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Course
MECN2005
Co-ordinator
Dr C Law
Other staff
Pre-requisites
PHYS1014
Co-requisites
Course website
SAQA credits 5
Course goals
The abilities and associated skills that are to be developed in this course are those required in the running of experiments and
communication of experimental investigations. In particular the course aims at demonstrating the importance of data acquisition
and the subsequent analysis of data. It encourages the students to apply their knowledge gained from the prescribed
experimentation lectures (MECN 2005) during their experimental sessions in the mechanical engineering laboratory.
The course is intended to form a firm foundation for future experimental studies crucial to both the following third year laboratory
course and the final year research projects. The course is also aimed at promoting the accurate communication of experiment
results and this is dealt with in detail in the lectured part of the course. Note experiments do not coincide with engineering science
lectures.
90%
Complementary studies
10%
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Course outcomes
Instructional objectives
At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:
Understand the fundamentals of the risk assessment process
Follow a structured experimental procedure
Prepare experimental equipment for data acquisition purposes
Take measurements to the best available precision and record the data
Perform data analysis on the recorded data, including uncertainty propagation
Appreciate and exploit the capabilities of selected engineering software packages
Produce components of a technical report to specification
Ability development
This course is intended to develop the abilities and skills required for:
The successful execution and analysis of an experiment,
Making use of a laboratory logbook,
Data processing, analysis and presentation,
The drafting of technical reports as per school guidelines.
In addition to the development of experimental methods, this course also serves as a vehicle for the development of
communication skills as part of the Complementary Studies knowledge area. Communication skills are gradually developed in the
area of research writing over a number of different courses. This course (MECN2005) serves as an introduction to the
developmental process. The student is required to answer specific questions relating to measured data. The answers to the
questions become the blueprint for a discussion that properly describes and assesses experimental data. The student is thereby
taught the process of constructing a useful discussion. In subsequent third year courses (MECN3003/6/7), the student will be
expected to develop his or her skills beyond the introductory level in a semi-structured environment. At the 4th year level
(MECN4006) these skills are developed to their exit level. This requires that the student be capable of effectively communicating
the context, aims, method, results and conclusions of his or her research project which takes place in an open-ended, unstructured
environment.
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Assessment
Composition of the final course mark, total of 100%
50%
Examination November
50%
Calculator restrictions
Category 3: no restrictions on calculating and data storage devices.
Assessment criteria
All students are required to participate in all aspects of the laboratory programme. The laboratory exercises will require a prelaboratory test, and a short report on each experiment performed. The short reports may be hand written and will concentrate on a
different aspect of a technical report for each submission. Any submission must be NEAT, LEGIBLE and CLEARLY
IDENTIFIED.
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Detailed contents
The course will consist of the following components:
The Planning and Execution of Experiments.
Dimensional Analysis, Similitude and Scale Modelling.
Characteristics and Presentation of Data.
Variability and Uncertainty of Data.
Technical Research Reporting.
Laboratory Measuring Systems.
Experimental laboratory work in each semester.
Risk Assessment associated with each laboratory experiment.
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Time requirements
Lecture hours:
10
10
24
Tutorial hours:
Tutorial self-study hours:
Practical/laboratory hours:
Assignment/project hours:
10
Total hours:
54
2 Day
Topic
Time
Venue
Friday
Core material
12:30 - 13:15
CB241
Special arrangements
Monday
Laboratory
14:15 - 17:00
NWE
Friday
Laboratory
14:15 - 17:00
NWE
MECN2005
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