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Course Descriptions

Mechanics and Materials

The mechanics and materials course offerings perform three major functions. First, and most importantly, they are interdisciplinary vehicles for staff and students who study and conduct research in those increasingly important areas requiring a blending of mechanics and materials. Second, they provide the support base for graduate students to pursue studies in the traditional areas of either applied mechanics or materials science. Third, they provide a coordinated set of service courses for the engineering departments. Interested students should contact the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

(MEMA)

601. Theory of Elasticity. (3-0). Credit 3.

Analysis of stress and strain in two and three dimensions, equilibrium and compatibility equations, strain energy methods; torsion of noncircular sections; flexure; axially symmetric problems. Prerequisite: MATH 601 or registration therein.

602. Continuum Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Development of field equations for analysis of continua (solids as well as fluids); conservation laws; kinematics, constitutive behavior of solids and fluids; applications to aerospace engineering problems involving solids and fluids. Prerequisite: Graduate classification. Cross-listed with AERO 603.

604. Mathematical Foundations of Continuum Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Mathematical description of continuum mechanics principles, including: tensor analysis, generalized description of kinematics and motion, conservation laws for mass and momentum; invariance and symmetry principles; application to generalized formulation of constitutive expressions for various fluids and solids. Prerequisites: MATH 410; MATH 451 or equivalent. Cross-listed with MATH 604.

605. Energy Methods. (3-0). Credit 3.

Principles of virtual work, minimum total potential energy and extremum mixed variational principles; energy theorems of structural mechanics; Hamilton’s principle for dynamical systems; Rayleigh-Ritz Galerkin, and weighted-residual methods; applications to linear and nonlinear problems in mechanics (bars, beams, frames, plates and general boundary value problems). Prerequisite: MATH 601 or registration therein.

607. Flow and Fracture of Polymeric Solids. (3-0). Credit 3.

Relationship of molecular structure to flow and fracture in polymeric materials; introduction to viscoelastic fracture mechanics; micromechanisms of fracture including crazing; fatigue behavior of polymeric materials.

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

Structure and properties of solid materials. Prerequisites: Graduate classification and approval of instructor.

610. Applied Polymer Science. (3-0). Credit 3.

Macromolecular concepts, molecular weight, tacticity, theory of solutions, rubber elasticity, thermal transitions, rheology, crystallinity, heterogeneous systems and relation of mechanical and physical characteristics to chemical structure; applications to polymer blends, thermosetting resins, structural adhesives and composites; design and processing of fibrous composites. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

611. Fundamentals of Engineering Fracture Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Understanding of the failure of structures containing cracks with emphasis on mechanics; linear elastic fracture mechanics, complex potentials of Muskhelishvili and Westergaard, J-integral, energy release rate, R-curve analysis, crack opening displacement, plane strain fracture toughness testing, fatigue crack propagation, fracture criteria, fracture of composite materials. Prerequisite: MEMA 601 or AERO 603.

612. Wave Propagation in Isotropic and Anisotropic Solids. (3-0). Credit 3.

Mathematical and experimental methods of studying stress waves with emphasis on anisotropic solids, e.g., fiber-reinforced composite materials; waves in an unbounded medium, in a half-space, in rods; waves in a general anisotropic medium; wave surface, slowness surface, velocity surface, energy velocity and group velocity. Prerequisite: MEMA 601 or AERO 603.

613. Principles of Composite Materials. (3-0). Credit 3.

Classification and characteristics of composite materials; micromechanical and macromechanical behavior of composite laminae; macromechanical behavior of laminates using classical laminate theory; interlaminar stresses and failure modes; structural design concepts, testing and manufacturing techniques. Prerequisite: MEMA 601 or 602.

614. Physical Phenomena in Materials. (3-0). Credit 3.

Physical principles governing behavior in materials; emphasis on crystalline materials, particularly in metals; includes crystal structures, vacancies, solid diagrams, diffusion and transformations. Prerequisite: MEEN 340 or equivalent.

616. Damage and Failure in Composite Materials. (3-0). Credit 3.

Mechanisms and models related to damage and failure in composite materials subjected to mechanical loads. Prerequisite: Courses in composite materials, elasticity. Cross-listed with MEMA 616.

625. Micromechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Eigenstrains; inclusions, and inhomogeneities; Eshelby’s solution for an ellipsoidal inclusion; Eshelby’s equivalent inclusion method. Effective elastic properties of composites; composite spheres and cylinders models; bounds on effective moduli; Hashin-Shtrikman bounds; applications to fiber, whisker and particulate reinforced composites; introduction to micromechanics of inelastic composites and solids with damage. Prerequisite: MEMA 601 or 602.

626. Mechanics of Active Materials. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to coupled field theories: constitutive response of materials with thermal and electromagnetic coupling; microstructural changes due to phase transformations; shape memory alloys; piezoelectric and magnetostrictive materials; active polymers and solutions. Micromechanics of active composites. Prerequisite: MEMA 601 or 602.

633. Theory of Plates and Shells. (3-0). Credit 3.

Theoretical formulations of thin and thick plates (classical and shear deformation theories); analytical solutions of plates and various shapes and support conditions, bending, vibration and stability of plates; numerical solutions using the energy methods and the finite element method; theory and analysis of cylindrical shells. Prerequisite: MEMA 601, 602 or 605.

635. Structural Analysis of Composites. (3-0). Credit 3.

Formulation and analysis structural response of laminated composite components; bending, vibration and stability of laminated composite plates; interlaminar stresses, effect of shear deformation on structural response; numerical modeling of laminated plates. Prerequisite: MEMA 613.

641. Plasticity Theory. (3-0). Credit 3.

Theory of plastic yield and flow of two and three-dimensional bodies; classical plasticity theories, unified viscoplastic theories, numerical considerations; applications and comparisons of theory to experiment. Prerequisite: MEMA 601 or 602.

646. Introduction to the Finite Element Method. (3-0). Credit 3.

Weak or variational formulation of differential equations governing one- and two-dimensional problems of engineering; finite element model development and analysis of standard problems of solid mechanics (bars, beams and plane elasticity), heat transfer and fluidmechanics; time-dependent problems; computer implementation and use of simple finite element codes in solving engineering problems. Prerequisite: Senior or graduate classification.

647. Theory of Finite Element Analysis. (3-0). Credit 3.

Finite elements models of a continuum; virtual work principle; plane stress and plane strain finite element models; bending of plates; axisymmetric problems; three-dimensional stress analysis; isoparametric formulations; finite element computer programs to solve typical structural problems. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.

648. Nonlinear Finite Element Methods in Structural Mechanics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Tensor definitions of stress and strain, finite strain, geometric and material nonlinearities; development of nonlinear finite element equations from virtual work; total and updated Lagrangian formulations; solution methods for nonlinear equations; computational considerations; applications using existing computer programs. Prerequisite: MEMA 647 or equivalent.

651. Viscoelasticity of Solids and Structures I. (3-0). Credit 3.

Linear, viscoelastic mechanical property characterization methods, time-temperature equivalence, multiaxial stress-strain equations; viscoelastic stress analysis: the correspondence principle, approximate methods of analysis and Laplace transform inversion, special methods; static and dynamic engineering applications; nonlinear behavior. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

Selected topics in an identified area of mechanics and materials. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.