Mechanical Engineering

This course introduces the techniques and possibilities in modern experimental mechanics for the characterization of the mechanics of solid, porous, and granular materials using a range of physics techniques and full-field analyses. The course pays particular attention to full-field analyses using optical methods (with a focus on digital image correlation), x-ray and neutron imaging and scattering approaches, and wave propagation. The course includes both theoretical and practical parts, and involves study visits to MAX IV and ESS. Inverse analyses and digital image/signal processing in the context of experimental analyses are also covered.

The course covers the topic of renewable resources, including wind, sun, tides, and biomass as well as their significance for energy supply. At the beginning, the focus lies on the control of a photovoltaic plant. The modeling comprises irradiation and maximum-power-point-tracking. Furthermore, the modeling of wind energy conversion systems is considered. Other topics include battery application, fuel cells, and tidal energy. 

This course develops an understanding of the principles of a variety of industrially-significant processes concerned with energy conversion and use, and of the design and operation of plant relying on those processes (including gas and steam turbines, boilers and heat exchangers, reciprocating engines, refrigeration and air-conditioning plant). It develops an ability to make thermodynamic analyses of the processes involved and to select and apply rational performance criteria and parameters. Students develop an awareness of the power and utility of thermodynamics in engineering design, both at the system and the component detail level, with recognition of the constraints imposed by materials, stressing, economics and the environment.