This project, which is a collaboration of Northwestern, Norwich and Purdue Universities, is creating a web-based interactive version of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) sculpture to provide an effective learning opportunity and 24-7 access to students and educators in the United States and abroad. The AISC sculpture is a physical system that shows forty-eight types of connections found in standard construction practices. Because it is eight feet tall and weighs nearly 2500 pounds, students do not always have easy access to it. Moreover, today's students are more comfortable with web-based learning tools. The virtual sculpture shows close up view of each connection with descriptions of how it may be used, potential failure modes, sample calculations and field examples. In addition, to help students visualize the three-dimensional (3-D) nature of the stresses in each connection, 3-D finite element models are being created. The interactive tool is being designed to allow other educators and practicing engineers to contribute to the database of design calculations and field examples. Improving student understanding of steel connections is important because they play important roles in the integrity of structures; many structural failures are attributed to connection failures including the failures of the Hartford Civic Center in 1977, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City in 1980, and the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis in 2007.
Steel connections play important roles in the integrity of a structure, and many structural failures are attributed to connection failures. Connections are the glue that holds a structure together. The failures of the Hartford Civic Center in 1977, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City in 1980, and the I35W Bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 are attributed to connection failures. A good connection design requires engineer to have a good understanding of the mechanics and steel behavior. The engineer also should know the fabricator’s limitations and experience. During the past 30 years, in order to help students better understand various connection types, many schools (over 130) have acquired Steel Connection Sculptures. A steel connection sculpture is a physical system that shows different types of connections found in standard construction practices. Unfortunately, because of its size and location (eight feet tall, weighs nearly 2500 pounds and usually erected outdoor), students do not always have easy access to it. Moreover, today’s students who belong to the Google generation are more comfortable with 3D dynamic graphics and web based learning tools. For these reasons, from the fabrication drawings of the Steel Connection Sculpture at Minnesota State University, a solid model of the sculpture using Creo Elements (Pro/Engineer software) was created. In addition, an interactive three dimensional PDF file of the solid model that looks exactly like the sculpture at Minnesota State was created. The Interactive Virtual Steel Sculpture (in 3-D PDF) will allow students, instructors, and practicing engineers to manipulate the solid model; that is, they can view the model from different angles, pick a connection, zoom, pan, spin, or rotate the model. Moreover, while holding down the Ctrl key, if they click on a connection, they will be linked to another interactive PDF file that provides additional information for each connection type including blue prints, close-up views, field examples, sample calculations, and finite element models that display the local deformations and stress distributions in connections. The solid model of the sculpture was developed using Creo and converted to a 3D interactive PDF file to avoid the need for purchasing special software by other users. The interactive sculpture provides a 24/7 access to students, educators, and engineers in the United States and abroad. This learning tool also allows other educators and engineers to contribute to the database of design calculations (e.g., from EuroCodes) and field examples. A web page http://faculty.mnsu.edu/saeedmoaveni/ was also developed for the Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture. Users can download the Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture and all of the linked documents through this site. The utilities of the Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture have been presented at the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) conferences and workshop. Articles were also prepared and submitted to Journal of STEM Education for review. Additional demonstrations of the Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture are planned for steel design instructor workshop and 2016 annual steel conference. This project was a collaborative effort among faculty and students from different engineering programs and universities. Learning assessment of this virtual tool was conducted by a researcher specializing in learning and teaching using hands-on activities. A class of steel design students participated in the assessment process. There was a distinct difference in the performance between the group of students who learned a simple connection design using textbook and those who learned it from the Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture. For a given situation, most of the students who learned from the virtual sculpture assembled the connection correctly while those who learned from the textbook did not. Based on this assessment results, a set of digital quizzes was also developed and is available through the Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture website to help other educators assess their students' learning. The Virtual Steel Connection Sculpture affords an effective tool for visualizing and learning about different connection types and yields better educated students, better prepared engineers, and better communication among affiliated personnel.
