KB5034 - Mechanics and Finite Element Analysis

Active learning sessions will be used to allow you to engage with elevated material and assist you in exploring key concepts and topics within the module. Sessions will involve a combination of content delivery and practical learning exercises to enable you to apply your learning to authentic, broadly defined engineering problems that may involve conflicting and/or incomplete information. A problem-solving focused curriculum will allow you to explore and understand how well-proven solutions can be applied to more open-ended problems and provide further opportunity for innovative discovery of alternatives. Learning activities will enable students to work collaboratively through the further development of teamwork and communication skills, and the encouragement of creative thinking to solve engineering problems.

During your active learning sessions, academic support will be available to facilitate your exploration of the problem-solving activities. Formative feedback will be provided by the module team, including answering student queries and providing guidance concerning the module such as assessments and your academic progress. The electronic learning platform (eLP) provides a comprehensive resource for integrated learning incorporating learning materials and reading lists that will facilitate directed and self-directed learning. Contact with academic tutors and your peers outside formal teaching hours is encouraged through dedicated ‘office hours’, discussion boards and messaging systems within the eLP. Professional support staff, such as Ask4Help, provide the first point of contact for a range of queries, including, for example, those concerning assessment submission, late submission/extensions, and other administrative issues.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
MLO1. Relate knowledge of mathematics, statistics, natural science and engineering principles to broadly defined mechanics problems.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
MLO2. Select and apply appropriate computational and analytical techniques, such as finite element analysis, to model broadly defined problems.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
MLO3. Apply creativity and curiosity to analyse broadly defined problems, related to the mechanics of materials, reaching substantiated conclusions.

Formative Assessment
Academic staff on the module will assess you in a formative manner to help build your confidence and highlight any misunderstandings you may have of the theoretical and professional concepts presented in the module. Your formative feedback will be given to you either verbally by academic staff on the module during formally scheduled teaching sessions or using the eLP. Your formative feedback aims to help you learn and prepare for the submission of your summative assessment.

Summative Assessment
Academic staff on the module will assess you in a summative manner by two pieces of assessment:
Component 1 to assess your knowledge and understanding of computational and analytical techniques, such as finite element analysis, to model broadly defined mechanics problems (MLOs 1 and 2) through completing an industry compatible written submission.
Component 2, a timed electronic exam (competency-based challenge task), is used to evaluate your ability apply creativity through computational and analytical techniques in broadly defined problems within the mechanics of materials and substantiate outcomes meeting module learning outcomes MLOs 2 & 3.

Feedback will be provided electronically through the eLP or student email within 20 working days of the date of submission.

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This module provides the opportunity to build on fundamental statics and materials knowledge and further examine applied mechanics with a focus on the development of more in-depth modelling approaches that provide more detail and insight into the behaviour of materials. Finite element analysis, a computational technique, will be used in the analysis and design of mechanical structures, components and systems. In the module, you will be encouraged to investigate and gain confidence in research and critical thinking through the application of appropriate knowledge and methodologies to tackle broadly defined problems. Active learning sessions will allow you to engage with elevated material and assist you in exploring key concepts and topics. Sessions will involve a series of practical learning exercises to enable you to apply your learning to authentic, broadly defined engineering problems that may involve conflicting and/or incomplete information. The module utilises the electronic learning platform (eLP) to provide a comprehensive resource for integrated learning incorporating learning materials and reading lists that will facilitate directed and self-directed learning.