Course Descriptions

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Professors R. M. Alexander, N. K. Anand, M.J. Andrews, K. Annamalai, R. M. Bowen, J.A. Caton, D.W. Childs, D.E. Claridge, J.C. Han, K.T. Hartwig, Y. A. Hassan, J. D. Humphrey, S. Jayasuriya, R. Langari, S.C. Lau, A.R. McFarland, G.L. Morrison, O. O. Ochoa, D.L. O'Neal (Head), A.B. Palazzolo, A. G. Parlos, K. R. Rajagopal, J. N. Reddy, H. H. Richardson, L.A. San Andres, T.M. Schobeiri, H.- J. Sue, W.D. Turner, J.M. Vance; Associate Professors A. Beskok, T. S. Creasy, R.B. Griffin, W.M. Heffington, H. A. Hogan, S. Hsieh, N. P. Hung, I. Karaman, D. Kim, T.R. Lalk, H. Liang, M. McDermott, A. R. Srinivasa, K. Subbarao, C. Suh, D. V. Swaroop; Assistant Professors D. Banerjee, J. C. Criscione, X. Gao, J. Grunlan, B. Guo, W. Kim, O. Ley, A. Muliana, B. Rasmussen, J. Wang, X. Zhang; Lecturers C. A. Bollfrass, G. Karunaratne

Mechanical Engineering
(MEEN)

221. Statics and Particle Dynamics. (2-2). Credit 3.

Application of the fundamental principles of Newtonian mechanics to the statics and dynamics of particles; equilibrium of trusses, frames, beams and other rigid bodies. Prerequisites: Admission to upper division in an engineering major; MATH 251 or 253 or registration therein; PHYS 218.

222. Materials Science. (3-0). Credit 3.

Mechanical, optical, thermal, magentic and electrical properties of solids; differences in properties of metals, polymers, ceramics and composite materials in terms of bonding and crystal structure. Prerequistes: CHEM 102, or 104 and 114, or CHEM 107; PHYS 218.

227. Principles of Themodynamics. (2-2). Credit 3.

Theory and application of energy methods in engineering; conservation of mass and energy; energy transfer by heat, work and mass; thermodynamic properties; analysis of open and closed systems; the second law of thermodynamics and entropy; gas, vapor and refrigeration cycles. Prerequisites: MEEN 221; MATH 251 or 253.

260. Mechanical Measurements. (1-3). Credit 2.

Introduction to the basic principles of engineering experimentation including: instrumentation and measurement techniques, data acquisition, analysis and interpretation and reporting of results. Prerequisites: MEEN 221 and 222; MEEN 227, ELEN 215 and MATH 308 or registration therein.

289. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4.

Selected topics in an identified area of mechanical engineering. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

333. Project Management for Engineers. (3-0). Credit 3.

Basic project management for engineering undergraduates; project development and economic justification; estimating; scheduling; network methods; critical path analysis; earned value management; recycling and rework; project organizational structures; project risk assessment; resource allocation; ethics; characteristics of project managers. Prerequisite: Junior or senior classification in Dwight Look College of Engineering. Cross-listed with CVEN 333 and INEN 333.

344. Fluid Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3. I, II

Application of laws of statics, buoyancy, stability, energy and momentum to behavior of ideal and real fluids; dimensional analysis and similitude and their application to flow through ducts and piping; lift and drag and related problems. Prerequisites: MEEN 221 and MEEN 227.

345. Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. (0-3). Credit 1. I, II

Introduction to basic fluid mechanics instrumentation; experimental verification and reinforcement of the analytical concepts introduced in MEEN 344. Prerequisites: MEEN 260; MEEN 344 or registration therein.

357. Engineering Analysis for Mechanical Engineers. (3-0). Credit 3. I, II

Practical foundation for the use of numerical methods to solve engineering problems: Introduction to Matlab, error estimation, Taylor series, solution of non-linear algebraic equations and linear simultaneous equations; numerical integration and differentiation; initial value and boundary value problems; finite difference methods for parabolic and elliptic partial differential equations. Prerequisites: ENGR 112 and MATH 308.

360. Materials and Manufacturing Selection in Design. (3-3). Credit 4.

Selection of materials and manufacturing processes in design; emphasis on mechanical properties of materials; production and control of microstructures; manufacturing processes for producing a variety of shapes for different components and structures; use of design methodology. Prerequisites: MEEN 260; CVEN 305; MEEN 222.

363. Dynamics and Vibrations. (2-2). Credit 3.

Application of Newtonian and energy methods to model dynamic systems (particles and rigid bodies) with ordinary differential equations; solution of models using analytical and numerical approaches; interpreting solutions; linear vibrations. Prerequisites: MEEN 357 or CVEN 302 or registration therein; MEEN 221; MATH 308.

364. Dynamic Systems and Controls. (2-3). Credit 3.

Mathematical modeling, analysis, measurement and control of dynamic systems; extensions of modeling techniques of MEEN 363 to other types of dynamic systems; introduction to feedback control, time and frequency domain analysis of control systems, stability, PID control, root locus; design and implementation of computer-based controllers in the lab. Prerequisites: MEEN 260 and 363; ELEN 215.

