Enhancing the teaching of professional practice and key skills in engineering through the use of computer animation

This paper presents some observations on how computer animation was used in the early years of a degree program in Electrical and Electronic Engineering to enhance the teaching of key skills and professional practice. This paper presents the results from two case studies. First, in a first year course which seeks to teach students how to manage and report on group projects in a professional way. Secondly, in a technical course on virtual reality, where the students are asked to use computer animation in a way that subliminally coerces them to come to terms with the fine detail of the mathematical principles that underlie 3D graphics, geometry, etc. as well as the most significant principles of computer architecture and software engineering. In addition, the findings reveal that by including a significant element of self and peer review processes into the assessment procedure students became more engaged with the course and achieved a deeper level of comprehension of the material in the course.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry Study and Computer Modeling of b a Phase Transformation in Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

The relationship between heat-treatment parameters and microstructure in titanium alloys has so far been mainly studied empirically, using characterization techniques such as microscopy. Calculation and modeling of the kinetics of phase transformation have not yet been widely used for these alloys. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been widely used for the study of a variety of phase transformations. There has been much work done on the calculation and modeling of the kinetics of phase transformations for different systems based on the results from DSC study. In the present work, the kinetics of the transformation in a Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy were studied using DSC, at continuous cooling conditions with constant cooling rates of 5 °C, 10 °C, 20 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C/min. The results from calorimetry were then used to trace and model the transformation kinetics in continuous cooling conditions. Based on suitably interpreted DSC results, continuous cooling–transformation (CCT) diagrams were calculated with lines of isotransformed fraction. The kinetics of transformation were modeled using the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) theory and by applying the "concept of additivity." The JMA kinetic parameters were derived. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental transformed fractions is demonstrated. Using the derived kinetic parameters, the transformation in a Ti-6Al-4V alloy can be described for any cooling path and condition. An interpretation of the results from the point of view of activation energy for nucleation is also presented.

A Phase-field Model for Computer Simulation of Lamellar Structure Formation in y-TiAI

In the present paper, a phase-field model is developed to simulate the formation and evolution of lamellar microstructure in γ-TiAl alloys. The mechanism of formation of TiAl lamellae proposed by Denquin and Naka is incorporated into the model. The model describes the formation and evolution of the face-centered cubic (fcc) stacking lamellar zone followed by the subsequent appearance and growth of the γ-phase, involving both the chemical composition change by atom transfer and the ordering of the fcc lattice. The thermodynamics of the model system and the interaction between the displacive and diffusional transformations are described by a non-equilibrium free energy formulated as a function of concentration and structural order parameter fields. The long-range elastic interactions, arising from the lattice misfit between the α, fcc (A1) and the various orientation variants of the γ-phase are taken into account by incorporating of the elastic strain energy into the total free energy. Simulation studies based on the model successfully predicted some essential features of the lamellar structure. It is found that the formation and evolution of the lamellar structure are predominantly controlled by the minimization of the elastic energy of the interfaces between the different fcc stacking groups, low-symmetry product phase γ and the high-symmetry α-phase, as well as between the various orientation variants of the product phase.