboratory facilities	→	Perform laboratory experiments and collect data (+upload data on blackboard) ↓	←	Instructor prepared necessary sample and materials for the test. A lab technician help students to run their experiments (provide feed back on data if necessary)
Lectures and in-class activities (knowledge development phase)
Lecture notes/slides Text books on 1D Plasticity theories and modeling	→	Go through lecture notes/slides Do in-class theoretical and programming exercises ↓	←	Provide feed back to students during exercise session
Out-of-class activities (theoretical and programming phase)
Programming tutorials Step-by-step procedure for developing 1D plasticity code	→	Develop a computer code Analyze the exp. data in the code Prepare and upload a project report ↓	←	A teacher assistant helps students in programming if necessary
Out-of-class activities (self assessment and peer feedback phase)
A short documents listing source of error and mistakes in the project	→	Assess the results of another group Comment on any disagreements	←	Instructor provides feed back on the students' report in case of any mistake