Course Descriptions
I've
taught many classes during my academic career including Statics,
Dynamics, Mechanics of Materials, Continuum Mechanics, Theory of Elasticity,
Experimental Techniques in Solid Mechanics, Optical Techniques in Solid
Mechanics, Strategically Tuned Absolutely Resilient Structures (STARS),
Graduate Seminar, and a number of special topic courses in engineering
mechanics, applied optics, and materials science.
I no longer teach classes, since I officially retired from the
staff on June 1, 2013. However, I thought that I'd post what I taught
during my last year at UAH and tell you a little about what motivated me to teach them in the
first place.
I
grew up in New York City where I began playing rock and roll at age eight.
Since my mother was British, we’d spend our summers in England.
I remember being in the audience with when dissatisfied customers threw debris at an obnoxious Mick Jagger
when he first performed there with the Rolling Stones.
My Mom bought me a guitar in 1956 after I literally wore out the track on
a 78 rpm recording of Elvis’ Hound Dog. She
treated me to guitar lessons but the stuff that my instructor taught me
sounded nothing like Elvis.
I was on the verge of quitting when one of the other instructors in the
studio, named
Ralph Patt, asked me what was wrong. I
said that I was sick and tired of playing single notes up and down the
fret board and told him that I wanted to do something different.
My Mom seemed impressed when he told us that he was the lead guitarist for Benny Goodman,
Glen Miller, and Count Basie. When Ralph asked me what I thought of that
and if I wanted to play jazz,
I told him straight out that I never heard of those guys and didn’t
really know what jazz was. But,
when I asked him: “Do you know Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
To my surprise, he said, “Sure. Let’s
start a band and play some Rock and Roll.”
I said, you bet!
Ralph slipped me some sheet music
for Heartaches and, three weeks later, a couple of his other students and I played our fist concert.
A couple of weeks after that, we performed a song written by Fred Parris of the Five Satins
which followed one of the best-known chord progressions for early Rock and
Roll: C, Am, F, G.
I was only eight years old then. After performing
“In the Still of the Night" and meeting up with Ralph at the studio, I
recall asking him: “How come
those girls in the audience were looking at us like that?”
I remember him saying, “You’ll understand some day.”
We
lived in Tottenville on Staten Island and I went to grade school there. In
8th grade, I sat the entrance exam for Brooklyn Technical High School and
passed... which meant taking the ferry boat to Manhattan and the subway to
Brooklyn five days a week. I
met a couple of guys who sang and played guitar and we’d practice on the
boat during trip home. To my amazement, the
commuters filled out guitar cases with cash; so much so that we were able
to purchase amplifiers and a PA system.
We
started a group called the "Orange Peels." On
the weekends, we’d go surfing on the Jersey coast. We’d surf during
the day but at night, we’d position ourselves on the boardwalk and play
surf music to woo the Jersey girls. Meanwhile,
the tourists were often more generous than the commuters.
By
the time that I graduated high school in the 60’s, I was playing six
nights a week in a band called “Your Mutha.” We’d play at clubs all
over the City but what I remember most was opening for bands like The
Young Rascals in Harlow’s or “The Grateful Dead” in the Electric Circus.
We took the main stage at NYU's Courant Institute backed by the Joshua
Light Show who used us as a test bed for the shows they were developing for the
Fillmore East.
After
finishing our sets, I'd often go to the east Village to catch the closing
act at the Fillmore. This gave me the chance to hobnob with Rock and Roll legends like Janice Joplin, Jimi
Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Eric Clapton. The City
was filled with creative genius and I loved being part of it. However, my
love for music took its toll.
I
was attending the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn at the time and really
didn't have the time nor desire to concentrate on my studies. In fact, I
failed some of the engineering classes that I ended up teaching. I guess
that taking them twice was one of the reasons that I knew the material so
well.
After
drawing a low number in the draft lottery, the U.S. Army gave me a
choice... either buckle down and graduate; or, go to Vietnam. I reluctantly
put my guitar away but, after earning a Bachelors degree, gladly accepted
an NDEA (National Defense Education Act) fellowship. This opportunity
opened my eyes to graduate education, research, and teaching; and, I
ultimately became a U.S. Army defense contractor.
