Education & Technology Transfer Activities: 2004

Incorporation of Hands-on Experiments in an Introductory Structural Analysis Course

 

Status

Complete

View Report:

 PDF
 

Sequential Number

ETT160
 

Matching Research Agency

University of Missouri-Rolla, Civil Engineering

 

Principal Investigator

Belarbi, Abdeldjelil
Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering
University of Missouri-Rolla
Room CE323
Rolla, MO 65401

p(573) 341-4478
f(573) 341- 4729

belarbi@mst.edu

 

Student Involvement

1 Master student

 

Project Objective

The primary objective of the laboratory was to give students "hands-on" experiences and build their understanding of structural analysis and their application to civil engineering structures including transportation structures such as bridges.

 

Project Abstract

A new teaching laboratory will be developed for the junior course in structural Analysis. The primary objective of the laboratory was to give students "hands-on" experiences and build their understanding of structural analysis and their application to civil engineering structures including transportation structures such as bridges. The experiments will be designed to foster creative thinking and to make the study of structural analysis more meaningful by incorporating the concept of design, model, test, observe, and discuss. Specific educational objectives of the hands-on experiments are:

  • Acquaint the students with basic experimental techniques, computer modeling, equipment, and methods used in the analysis of structures
  • Provide the students with opportunities to make experimental observations and relate them to theory and computer models, and further discuss the results, draw conclusion and communicate the findings in writing, as well as orally.
  • Introduce the student to experimental research and laboratory modeling of experiments.
 

Anticipated Benefits

Students will enhance their understanding of computer models, use of commercially available software and fundamentals of structural analysis.

 

Modal Orientation

Structural Analysis, Bridge modeling and analysis, loading patterns on bridges

 

Milestones

Project Start Date:09/01/05
Project End Date:08/31/06
 

Relationship to other Research/Projects

N/A

 

Technology Transfer Activities

Several Hands-on Laboratory Experiments and Laboratory Manual

 

Transportation Research Board Keywords

Structural Analysis, Bridge Analysis