New Idea to Enhance Better Understanding of Free Body Diagrams in Solid Mechanics Course
By: Echempati, Raghu
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Publisher: Pune Engineering Education Foundation 2020Edition: Vol.34(2), October.Description: 117-123p.Subject(s): Computer EngineeringOnline resources: Click here
In:
Journal of engineering education transformationsSummary: Historically, majority of students taking solid mechanics course at my university find it confusing and even challenging to draw free body diagrams (FBDs) and to compute the internal forces correctly. Many instructors teach those topics in typical statics course and review the same principles in solid mechanics and design courses. However, many students either do not still fully understand the topic or have forgotten the concepts during the time gap between taking statics and the follow on courses. This is also true for colleges such as ours with mandatory co-op education in which students alternate between school and work terms. With incorrect calculation of internal loads (or load in each section of a member), the next steps of calculating the stress and deflection of members will go wrong. In a recent solid mechanics course taught by the author, 60 to 70 percent of the students could not correctly compute the internal forces within each section of an axially loaded member. Although majority of students drew the free body diagram of the entire system correctly, only a few could realize or interpret the correct values of forces within each section of a member. Others drew incorrect FBDs that do not satisfy static equilibrium.
| Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Articles Abstract Database
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School of Engineering & Technology Archieval Section | Not for loan | 2022-0236 |
Historically, majority of students taking solid mechanics course at my university find it confusing and even challenging to draw free body diagrams (FBDs) and to compute the internal forces correctly. Many instructors teach those topics in typical statics course and review the same principles in solid mechanics and design courses. However, many students either do not still fully understand the topic or have forgotten the concepts during the time gap between taking statics and the follow on courses. This is also true for colleges such as ours with mandatory co-op education in which students alternate between school and work terms. With incorrect calculation of internal loads (or load in each section of a member), the next steps of calculating the stress and deflection of members will go wrong. In a recent solid mechanics course taught by the author, 60 to 70 percent of the students could not correctly compute the internal forces within each section of an axially loaded member. Although majority of students drew the free body diagram of the entire system correctly, only a few could realize or interpret the correct values of forces within each section of a member. Others drew incorrect FBDs that do not satisfy static equilibrium.
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