This project will fabricate a design demonstration support system for use in undergraduate civil engineering education. A computation center and two physical modeling support centers will be fabricated for use with demonstration modules to enable students to observe physical phenomena and failure mechanisms in soil. The project includes funds for data acquisition capabilities so that students will be able to obtain measurements of displacements, loads and pressures within soil in order to verify design procedures common in engineering practice. The apparatus will provide the opportunity to incorporate novel laboratory experiences and design projects into civil engineering education. Course modifications will be made in order to incorporate the laboratories into the geotechnical/ geoenvironmental program. The laboratory demonstrations will enhance the students' understanding of material behavior and mathematical methods used to solve engineering problems. The behavior of soil and pore water will be observed in the laboratory. Failure mechanisms that are predicted from theory will be demonstrated. Flow paths and total heads will be observed in flow through porous media experiments. Mathematical solutions to governing differential equations which are used to solve engineering problems will be verified in the laboratory with the aid of the computation center.
