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Work in Progress: Sustained Implementation of FEA in an Undergraduate Solid Mechanics Curriculum

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

We Love our MOMs (Mechanics of Materials)

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41677

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/41677

Download Count

268

Paper Authors

biography

Reihaneh Jamshidi University of Hartford

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Reihaneh Jamshidi is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hartford. She has received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2018. Her primary research interests are the development and analysis of soft materials, and structure-property relation in soft materials.

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Abstract

While modeling and simulations are taught in upper-level and elective courses, a typical engineering undergraduate curriculum does not contain consistent integration of simulations. In a previous study, the authors have advocated for early exposure of mechanical engineering students to FEA in a sophomore-level solid mechanics course to improve students’ understanding of the subject matter. This study reports on the continued implementation of FEA in a junior-level Machine Design class to leverage the full potential of available advanced tools throughout the undergraduate curriculum. Simulations can be particularly useful where a physical lab does not accompany a theoretical course, as is the case for Machine Design in the authors’ institution. This is a valuable opportunity for students to build career preparation skills, specifically, since FEA is commonly used in industry for machine element design to understand the interplay between machine elements and how to implement them in complex systems. The simulation project of this study is assigned to students after the theoretical concept and practice problems have been covered on the deflection topic. Students will then perform model setup and analysis of deflection simulations. Later in the semester, when failure criteria for static loading for ductile and brittle materials are covered, students are asked to discuss their simulation results with respect to an accepted failure theory for the selected material. This facilitates the development of students’ critical thinking skills by making connections between theory and simulation, and illustrates some of the fundamental mechanics principles and concepts.

Jamshidi, R. (2022, August), Work in Progress: Sustained Implementation of FEA in an Undergraduate Solid Mechanics Curriculum Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41677

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