GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course CE 2105, Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering Materials

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
School of Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

Room BEH 423 Tuesday and Thursday    11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
SB 86 Thursday 2:00 PM - 4:50 PM
 

Lectures

 The material to be covered in the lectures is contained in the documents entitled "CE 2105 Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering". The first few lectures will deal with material phenomena that are not unique to specific materials -- fracture, fatigue, creep, corrosion, etc.; the remainder of the term will deal with state of the art technology in specific materials, using recent papers and journal articles as the basis for discussion. Students are responsible for knowing the material covered in the lectures, for performing the laboratory assignments, and for completing the homework assignments. Students may confer with other students or the instructor regarding homework assignments, but must complete assignments individually.

Practicum

A three hour practicum period will be scheduled each week. This period will be used primarily for the performance of long duration individual experiments. It is intended that each individual experiment be treated as a unique research project, culminating in a formal technical report  of Journal quality.
 

Textbook

 "CE 2105 Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering", compiled by John F. Oyler, published by the The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Fall Term 2001.

Problems, Reports, and Tests

 1. All hand computations will be performed on quadruled 8 1/2" by 11" paper. Computer calculations may be performed on spread sheets.
 2.  The text of reports will be neatly typed or produced using a word processor.
 3.   All work will be done neatly and accurately.
 4.  Sketches included to clarify computations or to illustrate laboratory apparatus may be made manually using a straight edge or may be prepared using a personal computer graphics software package.

Final Grade

  A   92%   to 100%
  A-  90%   to   92%
  B+  88%   to   90%
  B    82%   to   88%
  B-   80%   to   82%
  C+  78%   to   80%
  C    72%   to   78%
  C-  70%   to   72%
  D+  68%   to   70%
  D    60%   to   70%
  F  Less than 60%

 The instructor reserves the right to modify these ranges at the end of the term to account for special circumstances.
 

Grades

 The grades in CE 2105 will be based upon the following:

  (a) Completeness and accuracy of work
  (b) Promptness with which work is completed
  (c) Interest and initiative displayed in performance of    work
  (d) Knowledge of material covered in the course
  (e) General behavior in classroom and practicum

 The lecture material constitutes 70% of the final grade; the practicum portion, 30%. The final grade will be computed as follows:

  First Test                              15%
  Second Test                          15%
  Final Exam                            20%
  Homework and Quizzes         10%
  Practicum                               30%
  Classroom Participation         10%

Instructor

 John F. Oyler
 Office:  935 BEH
 Office Hours:  9:30 AM - 11:00 AM, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and by appointment
 Telephone: (412) 343-1652 (home), (412) 624-9871

Course Objectives

 1. To obtain a working knowledge of of current leading edge technology in Civil Engineering materials
 2. To obtain experience in independent research
 3. To learn how to produce a Journal quality report

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