Use your imagination!
Previously, some students worked on projects like:
Maximum Longitudinal Expansion of a Bridge Member due to Thermal Changes
Pipe fence construction: A program that allows the user to receive an estimate for materials required to build a custom pipe fence
Mechanical values of tower structures
Computing cost and profit of any given project
Structural design problem: determine stresses in a beam due to dead loads, wind loads, and earthquake loads.
Direct Current Calculator
Reaction Forces of Beams (Cantilever and Simply Supported Beams)
Calculation of surface water runoff during a storm
Maximum allowable weight and reactions of a three dimensional frame
Maximum Allowable Area for Construction Of a House
Instantaneous heat gain due to lighting in nonresidential buildings
Construction Management Project Database
Construction Cost Estimating
Interactive Bridge Construction
Probability of an earthquake happening in a certain amount of time using different probability distributions
Spread of a point spill through an aquifer.
Thermal changes and loads in trusses
Traverse Correction
Profile elevations of a vertical parabolic curve, as used in the field of highway design
Shear Stresses and Strains in Solid Beams
Inter-traffic signal timing
Bridge safety specifications
Unknown Variables in Simply-Supported Beams
A Left Turn Bay
Snow loads on a building
Carbon Monoxide (CO) concentration in a three room restaurant
Shear and Bending Moment Diagrams and Cost Estimation of the Beam
Program of Solving Trusses Internal Forces
Channel Flow Lab
A program is designed to approximate the depth of water in a channel. This software is important because engineers often design creeks or streams in a design studio which require a certain appearance. This program allows the engineer to calculate the appropriate dimensions needed to produce the given effect. Based upon a program outlined in the example labs, and combined with information from a hydrodynamics book, this program is both simple and versatile in use.
Expected bending moment of a beam
The project consists of writing a C program that computes the expected bending moment of a beam at the point where it is supported. The bending moment is caused by two point loads of unknown magnitude that are applied to the beam at known locations. The magnitude of the loads and the moment they cause are determined using the cummulative distribution functions of each load. These functions are used to establish a relationship between the probability that a particular load will occur and the magnitude of the load.
Computations for adjusting and closing a traverse
The project consists of taking X and Y coordinates, returning X and Y coordinates and lengths of individual lines, and calculating percentages of the total perimeter and the cumulative percentages. Raw field data are input to the program which calculates a traverse closure instead of just computing the lengths of lines and percentages of total perimeter. The computations for adjusting and closing a traverse include: (i) Computing angular error; (ii) Computing course bearings or azimuths; (iii) Computing course latitude and departure; (iv) Determining error of closure and accuracy; (v) Adjusting course latitude and departure; and (vi) Computing station coordinates. The program implements all 6 steps to take raw traverse field data in the form of a right angle and a horizontal distance and compute a closed adjusted traverse loop.
Analyzing a statically determinant truss
The objective for this project is to simplify the work of analyzing a statically determinant truss. In the analysis find all the forces and reactions associated with a given truss. That is, find all the internal and external forces in the x and y directions and find out whether a certain member of the truss is acting in tension or in compression. The project utilizes a C program to solve a six by six system of equations using gaussian elimination and pivoting to solve for the unknowns.
Catenary cable
A catenary cable is one which is hung between two points not in the same vertical line. The project utilizes a program in C that calculates the horizontal tension at one end of the cable. The program uses two methods of calculating the tension: the bisection method, and the false position method.
Break even analysis
Often engineers must be able to determine the cost-effectiveness of projects, products, and differing options in order to solve engineering problems. This project examines what is called a break-even problem, determining the point at which two alternative options are economically equivalent.
This project uses an interactive program to facilitate the batch calculations involved in concrete mix design. Designing and mixing concrete can be a very involved and tedious process, involving numerous calculations and table look-ups. To ease the process, a C program is created in which the user inputs the desired slump and strength of the final concrete, as well as specifications of the aggregates they will be using. In addition to this program, the project has a web page that will consolidate the tables used in concrete design; the program prompts the user to use the table which is relevant to the data needed for input. The program will perform the necessary batch calculations and output the required ingredient weights to a summary sheet, which can be easily printed and used on the job-site.
Structures of water storage