Civil Engineering 414-1, Mechanics of Composite Materials

Home  >  Courses  >  CE414-1

Catalog description

Introduction, basic concepts and definitions, fabrication methods with laboratory demonstrations, micromechanics of elastic behavior and failure, elastic behavior of unidirectional lamina, constitutive and transformation relations, strength of unidirectional lamina, composite failure theories.

Prerequisite: CEE 216; desirable ME 362, CEE 415

Who takes it

This is an introductory course in the rapidly expanding field of composite materials. Students in Civil and Environmental, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering as well as Materials Science and Engineering benefit from this course. Advanced undergraduate students, in addition to graduate students, can take this course.

What it's about

It is an introduction to the field of composite materials and describes their composition and mechanical behavior.

Course Outline:

  • Introduction
  • Basic Concepts and Definitions
  • Fabrication Methods
    • Laboratory Demonstration of Composite Fabrication
  • Micromechanics-Elastic Properties
    • Longitudinal properties
    • Transverse properties
    • Shear properties
  • Elastic Behavior of Unidirectional Lamina
    • Anisotropic constitutive relations
    • Mathematical and engineering constants
    • Transformation relations
    • Micro mechanics predictions of lamina properties
  • Strength of Unidirectional Lamina-Micromechanics
    • Longitudinal tension (shear lag analysis, statistical aspects)
    • Longitudinal compression
    • Transverse tension
    • In-plane shear
  • Strength of Unidirectional Lamina-Macromechanics
    • Macromechanical failure theories
    • Maximum stress
    • Maximum strain
    • Interaction theories (Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu)
  • Experimental Characterization
    • Constituent characterization
    • Lamina characterization

Assessment/Evaluation:

Regular homework assignments including a laboratory report. A mid-term and final exams are given. All exams are open-book open-notes. The final grade is based on the exams and the homework.

Textbook:

Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials, by I. M. Daniel and O. Ishai, Oxford University Press, 1994 Supplemented With handouts.

Contact:

Professor: Isaac M. Daniel
e-mail: imdaniel@northwestern.edu
Phone: 847-491-5649
Fax: 847-491-5227

[ Detailed syllabus | Course web site ]