Fall 2008

I have a problem in my research that involves a platinum electrode which will form bubbles of hydrogen gas.  Bubbles sticking to the electrode is expected to be a problem, and one method of dealing with this is to induce resonant vibrations in the electrode.  These vibrations can be excited by running an alternating current through the electrode, which produces physical forces through electromagnetic interactions.

Project Description:

Although this is a class in solid mechanics, I chose a project which focuses on fluid dynamics. I did this because I think this project will be very educational with respect to the Finite Element Analysis and mechanics in general.

For my semester project, I will investigate equilibrium geometries of ripples in an elastic sheet. In order to do so, I will need to learn how to study out of plane bending of a thin membrane with ABAQUS. The project can be divided into the following stages:

1. Set up the membrane geometry model in ABAQUS

2. Apply relevant boundary conditions and tractions

3. Set up the job

4. Run the job, and post-process

Please see the attached file for details.

[img_assist|nid=4271|title=Finished Bashring|desc=|link=popup|align=right|width=100|height=75][img_assist|nid=4272|title=Unfinished Bashring Mounted on Crank|desc=|link=popup|align=right|width=100|height=75]

Project Description:

The biology of the inversion process in Volvox carteri is examined, and a coupled mechanical and kinetic model is proposed.  See attached proposal for details. The presentation given is also attached here, as well as the final paper.  Also, a movie of the simulation that made all of the work wroth while, the inversion of a half-sphere, is attached here as well.  Note: The file inversion2bw.doc is a movie, just download it and change the extension to .avi.  This has to be done since iMechanica doesn't allow attachment of .avi files directly.

Computer assignment #2 : natural frequency problem

due on Monday (Nov. 17, 2008)

Assignment #1 and related paper

1 Schedule & Proceedings

2 Reading-about ABAQUS

3 Learning ABAQUS

4 CAE example

Mechanics of Materials is the book I used for my undergraduate course in strength of materials and it helped me understand the basics, and hence my selection. 

The outline is as follows:

Ch. 1: Introduction -  concepts of stress

Ch. 2: Stress and strain - axial loading

Ch. 3: Torsion

Ch. 4: Pure bending

Ch. 5: Analysis and design of beams for bending

Ch. 6: Shearing stresses in beams and thin-walled members

Ch. 7: Transformations of stress and strain

http://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Behavior-Materials-Marc-Meyers/dp/1427614822/ref=pd_cp_b_0?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0521866758&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0S0M88CGD0M7DMFVDEEB

--This is the book I used for my junior-year solid mechanics class as a mechanical engineer.  You an read more about it here: http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Mechanics-Materials-Roman-Solecki/dp/0195...

* Title of the post: Theory of Elasticity by S.P. Timoshenko and J.N. Goodier

* If there are already helpful reviews of the book online, please make a hyperlink in your

post to the web page of the review. (http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0070858055/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_acr_txt?...)

Prior Courses in Solid Mechanics:

Elasticity, Strength of Material, Plasticity, Theoretical Mechanics, Advanced Solid Mechanics, Computational Mechanics

Undergraduate Major:

Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

Strength Related to This Course:

I have already known some basic theories in elasticity and plasticity, so I guess it might be a little easier for me to understand the theoretical part taught in this course.

Weakness Related to This Course:

My previous exposure to solid mechanics is tangential beyond a first semester course in beam bending, beam stretching, and beam torsion. I am a master of Mohr's circle, and am looking to extend my practice in solid mechanics to include interesting problems and applications of the theory of solids.

I studied Engineering Mechanics as an undergraduate, and received a second degree in Mathematics, with a concentration in Applied Math.

Hi All,

--I have taken 3 previous courses in solid mechanics. 

--My undergraduate major was mechanical engineering, with a concentration in vehicle dynamics.

-- My strength is that I've had some of this material before.  My weakness is that I haven't seen it for a few years.

--I'm a masters student so I don't have a research group.  I do work part time for a hedge fund though.

--Solid mechanics will add an interesting dimension to my education. 

-Tom 

I have not taken any courses focusing on mechanics before, though ES51 (Computer Aided Machine Design) briefly touched on some topics.  My undergraduate major was Physics.  My strengths will be my comfort with mathematics as well as my exposure to professor Howard Stone's undergraduate class in Fluid Mechanics (ES123).  My weakness will definitely be my lack of exposure to any other mechanics courses.

My name is Matt Pharr, and I am a first year graduate student at Harvard in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  I am working with Dr. Zhigang Suo's research group http://www.seas.harvard.edu/suo/ .  My concentration is in solid mechanics, so ES 240 is obviously fundamentally important to my future research.  One of my main goals in this class is to build a solid foundation in solid mechanics.  More specifically, I want to be able to better analyze problems and understand equations in terms of their physical meaning.