Eric Constans

Visual beams: tools for statics and solid mechanics

A team of faculty and students in the College of Engineering at Rowan University are developing hands-on and visualization tools for use in mechanics courses. The developed tools consist of physical simply-supported and cantilever beams that are instrumented with load cells to which students can apply various loading conditions. Measurements from the load cells and displacement transducers are used in a Labview graphical user interface allows the user to find reaction loads and plot deflections, stresses, and shear and bending diagrams. The tools are designed to help students overcome difficulties in working with forces, moments, displacements and stresses in courses the mechanical and civil engineering courses as well as benefit students with various learning styles.

Treb-bot: Development and use of a trebuchet simulator

The trebuchet has quickly become a favorite project for physics and engineering teachers seeking to provide students with a simple, but spectacular, hands-on design project that can be applied to the study of projectile motion, rotational motion, and the law of conservation of energy. While there have been free trebuchet simulators and range calculators available online for several years, these have been limited to simple designs. Other simulators are available for a fee, precluding practical use in introductory courses. With this in mind, one of the authors developed a free web-based trebuchet simulation that can be found at http://www.benchtophybrid.com/TB_index.html. This simulation, named Treb-Bot, is designed to be visually appealing to high school students and includes simulations of trebuchet designs that are unavailable elsewhere on the web. The website was successfully field-tested by a group of Advanced Placement Physics 1 students.

The Compressor project: coupling thermodynamics and mechanical design in a cross-curricular project

This paper describes a design-based effort to build an effective cross-curricular link between thermodynamics and mechanical design-two traditionally distinct subjects. The result was a design challenge in which the authors asked their junior engineering undergraduate students to design and build an air compressor as a project conducted simultaneously in their thermodynamics and mechanical design courses. This paper describes the design challenge, the results of this cross-curricular experiment, and future enhancements to the project.

A Lagrangian Simulation of the Floating-Arm Trebuchet

Summary The floating-arm trebuchet, a modern variation of a medieval weapon, is a popular project for physics and engineering instructors.We develop and analyze a model of this device as an introduction to constrained Lagrangian dynamics.

Integrating Design Throughout the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum: A Focus on the Engineering Clinics

At Rowan University, we have infused design into the curriculum through an eight-semester course sequence called the Engineering Clinic. Through this experience students learn the art and science of design in a multidisciplinary team environment. While many engineering programs currently include a Capstone Design course taken near the end of the college career to meet the design needs, Engineering Clinic at Rowan allows students to hone their design skills throughout their four-year career. This paper will describe in further detail the objectives and execution of each year in the design sequence, types of projects and how the Clinics complement traditional core courses in the curriculum. Impacts and benefits of the Clinics on students and faculty are discussed, as well as comparative data of Rowan Mechanical Engineering students and their peers nationally.Copyright