368. Solid Mechanics in Mechanical Design. (2-2). Credit 3.

Stress analysis of deformable bodies and mechanical elements; stress transformation; combined loading; failure modes; material failure theories; fracture and fatigue; deflections and instabilities; thick cylinders; curved beams; design of structural/mechanical members; design processes. Prerequisites: CVEN 305; MEEN 357 and 360 or registration therein; junior or senior classification.

381. Seminar. (0-2). Credit 1. I, II

Presentations by practicing engineers and faculty addressing: effective communications, engineering practices, professional registration, ethics, career-long competence, contemporary issues, impact of technology on society and being informed; students prepare a resume, a lifelong learning plan, two papers, two oral presentations and complete an online assessment of the mechanical engineering program. Prerequisite: Upper-level classification in mechanical engineering.

401. Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design. (2-3). Credit 3.

The design innovation process; need definition, functional analysis, performance requirements and evaluation criteria, conceptual design evaluation, down-selected to an embodiment; introduction to systems and concurrent engineering; parametric and risk analysis, failure mode analysis, material selection, and manufacturability; cost and life cycle issues, project management. Prerequisites: MEEN 360, 364, 368, 461.

402. Intermediate Design. (1-3). Credit 2.

Product detail design and development process including case studies; project management, marketing considerations, manufacturing, detailed design specifications; failure modes, application of codes and standards, selection of design margins; product (component) development guidelines; intellectual property, product liability and ethical responsibility. Prerequisites: MEEN 401; junior or senior classification.

404. Engineering Laboratory. (1-3). Credit 2. I, II

Systematic design of experimental investigations; student teams identify topics and develop experiment designs including: establishing the need; functional decomposition; requirements; conducting the experiment; analyzing and interpreting the results and written and oral reports documenting the objectives, procedure, analysis, and results and conclusion of two or three experiments. Prerequisites: MEEN 260, 360, 364, 461; MEEN 401 or registration therein; junior or senior classification.

408. Introduction to Robotics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Forward and inverse kinematics of robot manipulators, path planning, motion planning for mobile robots, dynamics of robot manipulators, control algorithms; computed torque algorithm, adaptive control algorithms and current topics in mobile robots; cooperative motion planning of mobile robots and formation control. Prerequisite: MEEN 364 or equivalent; junior or senior classification.

410. Internal Combustion Engines. (3-0). Credit 3.

Thermodynamics of cycles for internal combustion engines and gas turbines, including fuels and combustion; performance characteristics of various types of engines. Prerequisite: MEEN 344 or equivalent or approval of instructor.

411. Mechanical Controls. (3-0). Credit 3.

Application of classical and modern control theory techniques to modeling, analysis and synthesis of linear, mechanical control systems. Prerequisite: MEEN 364.

414. Principles of Turbomachinery. (3-0). Credit 3.

Aero-thermodynamic and mechanical design of turbomachinery components including steam and gas turbine stages, compressor stages, and inlet and exhaust systems, and their integration into power and thrust generation units; design and off-design behaviors of turbine and compressor stages and units; design with SolidWorks. Prerequisites: MEEN 421 or approval of instructor; junior or senior classification.

421. Thermal-Fluids Analysis and Design. (3-0). Credit 3.

Integration of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer through application to the design of various thermal systems comprised of several components requiring individual analyses; analysis of the entire system; representative applications of thermal-fluids analysis with a design approach. Prerequisites: MEEN 461; MEEN 227; junior or senior classification.

431. Advanced System Dynamics and Controls. (3-0). Credit 3.

Unified framework for modeling, analysis, synthesis, design and simulation of mechanical systems with energy exchange across multiple domains; study of mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and thermal subsystems; Newtonian mechanics, rigid body dynamics, multiple degrees of freedom vibrations and control system design. Prerequisites: MEEN 364; junior or senior classification.

432. Automotive Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to vehicle dynamics; application of engineering mechanics principles to analysis of acceleration and braking, cornering and handling; analysis and design of drive train, suspension, brakes, and tires to achieve desired performance. Prerequisite: MEEN 363.

433. Mechatronics. (2-3). Credit 3.

Basic principles of digital logic and analog circuits in mechanical systems; electrical-mechanical interfacing; sensors and actuators; digital control implementation; precision design and system integration. Prerequisite: MEEN 364 or equivalent.

436. Principles of Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning. (3-0). Credit 3.

Application of thermodynamics fluid mechanics, and heat transfer to the design of HVAC equipment; selection of equipment, piping and duct layouts. Prerequisite: MEEN 461 or equivalent.

437. Principles of Building Energy Analysis. (3-0). Credit 3.

Analysis of building energy use by applying thermodynamics and heat transfer to building heating and cooling load calculations; heat balance and radiant time series calculation methods; psychrometric analysis, indoor air quality, effect of solar radiation on heating and cooling of buildings. Required design project. Prerequisites: MEEN 227 or equivalent; junior or senior classification.

