An Elective Course On Computational Techniques In Structural Mechanics With A Balance In Theory And Application

With ever increasing readily available computer power, and more sophisticated commercial structural analysis software, it seems that mechanical engineering graduates who plan to do design work will be much better prepared for the workplace if they have a good background in both theory and application of modern computer-based structural analysis techniques. Various universities offer courses which focus on numerical techniques, which may be applied to structural system analysis. Also, many programs offer courses on finite element analysis, which may include application. Many such courses, at the undergraduate level, may not include much background on dynamic system analysis, or on nonlinearities. This paper overviews a new elective course at the University of Kentucky, “Computational Techniques in Mechanical System Analysis”, for both graduate students and upper-level undergraduates, which seeks a balance between theory and application, and focuses on providing the students with a basic understanding of computational methods in static and dynamic structural system analysis, including nonlinear systems. This course includes significant use of commercial software, such as the ANSYS finite element package and MATLAB. Student work includes some programming, primarily using the MATLAB m-file functionality, for analyzing some relatively small systems. For example, students write programs for employing the Newton-Raphson method in large-deflection nonlinear static analysis, and the central difference method in linear dynamic structural analysis. While the students develop familiarity with the numerical methods through writing short programs and applying them to relatively simple systems, they also gain an appreciation for how these techniques can be applied to analyze more complex “real-world” systems through assignments involving the commercial finite element code, ANSYS.