Unit information: Mechanics of Composite Materials: Experimental and Numerical Approaches in 2018/19

Unit name	Mechanics of Composite Materials: Experimental and Numerical Approaches
Unit code	AENGM0037
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Kawashita
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Faculty	Faculty of Engineering

Description including Unit Aims

This unit aims at developing a fundamental understanding of mechanical performance of composites through experimental characterisation, data acquisition and analysis, and numerical modelling. Students acquire practical skills for finite element simulations and composite materials testing.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

• design and set up experiments for composite property identification,
• manufacture samples,
• perform measurements using various strain measurement techniques,
• process experimental the data,
• perform basic finite element simulation of composite samples and simple composite structures,
• validate numerical simulations based on appropriate numerical approaches.

Teaching Information

The unit will comprise lectures, seminars, experimental tutorials, finite element compute labs, practical sessions and numerical simulations related to Research Project.

Assessment Information

There will be two elements of this course:

A. Experimental Mechanics of Composites.

B. Finite Element Analysis of Composites (comprising numerical exercises for modelling tested samples and FEA project)

The details of the assessments and weighting for each assessment is as follows:

1. Presentation and the report in a form of extended presentation slides comprising the experimental results, numerical models of experiments and analytical estimates – 40%
2. Individual finite element project report – 60%

Reading and References

Appropriate references are supplied on the lectures for each component of the course. For the review element, students are advised individually by their project supervisor(s) on appropriate references depending on their project.