Continuum Modelling of the Mechanical Response of Materials (B-KUL-H08Z1B)

3 ECTSEnglish20 First termCannot be taken as part of an examination contract
POC Materiaalkunde

The students are familiar with the transformation properties of tensorial quantities and have an active, operational knowledge of vector and tensor calculus. They can describe stimulus-response couplings in a tensorial framework and are familiar with anisotropic elasticity as an example, but are aware of the generic character of the approach and of other examples. Moreover, the students know the basic concepts of the mathematical theory of plasticity and can apply them to standard problems of mechanical testing and metal forming. They are aware of basic concepts of fracture mechanics and of techniques for failure analysis. 

Activities

3 ects. Continuum Modelling of the Mechanical Response of Materials (B-KUL-H05Q7a)

3 ECTSEnglishFormat: Lecture20 First term
POC Materiaalkunde

Many properties of materials depend on the direction in which they are measured: they are anisotropic. Examples of such properties are: electric conductance, magnetism, refraction of light, strength and elasticity. A mathematical framework to describe such anisotropic behaviour is the theory of vectors and tensors. The purpose of this course is to learn the basic principles of this theory, and then apply them to field tensors (stress, strain, electrical field, ...) and to material properties described by 'matter tensors' of rank 1, 2, 3 and 4. In spite of the fact that this approach does not make (explicit) use of the discrete nature of matter (which explains the term 'continuum modelling'), it allows for some very important and useful conclusions as for the relationship between the anisotropy of material properties and the crystal symmetry (or other types of symmetry) of the material. A few important applications are shortly introduced as an illustration of the method, namely the theory of elasticity, the finite element method and an introduction to the classical mathematical theory of plasticity. Finally, a brief introduction into fracture mechanics and into techniques for failure analysis is given. 

Course text

20 lessons of 2 hours

Evaluation

Evaluation: Continuum Modelling of the Mechanical Response of Materials (B-KUL-H28Z1b)

Type : Exam during the examination period
Description of evaluation : Oral
Learning material : List of formulas


In the oral part, the written solutions are discussed together.