ME652 COURSE OUTLINE Fall 2005

MECHANICS OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Instructor: Dr. Judah Ari-Gur, Room F-246, E-mail: judah.ari-gur@wmich.edu,

Tel.: (269) 276 3419, Fax: 276 3421, webpage: http://www.wmich.edu/mae/faculty/jag.htm

Office hours: Mon. 2- 2:50, Wed. 1- 1:50 or by appointment

Textbook: Daniel, I.M. and Ishai, O., Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials, Oxford, 1994.

Reference: Agarwal, B.D. and Broutman, L.J., Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composites, Second Edition, Wiley, 1990.

Gibson, R.F., Principles of Composite Material Mechanics, McGraw-Hill, 1994.

Halpin, J.C., Primer on Composite Materials: Analysis, (revised) Technomic, 1984.

Jones, R.M., Mechanics of Composite Materials, Scripta, 1975.

Tsai, W.S. and Hahn, H.T., Introduction to Composite Materials, Technomic, 1980.

Goals: 1) to understand the relationships between the composite material and its constituents (reinforcement and binder).

2) to design materials for specified stiffness and strength.

3) to tailor materials for prescribed loading conditions.

Description:

The course will cover design and analysis of composite material components. The emphasis will be on oriented fiber reinforced laminated composites.

For most of the course, the focus will be on the analysis of the mechanical properties and strength of laminated fibrous composites. To aid in the understanding and future use of the studied material, the students will be guided to develop their own analysis software (on PC). This tool will be developed step-by-step, as the course progresses, by every student, and will be used during the semester for the solution of homework problems. The last part of the course will be dedicated to design applications and case studies.

Topics: 1) Why composites? advantages and disadvantages

2) Manufacturing techniques

3) Fiber and matrix properties

4) Orthotropic lamina

5) Effect of orientation on the mechanical properties

6) Laminate stacking and properties

7) Strength and failure modes

8) Composite material software

9) Soft core laminates

10) The composite tube

11) Case studies (design of composite components)

Workload

(*) Homework problems will be assigned to go along with the lecture topics.

(*) A modular computer program will be developed throughout the semester.

Grading:

Homework problems - 30%

Midterm exam - 20% (Mon., 24 Oct., 2005)

Computer program - 20% (Mon., 28 Nov., 2005)

Final exam - 30% (Mon., 5 Dec., 2005)

A 90% - ; BA 85% - ; B 80% - ; CB 75% - ; C 70% - ; etc.