Abstract
Undergraduate materials engineering students have difficulty conceptualizing the atomic-level processes responsible for plastic deformation. To aid in developing this conceptual understanding, interactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were introduced into the sophomore-level materials curriculum, integrating simulation with the traditional tensile testing laboratory. Students perform a tensile test using MD simulations on nanowire samples, and then compare these results with those from the physical tensile tests to develop a visual and more intuitive picture of plastic deformation of crystalline materials.
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Coughlan, A., Johnson, D., Diefes-Dux, H.A. et al. Enhanced Learning of Mechanical Behavior of Materials via Combined Experiments and nanoHUB Simulations: Learning Modules for Sophomore MSE Students. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1762, 31–36 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2015.152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2015.152