Providing engineering students with an understanding of how to prevent and control equipment failures is critical to the future success of many businesses. This project responds to this need through the creation of a laboratory-based undergraduate course in structural engineering failure mechanisms, tailored with an emphasis on the aerospace industry. Learning modules covered in the course and laboratory include: fatigue and fracture, thermo-mechanical failure, fastener failure, wear, corrosion, and impact, composite materials failure, statistical analysis of failures, non-destructive evaluation, and structural health monitoring. Both junior and senior level students in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering benefit from the new material covered and the interactive format of this laboratory experience.
