Event Title
Teaching of Structural Analysis into the Future
Location
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Event Website
https://event.ceri2020.exordo.com/
Start Date
28-8-2020 3:00 PM
End Date
28-8-2020 4:15 PM
Description
The engineering curriculum has always been full. In the past civil and structural engineers studied a wide variety of technical subjects within the broad field of engineering science and spent many hours working on design projects. Modern engineering curricula try to cover these areas while also dedicating more time to structured group-work, report writing and communication skills. Although students spend longer in college the number and range of technical fields that students must master is considerably larger than in the past. As a result the time available to any one topic area has reduced. At the same time the work of a structural engineer has changed and some methods of analysis and design that were traditionally taught in college are rarely used in practice. As a result the structural engineering curriculum is changing. This paper considers what the core curriculum for structural engineering should contain. This is not a trivial problem. While some traditional analysis methods, such as graphic statics, can be omitted without significant consequences the loss of other aspects of hand analyses such as influence line diagrams may hinder students developing a full understanding of structural behaviour. Similarly, while all structural and civil engineering students must have knowledge of mechanics of solids what material is core? As structural engineers embrace an ever wider variety of materials should mechanics of materials be studied in greater detail? Should the emphasis on linear-elastic matrix methods move from teaching the basic algorithms to understanding and overcoming the limitations of such methods? Where does plastic analysis fit when most structural analysis is performed using linear-elastic theory? What will the core skills of a civil/structural engineer be when structural designs can be developed by autonomous algorithms that take 3D general arrangement model as their input? This paper addresses these questions and is intended to be the starting point in a discussion on what should be included in current and future structural engineering curricula.
Recommended Citation
O'Dwyer, Dermot, "Teaching of Structural Analysis into the Future" (2020). Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020. 8.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/16/8
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 of Structural Analysis into the Future
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
The engineering curriculum has always been full. In the past civil and structural engineers studied a wide variety of technical subjects within the broad field of engineering science and spent many hours working on design projects. Modern engineering curricula try to cover these areas while also dedicating more time to structured group-work, report writing and communication skills. Although students spend longer in college the number and range of technical fields that students must master is considerably larger than in the past. As a result the time available to any one topic area has reduced. At the same time the work of a structural engineer has changed and some methods of analysis and design that were traditionally taught in college are rarely used in practice. As a result the structural engineering curriculum is changing. This paper considers what the core curriculum for structural engineering should contain. This is not a trivial problem. While some traditional analysis methods, such as graphic statics, can be omitted without significant consequences the loss of other aspects of hand analyses such as influence line diagrams may hinder students developing a full understanding of structural behaviour. Similarly, while all structural and civil engineering students must have knowledge of mechanics of solids what material is core? As structural engineers embrace an ever wider variety of materials should mechanics of materials be studied in greater detail? Should the emphasis on linear-elastic matrix methods move from teaching the basic algorithms to understanding and overcoming the limitations of such methods? Where does plastic analysis fit when most structural analysis is performed using linear-elastic theory? What will the core skills of a civil/structural engineer be when structural designs can be developed by autonomous algorithms that take 3D general arrangement model as their input? This paper addresses these questions and is intended to be the starting point in a discussion on what should be included in current and future structural engineering curricula.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/16/8