All
through my graduate studies, I missed being on stage... until I accepted
my fist academic position. It was then that I realized that my
formal education and Rock and Roll experience could be synthesized to the
point where I was able to stand up in front of my
engineering classes giving performances involving science and
engineering. What a trip!
After telling
a portion of this story to one of my Mechanics of Materials classes, the students asked me to play a couple of songs for them. I
used the opportunity to demonstrate how Hagstrom had incorporated an
"H" bar truss into the neck of my 1967 Viking De Luxe prototype,
making the fret board the fastest in the world.
I did the best I could to show them how we
made music many years ago and, somehow, my take of Cream's White Room ended up on UTube.
During the Fall '12 semester, I taught:
Textbooks:
"Mechanics
of Materials," 6th Edition, by Beer, Johnston, DeWolf, and
Mazurek, McGraw Hill, New York, NY, 2012. ISBN
978-0-07-338028-5
Gilbert,
J.A., “Mechanics of
Materials,” University of
Alabama-Huntsville, Version 10.4, XanEdu Publishing, Inc., 120 pages (2013).
Textbook:
Gilbert,
J.A., “Experimental
Techniques in Solid Mechanics,” University of Alabama in Huntsville, Version
5.0, XanEdu Publishing, Inc., 153 pages (2013).
Overview:
When dealing with the majority of real engineering systems, it is not always
sufficient, or advisable, to rely on analytical results alone.
The experimental determination of stress, strain, and displacement is
important in both design and testing applications.
MAE 477/577, Experimental Techniques in Solid Mechanics, presents
techniques which are valuable complements to the design and analysis process;
and, in some difficult or complex situations, provide the only practical
approach to a real solution.
The bulk of the course constitutes a detailed treatment of the more conventional
methods currently used for experimental stress analysis (photoelasticity,
brittle coatings, moiré methods, strain gages, etc.); however, more recent
developments in the field are also introduced (hybrid methods, speckle
metrology, holographic interferometry, moiré interferometry, fiber optics,
radial metrology, and STARS). In-class
laboratory exercises are included so that students gain some practical
experience. The lecture and
laboratory exercises are designed to provide enough exposure for participants to
secure an entry level position in the field of experimental mechanics.
Attendance:
Students are required to be
present from the beginning to the end of each semester, attend all classes, and
take all examinations according to their assigned schedule.
In case of absence, students are expected to satisfy the instructor that
the absence was for good reason. For
excessive cutting of classes (3 or more class periods), or for dropping the
course without following the official procedure, students may fail the course.
Homework:
Homework assignments must be
done on only one side of 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
Each problem shall begin on a separate page and each page must contain
the following (in the upper right hand corner):
Your name, the date, and page __ of __.
All final answers must be boxed and converted (SI to US or US to
SI). Homework is due at the beginning
of the class on the date prescribed. Work
must be legible and should be done in pencil.
Problems shall be restated prior to solution and free-body diagrams (FBDs)
shall be drawn for problems requiring such.
Loose sheets shall be stapled together in the upper left hand
corner.
Note:
For further information on the course and registration procedure,
call Professor Gilbert by telephone at (256) 824-6029, or, contact him by e-mail
at john.gilbert@uah.edu.
Course Outline:
1.
Overview of Solid Mechanics - Stress, Strain, and Displacement;
Equilibrium, Transformation, Strain-Displacement, Compatibility, and
Constitutive Equations.
2.
Stress Analysis - Method of Attack; Stress Concentration, Failure,
Design, and Examples.
3.
Light and Electromagnetic Wave Propagation – Amplitude, Phase,
Polarization, Coherence, Interference, Reflection, Refraction, Birefringence,
and Stress Optic Law.
4.
Photoelasticity – Plane and Circular Polariscopes; Calibration
and Compensation Methods; Reflection Polariscope, Birefringent Coatings, and 3-D
Photoelasticity.
5.
Photography – Cameras, Lenses, and Photographic Development;
Digital Cameras, Image Acquisition and Processing.
6.
Brittle Coatings – Theory, Calibration, Application, and
Measurement.
7.
Moiré Methods – Geometrical Considerations and In-Plane
Displacement Measurement; Diffraction, Optical Filtering, and Stress Analysis;
Out-of-Plane Displacement Measurement and Shadow Moiré.
8.
Electrical Resistance Strain Gages - Parametrical Studies,
Transverse Sensitivity, Rosettes, Circuitry, Installation, and Transducer
Design.
