Welcome to MATE 370 Mechanical Behavior of Solids in Fall 06. We hope everyone has had a good summer and is ready to get back in the academic swing of things. As the title suggests this course covers the mechanical behavior and properties of solid materials. What is special about this class is that it covers these things in 3-dimensions and in the language of tensors. We hope everyone is able to learn something about the tensorial nature of stress and strain that you might not get from other classes...
We will meet twice per week in Matheson 309 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1530 to 1650. The first class is Tuesday 25 September. The instructors for the class are:
Lecturer: Prof. Surya R. Kalidindi (skalidin@coe.drexel.edu, Lebow 344)
TA's: Mr. Hari K. Duvvuru (hd38@drexel.edu, Lebow 340) and
Brendan R. Donohue (brd24@drexel.edu, Lebow 340)
TA offices hours should be often and by appointment. Please call on us! We have a "closed" open door policy: our big heavy blue door is always closed - and locked...tightly - but if you knock loud enough we will open it for you - anytime! Also please communicate on this site and through e-mail frequently if you wish to see us at a more specific time.
The format of the class will include short quizzes at the beginning of every Tuesday class followed lecture by Prof Kalidindi then a review of homework problems/lecture topics during the Thursday time period with the TA's. This schedule might change if some issues arise during the term.
Lecture notes will be posted by Monday of each week and will be available for download. However, the lecture notes for the first week are available as of this evening. You are encouraged to print and bring them to class with you to help follow along with the lecture. You can download things that have been posted by selecting the "Downloads" link on the left of the course page and selecting the appropriate file from the page that shows up next. We will make it clear which files to download by usually putting MATE 370 in the title.
The quizzes will consist of 1 or 2 of the problems from the prior week's assigned homework and will last ~10 to 15 minutes. The homework problems will usually be posted by Monday/Tuesday on this site for the following Tuesday's quiz. Please try some of the problems and have questions by Thursday so you can participate in the Thursday session! The homework won't be collected and graded directly but you should do it as preparation for the quizzes (which will be graded). There won't be any quizzes for week 1 but homework problems will be posted in the near future for the first quiz which is on 3 October!
The lecture notes are really all you need to follow along and do well in this class. However, Prof Kalidindi's textbook is available for $23 from us. You can see us at the grad student office in Lebow 340 and buy a copy if you think you would like to have a good resource. This is not a required text but it should help. Another good reference is:
Continuum Mechanics Concise Theory and Problems (Chadwick, ISBN: 0-486-40180-4)
.. and should be readily available from places on the internet.
See you on Tuesday. Enjoy your last weekend ;-)