441. Design of Mechanical Components and Systems. (3-0). Credit 3.

Design of machine elements, characteristics of prime movers, loads and power transmission elements as related to mechanical engineering design. Prerequisite: Junior classification in mechanical engineering.

442. Computer Aided Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3.

Effective and efficient use of modern computer hardware and software in modeling, design, and manufacturing; simulation of a broad spectrum of mechanical engineering problems. Prerequisites: MEEN 363 and 368.

444. Finite Element Analysis in Mechanical Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to basic theory and techniques; one- and two-dimensional formulations for solid mechanics applications; direct and general approaches; broader aspects for field problems; element equations, assembly and solution schemes; computer implementation, programming and projects; error sources and application consideration. Prerequisites: MEEN 357 and 368 or equivalents.

448. Fundamentals of Nondestructive Testing. (3-0). Credit 3.

Physical principles of magnetics, wave propagation and reflection, radiography, penetrants and eddy currents as they apply to nondestructive testing; new NDT techniques, origin of defects, types of failure, material anisotropy, NDT and design. Prerequisite: MEEN 360.

455. Engineering with Plastics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Polymer structure, processing, property characterization at the molecular, microscopic and macroscopic dimensional levels for thermosets, thermoplastics, elastomers, fibers and advanced fibrous nonparticle filled composites and smart multi-performance structures. Prerequisite: MEEN 222 or approval of instructor.

458. Processing and Characterization of Polymers. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction of flow behavior in polymers; structure-property-process relationship; mixing rules for polymer blends; mechanical properties; laboratory demonstrations: injection molding, extrusion, melt mixing, and study of morphology using OM, SEM, and TEM. Prerequisite: MEEN 222.

459. Mechanical Vibrations. (3-0). Credit 3.

Basic theory of vibrating systems with single and multiple degrees of freedom and principles of transmission and isolation of vibrations, vibration measurement and application for machinery health monitoring. Prerequisites: MEEN 363; MATH 308.

460. Corrosion Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3.

Aqueous corrosion phenomena of the mixed potential theory; corrosion testing, measuring and control; case studies. Prerequisite: MEEN 360 or equivalent.

461. Heat Transfer. (3-0). Credit 3. I, II

Heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation: steady and transient conduction, forced and natural convection, and blackbody and gray body radiation; multi-mode heat transfer; boiling and condensation; heat exchangers. Prerequisites: MEEN 344; MATH 308.

464. Heat Transfer Laboratory. (0-3). Credit 1.

Basic measurement techniques in conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer; experimental verification of theoretical and semi-empirical results; uncertainty analysis. Prerequisites: MEEN 461 or registration therein.

467. Mechanical Behavior of Materials. (3-0). Credit 3.

Fundamentals of flow and fracture in metals, emphasizing safe design by anticipating response of materials to complex stress and environmental service conditions; micromechanisms of flow, fatigue, creep and fracture; fracture mechanics approach to design. Special emphasis given to microstructure-mechanical property relationship and damage tolerant design. Prerequisite: MEEN 360.

471. Elements of Composite Materials. (3-0). Credit 3.

Fundamentals concerned with relating structure of multiphase materials to physical properties; plastic, metallic and ceramic matrices reinforced with continuous and discontinuous fibers, whiskers and particulates. Prerequisites: MEEN 368 and 360 or approval of instructor.

472. Gas Dynamics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Fundamental analysis of compressible flows and its application to supersonic airfoils/projectiles, jet and rocket nozzles, normal and oblique shock waves, explosion waves, shock tubes, supersonic wind tunnels, and compressible pipe flows. Prerequisite: MEEN 344.

475. Materials in Design. (3-0). Credit 3.

The heuristics of synthesis of material properties, configuration and processing in the optimization of material selection in the design process; product design and development overview, failure mode effects analysis, design margin establishment; role of the generic failure modes and codes and standards; fundamental characteristics of process methods. Prerequisites: MEEN 360; CVEN 305.

476. Nanoscale Issues in Manufacturing. (3-0). Credit 3.

Fundamentals of manufacturing techniques at the nanoscale and larger length scales; design approaches and issues; direct fabrication of nanostructures; nanomanufacturing as a building block to larger objects; fabrication of composites and devices utilizing nanoscale components. Prerequisites: MEEN 222 or approval of instructor; junior or senior classification.

477. Air Pollution Engineering. (3-0). Credit 3.

Design of air pollution abatement equipment and systems to include cyclones, bag filters, and scrubbers; air pollution regulations; permitting; dispersion modeling; National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Prerequisite: ENGR 214 or equivalent. Cross-listed with BAEN 477 and SENG 477.

485. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 6. I, II, S

Special problems relating to a specific project in some phase of mechanical engineering. A commitment of two semesters with 6 hours 485 credit is required. Prerequisites: Approval of department head and senior classification.

489. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4. I, II, S

Selected topics in an identified area of mechanical engineering. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

(See Mechanics and Materials for the mechanical engineering course in applied mechanics.)