9.
Advanced Topics – Moiré Interferometry, Speckle Metrology,
Holographic Interferometry, Fiber Optics, Digital Image Processing, Hybrid
Methods, Panoramic Imaging Systems, Radial Metrology,
and STARS.
A description of what the 2 credit lab entailed follows:
As you may know, the STARS lab
is run as an independent study for 2 credits. The course will include
R&D and/or laboratory work involving the design, construction, and testing
of the concrete canoe being built by our American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Student Chapter. For this 2 credit course, a minimum of 40 hours of
lab work is required; the grade will be based on a lab log detailing the work
done. Your primary contact person
is:
Mr. Matthew
Pinkston, ASCE Chapter Vice-President
Phone: (256) 653-2862; Email: mmjpink@hotmail.com
The Chapter will be electing new officers and you will be informed of any
chances made in the primary contact person.
Meanwhile, Matt will be contacting you regarding the Chapter’s meeting
and work schedules and I will be continually updating the Chapter’s website
(see below). My understanding is
that the rules for the Concrete Canoe Competition will be coming out shortly
after Labor Day and that our first Chapter meeting will be held on Wednesday,
September 5th at 7:00 p.m. in Tech Hall S105.
Attendance at Chapter Meetings is not required for this class but
students may list up to 1 hour of lab work for each meeting that they attend.
In preparation of completing and submitting your lab log, keep running
records listing the dates and hours along with the tasks completed. Have
Matt or one of the ASCE Chapter officers (see link below) sign off on each task
immediately after it has been completed. You do not need to submit this
running record to me but it must be shown to the individual who signs off on
your lab log at the end of the semester (see next paragraph).
The lab log must be prepared in the format used
in the attached Excel file (no exceptions). After you have
completed the required hours, include your name after the colon, fill in all of
the required information (insert or delete rows as needed), print the Excel
file, sign the document, and secure the signature of a Chapter officer by
showing him/her a copy of your running record.
Then, scan the signed log (merge the image into an MSWord document first
if necessary) and send
me a PDF (in portrait format). Label
your log using: your last name, first initial, followed by the sequence
STARSLabLogf12. Mine would be called: GilbertJLabLogf12 (a
sample of what I need is shown below).
You must email a PDF of your lab log to me at john.gilbert@uah.edu.
The deadline for electronic submission is 5:00 p.m., Friday, November 30th.
The Chapter’s web site is
called “teamuah.org” (“Google” it if you wish). A list of the
officers and their contact information can be found on the “Current Events”
page at the bottom of the right hand column at the link:
http://www.uah.edu/student_life/organizations/ASCE/currentevents/events.htm
Please feel free to contact any one of the officers regarding the
Chapter’s activities and/or work schedule. The latter are also posted on
the above page. The chapter meetings will be held as mentioned at the top
of the right column. I can be
contacted by phone at (256) 824-6029.
In Spring '13, I offered:
-
MAE/CE 370 (4 hrs.) - Mechanics of Materials
Please see the information provided above for
this course.
-
MAE 495/595 (3 hrs.) - "STARS" (Strategically
Tuned Absolutely Resilient Structures)
-
MAE 495 (1 or 2 hrs.) STARS Lab
Please see the information provided
above for the lab. A description of the lecture portion of this course
follows:
MAE 495/595 - 3 hrs.
"STARS" (STRATEGICALLY TUNED ABSOLUTELY RESILIENT)
STRUCTURES
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Time and place: Friday 8:00 a.m. - 10:40 a.m.; TH S117
Text:
Gilbert, J.A., “Strategically Tuned Absolutely Resilient
Structures,”
University of Alabama-Huntsville, Version 2.0 XanEdu Publishing, Inc., 258
pages, (2013).
The
STARS concept makes it possible to build a structure capable of storing
potential energy in the form of elastic deformation that can be released in a
controlled fashion in the form of work or kinetic energy.
The composite section must be designed based on the strength, stiffness,
and the position of the component materials.
The ability to store and release energy depends upon a complex
interaction between the shape, modal response, and the forcing function
initiated to the structure. Since
the method relies on energy recovery through elastic deformation, steps must be
taken to prevent damage so that the structure is absolutely resilient.
The
course will include lectures and independent study in this exciting new area.
Topics will range from proof of principle to practical application.
