Building science

Learning objectives

The course has been recently designed and organized in accordance with the new teaching regulations, as provided for by the university reform. Therefore, keeping in mind the primary need to create a self-contained course, but also complete in terms of training, the choices made have been directly suggested by the new professional reality of the engineering graduate. The course aims to offer students the basic knowledge for the sizing and verification of structures

Expected learning outcomes

1. Knowledge and understanding.
The student must learn the basic concepts and issues of solid mechanics. In other words, he must understand and assimilate the concepts of state of deformation, state of tension and constitutive bond. In the same way, the student must assimilate the basic notions of the mechanics of structures, such as the definition of a beam, the methods and criteria for the kinematic and static analysis of structures

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The student must be able to apply the concepts of solid mechanics, in particular he must be able to determine any scalar component of deformation and tension in a three-dimensional solid however stressed. As regards the mechanics of structures, the student must know how to classify a structure into labile, isostatic and hyperstatic. For isostatic structures, using the cardinal equations of statics, he must know how to calculate the reactions and constraint interactions, and must know how to determine the diagrams of the characteristics of the internal stress. Particular emphasis is placed on the correct drawing of the bending moment and shear force diagrams. It is also necessary to know how to apply the PLV for the resolution of hyperstatic structures. Once the structures have been resolved, it is then necessary to know how to apply the various security verification methods.

3. Making judgments
Ability to autonomously evaluate and compare engineering solutions to a problem of limited complexity.

4. Communication skills
Ability to organize in working groups. Ability to communicate effectively in written and/or oral form also in English.

5. Learning skills
Ability to catalogue, schematize and rework the notions acquired.

Course content

The course is divided into a first part of Solid Mechanics and a second part of Structural Mechanics. The first part therefore includes the analysis of deformation and stress, the constitutive relations and the general relations relating to work and deformation energy. The second part deals with the constraints, the kinematic classification of structures, the resolution of isostatic structures, with the relative tracing of the diagrams of the characteristics of the internal stress. Then follows the study of the beam and the solid of De Saint Venant, with the analysis of the fundamental cases of stress: normal force, simple bending (straight and deviated) and compound, shear and torsion, together with the safety checks. Finally, the PLV applied to beam systems for the resolution of simple hyperstatic structures is discussed.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites or propaedeutic requirements. However, students are advised to at least have previously attended the following courses: Mathematical Analysis A, Geometry and Rational Mechanics

Bibliography

Introduction to Structural Mechanics. Angelo Marcello Tarantino. Pitagora Editrice Bologna, 2009, pp.252.

Teaching methods and tools

The lessons are frontal and include a fair amount of practical exercises. Tutoring is carried out regularly, also with the help of teaching assistants. Occasionally, thematic seminars are organized, held by external professors or visiting professors.

Assessment methods and criteria

The exam will take place at the end of the course according to the official exam calendar. The learning assessment is carried out through a first written question, which generally involves the resolution of a hyperstatic structure or the calculation of displacements using the PLV. If the student satisfactorily solves the first question, then the second part of the exam takes place, which is oral. The texts of the written tests are different from each other and the correction takes place immediately after delivery. The time allowed for the written test is approximately one hour, while the oral test lasts approximately half an hour. All the topics covered during the course are part of the oral interview. The individual questions may concern the illustration of concepts, but also the analytical demonstrations of the statements. For the attribution of the grade, the written test and the oral test have the same weight. No material is recommended for the written test, however the student can use texts, handouts and calculators