Composite Materials & Engineering Center Wood Structural Engineering

The Wood Structural Engineering option provides the student with knowledge in the analysis and design of wood structures. This option provides the student with background in wood and wood-based materials, codified design procedures, design and detailing of wood structures, statistical methods, and basic structural analysis. The following is a sampling of courses that may be included in a plan of study for the structures option:

Selected Courses

CE 436  Design of Timber Structures.  3 credits.
Engineering properties of wood materials; analysis and design of members, connections, trusses, shearwalls and structural diaphragms; durability and moisture effects on engineered wood products.

CE 512  Dynamics of Structures.  3 credits.
Equations of motion, free vibration, damping mechanisms, harmonic, impulse, and seismic loading; shock and seismic response spectra, time and frequency domain analysis, modal analysis, structural dynamics in building codes.

CE 514  Advanced Mechanics of Materials.  3 credits.
Elastic stress-strain relations, shear center, unsymmetrical bending, curved beams, elastic stability, elastically supported beams, energy methods, thin-plates, shells.

CE 531  Probability and Statistical Models in Engineering.  3 credits.
Engineering applications of probability and statistics; Monte Carlo simulation; model estimation and testing; probabilistic characterizations of loads and material properties; risk and reliability analyses.

CE 532  Finite Elements.  3 credits.
Theory of finite elements; applications to general engineering systems considered as assemblages of discrete elements.

CE 536  Nondestructive Testing of Structural Materials.   3 credits.
Principles of nondestructive testing applied to wood-based materials, steel, concrete, and masonry.

CE 537  Advanced Topics in Structural Engineering.  3 credits.
Advanced topics in structural engineering, including elastic stability, plates and shells, and other relevant topics.

CE 538  Earthquake Engineering.  3 credits.
Seismology, size of earthquakes, seismic ground motion, seismic risk, behavior of structures subjected to earthquake loading seismic response spectra, seismic design codes, lateral force-resisting systems, detailing for inelastic seismic response.

CE 539 Advanced Design of Timber Structures.  3 credits.
Engineering properties of wood materials; theory and design of wood composites, connections and load-sharing systems; performance criteria and durability.

ME 534  Mechanics of Composite Materials.  3 credits.
Analysis of micromechanical and macromechanical behavior of composite materials with emphasis on fiber-reinforced composite; prediction of properties; stiffness and strength theories; laminated beams and plates; dynamic behavior; environmental effects.

MSE 402  Polymeric Materials.  3 credits.
Structural characterization, syntheses, and reactions of polymeric materials; relationships between structure and properties; viscoelasticity, deformation and physical behavior of polymers.

MSE 546/CE 596  Engineered Wood Composites.  3 credits.
Theory and practice of wood composite materials, manufacture and development.

MSE 547/CE 597 Polymers and Surfaces for Adhesion.  3 credits.
Physical chemistry of polymers and surfaces needed to understand interface morphology, adhesion mechanisms and bond performance.

MATH 440 Applied Mathematics I.  3 credits.
Partial differential equations; Fourier series and integrals; Bessel functions; calculus of variations; vector calculus; applications.

MATH 443  Applied Probability.  3 credits.
Axioms of probability theory; random variables; expectation; generating function; law of large numbers; central limit theorem; Markov chains.

MATH 573  Reliability Theory.  3 credits.
Statistical concepts; stochastic material strengths and lifetimes; strength vs. safety analysis; reliablility of coherent systems; maintenance models.

STAT 412  Biometry.  3 credits.
Principles and methods of statistical analysis as applied to biological experimentation.

STAT 512  Analysis of Variance of Designed Experiments.  3 credits.
Principles of experimental design and analysis and interpretation of data.