Location
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Event Website
https://event.ceri2020.exordo.com/
Start Date
27-8-2020 3:00 PM
End Date
27-8-2020 4:15 PM
Description
An opportunity was afforded to the authors to design and implement a semester-long laboratory-based project to complement a traditional first year materials engineering lecture module. The examinable lecture component involved the customary description of physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of materials, exemplified by studying real examples of different materials used in solving design problems, such as the challenges of concrete’s weakness in tension, brittleness, creep, shrinkage and vulnerability to corrosion, bamboo’s unique sustainability and tensile strength, or in the electronic properties of semiconductor components. Comprising equal civil, mechanical and electrical elements, the project involved the development of an understanding of the material behaviour of bamboo and concrete separately and as a composite, and the construction of a temperature sensor using semiconductor diodes and a microcontroller to allow data display and logging of temperature in a specimen. This culminated in the measurement of the temperature maturity of hydrating cement in a sustainable recycled bamboo reinforced concrete beam to allow its flexural strength to be established. The students soldered diodes fed by a current source and interfaced to a Uno R3 Arduino microcontroller to implement a temperature sensor having data logging facilities, which was used in parallel with a professional k-type thermocouple-based temperature monitor for calibration. The temperature of the cast beams were measured over a 7 day period via the two aforementioned temperature sensors and used to illustrate the hydration process in curing concrete. The sustainable materials used as the aggregate in the concrete included recycled concrete and shredded rubber tyres, using slag as a low carbon cement substitute. The use of bamboo culms ensured a ductile tension or shear failure of the composite beams thus emphasising the desirability of warning of failure through controlled crack growth, influenced by the temperature regime and steel fibres.
Recommended Citation
West, Roger P.; Taylor, David; Burke, Martin; Grimes, Michael; and Hunt, Shane, "Teaching Engineering Materials Through Experiential Learning" (2020). Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020. 5.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/15/5
Included in
Civil Engineering Commons, Construction Engineering and Management Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Geotechnical Engineering Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Structural Engineering Commons, Transportation Engineering Commons
Teaching Engineering Materials Through Experiential Learning
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
An opportunity was afforded to the authors to design and implement a semester-long laboratory-based project to complement a traditional first year materials engineering lecture module. The examinable lecture component involved the customary description of physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of materials, exemplified by studying real examples of different materials used in solving design problems, such as the challenges of concrete’s weakness in tension, brittleness, creep, shrinkage and vulnerability to corrosion, bamboo’s unique sustainability and tensile strength, or in the electronic properties of semiconductor components. Comprising equal civil, mechanical and electrical elements, the project involved the development of an understanding of the material behaviour of bamboo and concrete separately and as a composite, and the construction of a temperature sensor using semiconductor diodes and a microcontroller to allow data display and logging of temperature in a specimen. This culminated in the measurement of the temperature maturity of hydrating cement in a sustainable recycled bamboo reinforced concrete beam to allow its flexural strength to be established. The students soldered diodes fed by a current source and interfaced to a Uno R3 Arduino microcontroller to implement a temperature sensor having data logging facilities, which was used in parallel with a professional k-type thermocouple-based temperature monitor for calibration. The temperature of the cast beams were measured over a 7 day period via the two aforementioned temperature sensors and used to illustrate the hydration process in curing concrete. The sustainable materials used as the aggregate in the concrete included recycled concrete and shredded rubber tyres, using slag as a low carbon cement substitute. The use of bamboo culms ensured a ductile tension or shear failure of the composite beams thus emphasising the desirability of warning of failure through controlled crack growth, influenced by the temperature regime and steel fibres.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/15/5
