Modeling In A Composite Beam Design Lab

This research explores the use of computer modeling in an undergraduate materials course laboratory exercise. Modeling a beam can enhance learning beyond the traditional beam construction, hand analysis and test evaluation scenario. In our Composites courses MET382 (Plastics) and MET483 (Ceramics), there is a laboratory exercise in which wood core and fiberglass beams are designed and built. A traditional approach is followed; the beams are designed, their stiffness is predicted, and they are mechanically tested for stiffness. A number of parameters are discussed and used, such as geometry and volume fraction. However, the effect and importance of these parameters on mechanical behavior can be hard to grasp. Hand analysis is cumbersome, and may not be friendly to relational analysis. Modeling can address these issues by allowing the student to readily change material and dimensional parameters to observe their consequences on mechanical behavior. This approach has been successfully used in other MET Program courses such Mechanics of Materials and Technical Dynamics. Examples include the effect of length on the moment of a cantilever beam and the effect of various beam shapes on mechanical behavior. This study focuses on the use of spreadsheets and more capable modeling programs, such as MDSolids, to support analyses in a specific laboratory exercise entitled: ‘Composite Beam Design’.