Description: MATLAB in Engineering Mechanics is an introductory course in technical computing, MATLAB, and numerical methods. The emphasis is on informed use of mathematical software. We want you to learn enough about the mathematical functions in MATLAB that you will be able to use them correctly, appreciate their limitations, and modify them when necessary to suit your own needs.

Goal: By the end of the course you will be competent at writing your own MATLAB code to solve a technical computing problem in Engineering Mechanics on graduate level.

Grading: Total course grading is 70 % homework and 30 % final project. Homework is the average of the weekly homework assignments. Final project is the grading of the written report on the final project (individual!). There is no written or oral exam.

News

Hand-Outs
- The course contents, please read closely!
- Course text: Cleve Moller, `Numerical Computing with MATLAB,' SIAM, 2004.
   Free at: http://www.mathworks.com/moler/chapters.html
- Lecture 1 m-files + notes: Lecture1.zip
- Lecture 2 m-files: Lecture2.zip

Homework
The assignment numbers are according to the web based course text:  http://www.mathworks.com/moler/chapters.html.
Unfortunately the SIAM published course text sometimes shows a different numbering.
Please, hand-in your homework on paper at the start of class or before class in my papermailbox, 4B-1.
- HW Set 1: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.8, 1.19 1.20 1.25, 1.38, 1.39.    Due: Thu, Nov 19, 15:45 h.
- HW Set 2: 2.3, 2.5, 2.9, 2.13, 2.19, 2.21, 2.23.                  Due: Thu, Nov 26, 15:45 h.
 
Solutions
- Homework Set 1, AnsHWSet1.pdf

Office Hours
Stephan Hannot:     Wed. all day,     room 4A-1-20    mailto:s.d.a.hannot@tudelft.nl
Arend L. Schwab:     Mon. 14-16 h.,  room 4B-1-24    mailto:a.l.schwab@tudelft.nl

Log

Week 1

• Introduction to MATLAB.

In the weekly lecture hour I will not repeat the course text. Instead, I will demonstrate the topic by means of an Engineering Mechanics example. This week, for introduction, I talked about the steady curving of a bicycle. In particular: given the lean angle of the bike, the steering angle and the forward velocity of the rear wheel what is the steady curve negotiated by the bicycle? It turns out to be a tricky 3D geometry problem. With the help of Mathworld for the plane plane intersection and the definition of the rotation matrix in terms of axis-angle, I showed how you can work out such a problem. Next, I demonstrated the coding in MATLAB to get numbers and graphs. I used a 2 stage technique: first ad-hoc numeric, next use these expressions to repeat these calculations and make a graph. Finally I showed a symbolic derivation. See some lecture notes and m-files under hand-outs. Read course contents, Chapter 1 of the course text and do Homework Set 1.

Week 2

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009, 15:45-17:30 u, room F.     

• Linear Equations.

One of the problems encountered most frequently in scientific computing is the solution of systems of simultaneous linear equations. In short I discussed some examples. One of these, the FEM equations K*u=f for 2D truss structures were treated in depth, together with various MATLAB programming aspects like structures and array subscripting. See m-files under hand-outs. Read chapter 2 of the course text and do Homework Set 2.

Week 3

Thursday, Nov 26, 2009, 15:45-17:30 u, room F.     

• Interpolation & Fourier Analysis.