OregonState_DLM
Quick Links
- I have been given a DLM-RSD, and want to know how to use it
- I want to develop an algorithm to work with DLM-RSD data
- I want to build my own DLM-RSD
- For more information, check out the wiki
Overview
Desktop Learning Modules (DLMs) are created in an attempt to assist with students synthesizing seemingly disparate course concepts when used in conjunction with inductive and interactive learning techniques. At Oregon State, two DLM Response Spectrum Devices (RSDs) have been created with a focus on understanding how soil and transportation infrastructure interact during natural hazards.
The response spectrum is an engineering design tool that tracks the response of simplified structures to external loading. For instance, a displacement response spectrum may track the maximum displacement of many different bridge decks or elevated roadways during earthquake loading. The power of the response spectrum as a design tool is significant. It enables engineers to investigate how a wide variety of transportation infrastructure systems will respond during an earthquake. That information can help to specify the preferable alternative design.
We developed a DLM to promote the inductive learning of response spectra for transportation infrastructure. We chose to develop and implement the response spectrum device first because of the numerous possible alternatives and it was the most straightforward design, could be developed with the least expense, and would be widely applicable across a variety of civil engineering sub disciplines. Two graduate students, one in transportation engineering and one in geotechnical engineering worked with the machine shop in the college of engineering to design high quality physical models. These models will be implemented in several civil engineering classes at Oregon State University staring in the Fall Quarter of 2016.