Dynamic Mechanical Engineering

[Nubar Vance]

TheMS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering (Dynamics and Control) educates and trains multidisciplinary professionals in the modeling, analysis, simulation, and control of complex time-evolutionary systems. It is a unique program of study that encompasses advanced analytical dynamics, nonlinear dynamical systems, linear and nonlinear dynamics and vibrations, and linear and nonlinear control. The program equips students to apply their knowledge to a variety of complex systems encountered in nature and society, especially those in civil, mechanical, and aerospace engineering and applied mechanics.

This degree provides the graduate student with a broad, well-rounded, advanced education that can be applied to many specific technologically-advanced fields in which dynamics and control play a pivotal role. Upon completion of the program, students are brought to the cutting edge of current research as well as relevant areas of application.

Use the link below to download the Cost of Attendance to see a summary of tuition and fees by semester. The document is a typical example and the number of courses, and time to complete the program, will vary by student.

This program is also available online to professional engineers through DEN@Viterbi. Because the DEN@Viterbi program provides a fully equivalent academic experience, the degree a USC engineering student earns is the same whether they are on-campus or online.

The following courses and program requirements serve as program planning for DEN@Viterbi students. Course offerings and availability are subject to change. Please consult with advisor if you have any questions.

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Articular cartilage functions to transmit and translate loads. In a classical structure-function relationship, the tissue resides in a dynamic mechanical environment that drives the formation of a highly organized tissue architecture suited to its biomechanical role. The dynamic mechanical environment includes multiaxial compressive and shear strains as well as hydrostatic and osmotic pressures. As the mechanical environment is known to modulate cell fate and influence tissue development toward a defined architecture in situ, dynamic mechanical loading has been hypothesized to induce the structure-function relationship during attempts at in vitro regeneration of articular cartilage. Researchers have designed increasingly sophisticated bioreactors with dynamic mechanical regimes, but the response of chondrocytes to dynamic compression and shear loading remains poorly characterized due to wide variation in study design, system variables, and outcome measurements. We assessed the literature pertaining to the use of dynamic compressive bioreactors for in vitro generation of cartilaginous tissue from primary and expanded chondrocytes. We used specific search terms to identify relevant publications from the PubMed database and manually sorted the data. It was very challenging to find consensus between studies because of species, age, cell source, and culture differences, coupled with the many loading regimes and the types of analyses used. Early studies that evaluated the response of primary bovine chondrocytes within hydrogels, and that employed dynamic single-axis compression with physiologic loading parameters, reported consistently favorable responses at the tissue level, with upregulation of biochemical synthesis and biomechanical properties. However, they rarely assessed the cellular response with gene expression or mechanotransduction pathway analyses. Later studies that employed increasingly sophisticated biomaterial-based systems, cells derived from different species, and complex loading regimes, did not necessarily corroborate prior positive results. These studies report positive results with respect to very specific conditions for cellular responses to dynamic load but fail to consistently achieve significant positive changes in relevant tissue engineering parameters, particularly collagen content and stiffness. There is a need for standardized methods and analyses of dynamic mechanical loading systems to guide the field of tissue engineering toward building cartilaginous implants that meet the goal of regenerating articular cartilage.

Modeling the dynamic behavior of physical systems. Concepts of causality, dependent and independent storages, and state. Introduction to bond graphs. Generation of state equations; analytical and computer simulation of system behavior. Application to problems of engineering interest.

Juniors and seniors in mechanical engineering take this course. Many first year graduate students in mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering also take it. Many students take ME 390 to become familiar with dynamic analysis.

Many engineering components can be described in terms of energy. Resistors and dashpots dissipate energy. Springs, masses, capacitors, and inductors store energy but do not generate it or dissipate it. Still other components such as gears, levers and motors convert energy from one form to another. In this course you will learn how complex engineering systems can be described in terms of small number of basic energetic components. ME 390 considers especially the dynamic behavior of engineering systems, including descriptors such as time constants, natural frequency and damping ratio, and frequency response.

Meet Scott Duncan, a mechanical engineer with General Dynamics Mission Systems in Scottsdale, Arizona. We caught up with Scott to discuss his work on Rescue 21, an advanced command, control and communications system that enables the U.S. Coast Guard to execute its search and rescue missions and locate mariners in distress, save lives and property at sea.

I actually first visited the General Dynamics campus in Scottsdale (AZ) in 2014,when I took a group of students from the Boys and Girls Club to eCrew (a science and mathengineering education program). I started working at General Dynamics in January 2018 after I earned my degree in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University.

As a mechanical engineer, I jump around tasks frequently. Some days I am hands-on and test components I designed in CAD (computer-aided design) programs or conduct failure analysis on equipment from our antennas.Other days I am in front of my computer updating our extensive diagrams and writing white papers or technical reports for the customer. During meetings, I look at new developments to make sure the mechanical factors have been addressed, such as hidden costs due to product mounting or deployments that need documentation updates.I currently work in a mechanical role for the Rescue 21 program and also support other programs.

One of the exciting things about working in Rescue 21 is our ability to incorporate new technologies into the system. One of the ways Rescue 21 introduces new technologies is through our Research & Development projects.Many of the research and development projects are demonstrated to the customer and have resulted in new opportunities and implementation of the newer technology. As servers have grown more powerful, we have been able to replace hardware with software to reduce the Rescue 21 "footprint," making the system more efficient.

At one point, Rescue 21 required upwards of three full server racks to process signals, and by leveraging these new technologies that has gone down to a single rack. In addition, Rescue 21 has expanded functionality to allow neighboring sectors to receive remote communications in emergency situations with what is called sector-to-sector handoff. This was successfully operated during the 2018 hurricane season to mitigate outages.Another way that we introduce new technology to the Rescue 21 system is by participating in capstone (senior design) projects with local universities. Through this program, we are able to mentor and work with a broad diversity of engineering students to solve a real-world problem. Upon completion of their research and development, we are able to take their product and refine it for real-world implementation.

After working at the Boys and Girls Club for so long I realized how many different walks of life there are. I was surprised by how many kids never had plans to attend college or didn't have the confidence to pursue STEM. Mentoring these kids is rewarding because you are providing them with new opportunities and by the last session you can see their passion, too.

I always enjoyed science fiction, especially as a kid. I knew I wanted to work on technologies like in the books I read, I just never thought I was capable. Now I get paid to tinker with and understand new technology, so I feel that my job is my passion, and the work I am involved in continues to drive that passion. It also helps that Rescue 21 is a fulfilling program to work for, with the goal to leverage new technology to save lives.

Dynamic mechanical analysis (abbreviated DMA) is a technique used to study and characterize materials. It is most useful for studying the viscoelastic behavior of polymers. A sinusoidal stress is applied and the strain in the material is measured, allowing one to determine the complex modulus. The temperature of the sample or the frequency of the stress are often varied, leading to variations in the complex modulus; this approach can be used to locate the glass transition temperature[1] of the material, as well as to identify transitions corresponding to other molecular motions.

Polymers composed of long molecular chains have unique viscoelastic properties, which combine the characteristics of elastic solids and Newtonian fluids. The classical theory of elasticity describes the mechanical properties of elastic solids where stress is proportional to strain in small deformations. Such response of stress is independent of strain rate. The classical theory of hydrodynamics describes the properties of viscous fluid, for which stress response depends on strain rate.[2] This solidlike and liquidlike behaviour of polymers can be modelled mechanically with combinations of springs and dashpots, making for both elastic and viscous behaviour of viscoelastic materials such as bitumen.[3]

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