Students’ Struggles to Explain the Atomic Behavior of Metals in a Tensile Test Lab Supported by a Molecular Dynamics Simulation | Zendy

Heidi DiefesDux | Zendy; Aisling Y. Coughlan | Zendy; David Johnson | Zendy; Kerrie Douglas | Zendy; Tanya Faltens | Zendy

Open Access

Students’ Struggles to Explain the Atomic Behavior of Metals in a Tensile Test Lab Supported by a Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Author(s) -

Heidi DiefesDux,

Aisling Y. Coughlan,

David Johnson,

Kerrie Douglas,

Tanya Faltens

Publication year - 2015

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Conference proceedings

DOI - 10.18260/p.24774

Subject(s) - ultimate tensile strength , tensile testing , nanoscopic scale , materials science , test (biology) , molecular dynamics , slip (aerodynamics) , animation , nanotechnology , mechanical engineering , composite material , computer science , engineering , chemistry , computer graphics (images) , geology , aerospace engineering , paleontology , computational chemistry

This pilot study was designed to explore students’ misconceptions concerning the atomic mechanisms of plastic deformation within the context of a laboratory exercise. Sophomore materials engineering students performed, analyzed, and compared results from both a traditional tensile test of metals and a molecular dynamics simulation tensile test of a nanowire. The latter was performed using the Nano-Materials Simulation Toolkit on nanoHUB.org. Students’ responses to in-lab worksheet questions, their written lab reports, and their responses to a related exam question were qualitatively analyzed. Recommendations are made for better integration of the simulation and traditional tensile test components of the lab.

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