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Future Students

Courses

Earning the Certificate

The minimum standards for the Composite Structures: Materials and Manufacturing certificate include a cumulative GPA of 3.0 for required courses and a grade of 2.7 or higher for each of the graded courses in this certificate. Students must complete a minimum of 15 credits for this certificate.

Course details and descriptions

MSE 575: INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITE MATERIALS (3 CREDITS)

Introduction to advanced composite materials, applications, and manufacturing methods. Overview of different composites with a focus on fiber-reinforced polymers. Thermal, chemical, and mechanical properties and their characterization methods. Overview of processing science of composites with case studies from the aerospace industry. Defects, damage mechanisms and failure of composites.

MSE 587: COMPOSITES ENGINEERING, PRODUCTION, AND MAINTENANCE (3 CREDITS)

Overview of composite materials and processes and how the unique characteristics of composites are accommodated in the disciplines and practices of engineering, maintenance, and production to assure composite structural part integrity throughout the product life cycle.

MSE 590*: COMPOSITE MATERIALS IN MANUFACTURING (3 CREDITS)

This course explores the practice of manufacturing and engineering disciplines to accommodate the unique characteristics of composites, emphasizing thermosets. Valid final parts are based on stable processes and proper inspection practices to mitigate defects and ensure expected delivered product performance. Supporting topics, as examples, include tooling and the effect of design on manufacturing implementation and acceptance criteria.

ME/MSE 563*: ADVANCED COMPOSITES: DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING (3 CREDITS)

Introduction to polymer rheology. Manufacturing and processing techniques for polymer- and ceramic-matrix composites; design considerations related to manufacturing techniques; filament winding, autoclave, press-consolidation. Thermoplastic molding, extrusion and melt mixing. Automated fabrication: Automated fiber placement and big area additive manufacturing. Bonding and welding: ultrasonic welding, secondary bonding.

ME 450: INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND DESIGN (3 CREDITS)

Stress and strain analysis of continuous fiber composite materials. Orthotropic elasticity, lamination theory, failure criterion, and design philosophies, as applied to structural polymeric composites.

ME/MSE 589: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: MATERIALS, PROCESSING AND APPLICATIONS (3 CREDITS)

Additive manufacturing processes for polymers, metals, ceramics, and composite materials. Operating principles, key process parameters important to the part build process, and the importance of design. Microstructure of the build parts, dependence on processing conditions, the mechanical and physical properties, defects, and relevant post-processing treatments for each material system. Hybrid processes, and adoption in various fields.

ME/MSE 600: INDEPENDENT STUDY / RESEARCH (3-6 CREDITS, Culminating Experience)

The course will cover several topics focused on practical applications focused on composite materials and manufacturing. These may include design and processing of polymer composites, processing-structure-properties, maintenance, repair and tooling, non-destructive and destructive analysis, etc.

*Students will take either MSE 590 OR ME/MSE 563.