2012-13 Catalog

Structural loads; influence lines for statically determinate beams and trusses; deflection of beams; moment area and conjugate beam theorems; approximate methods of analysis of indeterminate structures; slope deflection and moment distribution techniques. Generalized stiffness and flexibility analyses of indeterminate structures. Design of selected structures in timber, steel, and reinforced concrete providing an introduction to working stress, load and resistance factor, and ultimate strength approaches. In each of the second and third terms a design project will be undertaken involving consideration of initial conception, cost-benefit, and optimization aspects of a constructed facility. Not offered 2012-13.

A survey of topics in hydraulic engineering: open channel and pipe flow, subcritical/critical flow and the hydraulic jump, hydraulic structures (weirs, inlet and outlet works, dams), hydraulic machinery, hydrology, river and flood modeling, solute transport, sediment mechanics, groundwater flow. Not offered 2012-13.

This course will focus on the physics of porous materials (e.g., geomaterials, biological tissue) and their intimate interaction with interstitial fluids (e.g., water, oil, blood). The course will be split into two parts: Part 1 will focus on the continuum mechanics (balance laws) of multi-phase solids, with particular attention to fluid diffusion-solid deformation coupling. Part 2 will introduce the concept of effective stresses and state of the art rheology available in modeling the constitutive response of representative porous materials. Emphasis will be placed on poro-elasticity and poro-plasticity. Not offered 2012-13.

Introduction and fabrication technology, elastic deformation of composites, stiffness bounds, on- and off-axis elastic constants for a lamina, elastic deformation of multidirectional laminates (lamination theory, ABD matrix), effective hygrothermal properties, mechanisms of yield and failure for a laminate, strength of a single ply, failure models, splitting and delamination. Experimental methods for characterization and testing of composite materials. Design criteria, application of design methods to select a suitable laminate using composite design software, hand layup of a simple laminate and measurement of its stiffness and thermoelastic coefficients. Not offered 2012-13.

Laboratory work involving calibration and performance of basic transducers suitable for the measurement of strong earthquake ground motion, and of structural response to such motion. Study of principal methods of dynamic tests of structures, including generation of forces and measurement of structural response. Not offered 2012-13.

Characteristics of potentially destructive earthquakes from the engineering point of view. Theory of seismometers, seismic waves in a continuum, plane waves in layered media, surface waves, basin waves, site effects, dynamic deformation of buildings, seismic sources, earthquake size scaling, earthquake hazard calculations, rupture dynamics. Not offered 2012-13.

Introduction to the use of numerical methods in the solution of solid mechanics and materials problems. First term: geometrical representation of solids. Automatic meshing. Approximation theory. Interpolation error estimation. Optimal and adaptive meshing. Second term: variational principles in linear elasticity. Finite element analysis. Error estimation. Convergence. Singularities. Adaptive strategies. Constrained problems. Mixed methods. Stability and convergence. Variational problems in nonlinear elasticity. Consistent linearization. The Newton-Rahpson method. Bifurcation analysis. Adaptive strategies in nonlinear elasticity. Constrained finite deformation problems. Contact and friction. Third term: time integration. Algorithm analysis. Accuracy, stability, and convergence. Operator splitting and product formulas. Coupled problems. Impact and friction. Subcycling. Space-time methods. Inelastic solids. Constitutive updates. Stability and convergence. Consistent linearization. Applications to finite deformation viscoplasticity, viscoelasticity, and Lagrangian modeling of fluid flows. Not offered 2012-13.