Specific areas to be addressed include composite section design,
structural analysis, stress analysis, integrated sensing, non-destructive
evaluation, finite element modeling, and modal analysis.
Grading
and Attendance Policies:
Sixty-five
percent of the grade will be based on attendance and homework assignments.
Grades received for attending class periods and those received for
homework assignments will be averaged; students will earn 100 points for being
in class and zero points for not being there.
Failure to attend three or more classes will result in failure of the
course. The homework assignments
include a class log (a couple of paragraphs describing what we did in each
class) that will be scored on the basis of 100 points.
The class log must be submitted electronically to john.gilbert@uah.edu
by 5:00 p.m. on the date specified during the first day of class. The remaining thirty five percent of the grade will be based on a final
oral presentation scored collectively by the instructor and fellow class
members. Cover letters and abstracts
for the presentations (in MSWord format) are due on a date to be specified
during the first day of class. The presentations (10 minutes long plus 2 minutes for questions) will be
scheduled on dates specified during the first day of class. A PowerPoint must be archived at the time that the presentation is given.
Students are encouraged to update their class log on a weekly basis and
must show satisfactory progress in guided readings and laboratory work where
applicable.
Course
Outline:
1.
Overview of Solid Mechanics - Forces, Moments, Stress, Strain, and
Displacement; Equilibrium, Compatibility, Strain-Displacement, Transformation,
and Constitutive Equations. Homework
assignment includes formulating shear and moment diagrams and calculation of
maximum bending and shear stresses in prismatic beams subjected to transverse
loading.
2.
Design Considerations for STARS - Stiffness, Strength, Geometry,
Forcing Functions, Adaptive Reinforcement, Embedded Sensors, Control Elements,
Strain Energy, and Strain Energy Density. Homework
assignment concentrates on deflection criteria and derivation of the elastic
curve for prismatic beams subjected to transverse loading.
3.
Stress Visualization - Design of STAR Structures, Transformed
Section Theory, Plane and Circular Polariscopes, Isoclinic and Isochromatic
Fringe Patterns, Calibration and Compensation Techniques; and Stress
Concentration Factors. Homework
assignment involves comparing experimentally determined stresses in composite
photoelastic models with results obtained from the transform section theory and
showing how stress transfer can be accomplished by adjusting the compliance of
the materials in a composite section.
4.
Modified Transformed Section Theory – Composite Laminates,
Inter-Laminar Stresses, Woven Composite Structures, Composite Laminate Plate
Theory, Equivalent Material Properties, Material Testing, Electrical Resistance
Strain Gages, Rosettes, and Circuitry. Homework
assignment involves analysis of a tension specimen, torsion specimen, and an
end-loaded cantilever beam; geared toward showing how the constitutive equations
depend on material properties such as the elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio,
and the shear modulus.
5.
Optimization of STARS – Structural Optimization of a Cantilever
Beam. Laboratory exercise
demonstrates the efficient design of structural members through variation of the
section modulus of a beam with the applied bending moment.
6.
Morphing and Tracking STARS – Compliant Structures, Perspective,
Collapse of World Trade Center, Failure Analysis, Proposal Writing, In-Plane
Moiré Methods, Optical Filtering, Stress Analysis, and Shadow Moiré.
Homework assignment involves determination of material properties using
the moiré method.
7.
Dynamic Characterization of STARS – Discrete Systems, Continuous
Systems, Modal Analysis, Resonance, Eigenvalues, Mode Shapes, Finite Element
Analysis, Modal Analysis of Plates, Modal Testing of Structures, Remote Sensing,
MEMS, Accelerometer Measurements, Health Monitoring, Diagnostics, and
Prognostics. Homework involves
preparation of cover letter and abstract for final presentation.
8.
Concrete Mixture Design - Binders, Aggregates, Admixtures, Mix
Proportioning, and ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition.
Homework geared toward improving UAH performance at the ASCE Southeast
Regional Student Competition.
9.
Structural Information Systems – Reinforcement, Embedded
Sensors, Hollow Tendons, Structural Design, and Failure Analysis.
10.
Self-Healing Structures - Method of Attack, Failure Modes, and
Proof-of-Principle.
11.
Next Generation STARS - Control Elements, Advanced Polymers,
Atomic Bonding, Molecular Interaction, and Theory of Interaction.
