Earthquake

t present there are three third year courses in structural engineering: Theory of Structures, Dynamics of Structures andComputer Methods in Structural Engineering 3. It is proposed combine dynamics ofstructures with the fourth year module in Earthquake Engineering, and to restructure the current Theory of Structures Course through introduction of a new course called Structural Form, Function and Design Philosophy, which replaces Dynamics of Structures. Theattached paper elaborates the reasons for this change.2.Group design project. A new course has been introduced in the 4thyear MEng programmes called Group Design Project (Potable Water Supply). This course is beingsupported by Prof. Hyde under the RAE Systems VP scheme and replaces the existing group design project (U00436). U00436 is being retained, but students will not be enrolled to it while the RAE scheme is running.3.Degree Programme Tables. Amendments have been made to all degree programme tables. There have been a number of minor corrections to course names (e.g. Analytical Techniques for Civil Engineers 2), the introduction of Structural Form, Function and Design Philosophy, and changes to the third year Fire degree programmes in that Fire SafetyEngineering 3 has been removed on the principle that students on all Structural Engineering degrees should be exposed to the new course in Structural Form, Function and DesignPhilosophy. A number of minor corrections were made to the 4th& 5thyear sections of the tables. Degree programme tables have been updated on line.Prepared, RBW, 30/1/05

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PAPER A2N:myhomemydocumentsMy School AdminBoSBoS_Pap_Civil_jan2005 Paper A.docProposed changes to 3RDYear Theory of Structures and Structural Dynamics Courses(wef SESSION 2005-06)Under the new degree programme structures, Theory of Structures (ToS3) has beenestablished as a 10 unit course, and Dynamics of Structures is also a 10 unit course. The third year Theory of Structures course is currently very difficult to teach within the allotted 18 lectures. There are also complaints from the students that the workload associated with this course is far too great for a 10 unit course, and that the laboratory workload (which was reduced this year to 2/3 of its previous size) is excessive. It is important that those who will become Civil or Structural Engineers receive the full content that this course formerly had before the new degree programme structure was implemented, but those who are on other degree programmes can manage with a reduced content and without the laboratory work.A second factor is that our whole degree programme also lacks some of the important overview elements of understanding structural form and corresponding behaviour. This proposal attempts to address these two issues.When the 3rdyear structures theory course was taught by Braj Sinha and Rodney Royles, they used 30 lectures to deliver what JMR is trying to deliver in 18 lectures. Until this year, this problem was not so acutely apparent because Theory of Structures and Matrix Structural Analysis were in a single course and the boundary between the two was more flexibly drawn. Now that Theory of Structures is a single 10 unit course, the problem is very apparent.A key difficulty is to find space for 10 more units of fundamental essential structures teaching in 3rdyear, without increasing the overall structures content and without displacing materialthat cannot be delivered elsewhere.For this purpose, it is proposed that the current 10 unit course Dynamics of Structures be moved to be a 4th/5thyear option, making space for the larger material currently in Theory of Structures to be transferred to a different course and permitting an expansion of the material on philosophical, functional and architectural aspects of the subject which are currently missing from our degree.The current Dynamics of Structures course is only taken by students on the Civil and the Structural Engineering with Architecture degree programmes, so in this proposal, this space will be allocated to a course entitled Structural Form, Function, and Design Philosophy, covering the more advanced material, concerning complex structural behaviour, philosophical aspects of structural theory and design, and fundamental theorems of structural mechanics. The more basic material, with which every new graduate is expected to be familiar, will be placed in the basic 10 unit Theory of Structures core course for all degree programmes. The laboratory programme will be placed in the advanced course, to reduce the workloadassociated with the basic 10 unit course.

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PAPER A3N:myhomemydocumentsMy School AdminBoSBoS_Pap_Civil_jan2005