Structural integrity: designing against failure
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| 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | 2 Computer-marked assignments (CMAs) |
| Examination | No residential school |
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Summary
Structural integrity is the study of the safe design and assessment of components and structures under load, and has become increasingly important in engineering design. It integrates aspects of stress analysis, materials behaviour and the mechanics of failure into the engineering design process. The course is well-illustrated with case studies, and will be of interest to anyone associated with the design of any component or structure that experiences loading, and will be of benefit in developing skills in the analysis and assessment of product design. It has universal applicability in the UK and across international boundaries.
Course content
This is a Level 3 engineering course, which integrates aspects of design, materials selection and mechanical engineering under the banner of ‘structural integrity’. It will be of particular relevance to you if you are studying towards a BEng (Hons) or MEng qualification, or pursuing a BSc and will benefit from exposure to and an understanding of the application of stress analysis principles and the causes underlying materials failures. It is also a valuable updating course for professional engineers as part of your continuing professional development. Structural integrity therefore covers a wide range of skills underpinning the design of products, components and structures that must operate safely and reliably.
The course has two main themes. It starts with Stress analysis. The concepts within stress analysis have wide applicability, as there are very few manufactured components and products that do not experience any loading during their life. The course starts with an introduction to the fundamentals of stress analysis, in obtaining stresses from known loads, describing the stress state at a point in a component, and relating stress and strain in a material.
It progresses to looking at loads on structures and assemblies, and methods for analysing these and other loading situations. The concept of residual stress is introduced, and how residual stresses can be introduced during the manufacturing process.
The course then moves on to look at concepts of Fracture mechanics. These concepts need to be understood in order to design components that do not fail under their design load, particularly when fatigue loading or environmental effects may have impaired the component’s load-bearing capability. It shows how failure assessment can be used to obtain information as to why a component or structure failed so that better information is available to inform future designs. The material within this section includes the topics below.
- Fracture mechanics begins with an introduction to the study of components that contain flaws or cracks, and how the fracture toughness of materials can be as important as the strength in assessing safety. It then looks at how fatigue of materials occurs, how the fatigue process can be related to fracture mechanics parameters, and how the fatigue life of a component under complex loading can be assessed.
- Failure modes looks at how failures can be analysed to give insight into how a component was loaded and what form of loading or stress state led to failure. It examines how different materials fail according to their fundamental properties.
- Environmental factors; one of the most important factors influencing a material’s lifetime is the environment in which the component will spend its life: for example a factor such as corrosion can have a severe detrimental effect either by initiating or propagating existing flaws.
You will learn
- How to model the behaviour of engineering structures under load, and use stress analysis principles in problem solving.
- How to model and predict the performance of cracked structures under load.
- To interpret engineering case studies of failure in terms of fundamental fracture mechanics and stress analysis concepts.
Entry
This is a Level 3 course. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at Levels 1 and 2. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject, preferably with The Open University. You should have previously studied engineering-related courses at Level 1 and 2. You will also need mathematical skills for engineers or scientists. In particular you should be able to:
- describe the concept of stress in an engineering context, and relate it simply to an applied force
- describe the concept of strain, and its relation to stress through the Young’s modulus of a material
- recognise the names of common metals, ceramics and polymers
- distinguish between metals, ceramics and polymers in terms of their atomic and molecular structure, and understand how the atomic-level structure and microstructure of a solid material relates to its physical properties
- identify, from a curve of engineering stress against engineering strain for an elastic material, the Young’s modulus, yield stress and tensile strength of the material
- describe the mechanisms of creep, corrosion and fatigue in materials
- use mathematical principles to solve engineering-based problems.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
Make sure you are familiar with Windows and suitable word-processing and spreadsheet software.
Qualifications
T357 is an optional course in our
It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it can help to weight your degree towards a BSc. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
Excluded combinations
Sometimes you will not be able to count a course towards a qualification if you have already taken another course with similar content. To check any excluded combinations relating to this course, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
The course requires interpretation of a number of complex illustrations and diagrams. Students with a severe visual impairment, or who use a screen reader to study, are strongly recommended to contact their regional or national centre for advice before registering onto this course. The course materials are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Written transcripts are available for the audio-visual material. The books are available in a comb-bound format. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
The course comprises the printed course texts, a DVD-ROM, online forums and a course website.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. Some of your course software will be provided on disk.
You will need internet access and a computer with Microsoft Excel installed (other spreadsheet products are not suitable). If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you can use an Apple Mac or Linux computer if you can run Windows using Boot Camp or similar.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
Your tutor will help you with the course material and will mark and give feedback on the continuous assessment for the course.
Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
Professional recognition
This course is part of the BEng (Hons) programme, which can lead to CEng status with a professional engineering institution.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2010. We expect it to be available once each year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
An undergraduate course in Engineering and Technology.
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