Structural Design II: Materials & Analysis

This course introduces the fundamentals of strength of materials, computational modeling of structures, and basic finite element (FE) analysis. This is a hands-on, skill-building course about learning how to translate a conceptual design intent into a computational structural model, then applying material and boundary condition constraints to analyze and understand structural behavior. These learning goals are achieved through three components: lab exercises, workshops and group design projects. Through a series of lab exercises, students learn the fundamental structural properties of standard construction materials (steel, timber and reinforced concrete), and learn how to perform basic calculations to understand the behavior of simple structures made of those materials under various loading conditions. Lab exercises are accompanied by hands-on workshops, where the students learn a specific computational tool or skill that will enable them to translate the lessons learned from the lab exercises into a computational design environment. The knowledge learned from the labs, together with the skills gained from the workshops, are then synthesized into group projects where students have an opportunity to apply and test what they have learned. Basic knowledge of statics and structural design is expected, and students are assumed to have taken “48-234 – Structural Design I: Form and Forces” at CMU or an equivalent introductory structural design course from another institution. This is the second of three courses of the Structural Design curriculum offered at Carnegie Mellon Architecture.