University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The realization of offshore renewable energy (ORE) technologies goes beyond technology development: students who will become professionals in the offshore energy sector also need to be aware of the economic, environmental, social, spatial and legal aspects of technology.
This blended intensive engineering course will comprise various tutorials covering the multi- and interdisciplinary approaches used in the field and introduce challenge-based project work, giving a great opportunity for students to work in teams in the context of a competition. Students with begin with online self-study centred around digital twins and tutorials, culminating in a one-week in-person session where they write a report, interact with external stakeholders and present their findings for assessment.
The core team (i.e., the experts designing the digital twins and serving also as coordinators of each digital twins/ module and mentors to the various groups) will formulate the challenges and adjust these among groups to prime the arrival at different solutions. For example, one group will be assigned to “design an energy farm with >20% wave devices,” while another to “design an energy farm with >20% solar devices,” etc.
A student who has participated in the BIP can:
identify how offshore renewable resources (wind, wave, solar) are quantified by performing basic data analyses on ORE data and modifying ORE digital twin settings.
use spatial, environmental, and social models to analyse hybrid devices, device systems, their economics, locations, and designs.
connect the energy farm design to the electricity grid and possibly trading in ancillary services in the context of quantifying the income generated by offshore assets relative to their costs.
to interpret exclusive economic zones across borders for multiple energy farm plans, life-cycle assessment studies, and stakeholder interviews.
understand how climate change affects offshore renewable resources.
defend ORE designs based on effective collaboration with international and interdisciplinary teams.
The aim of this course is to provide EES MSc-students with basic and technical knowledge of the full range of RE technologies which enables them to apply this in a system analysis approach or when drawing up plans for the energy composition in an (as much as possible) carbon-free country with a close to 100 % delivery certainty.
At the end of the course, the student is able to:
define RE and the basics of the technologies indicated;
describe the characteristic of RETs for implementation;
map the energy needs of a village;
design a realistic energy plan based on RETs.
present and RE-plan with inputs, considerations, output;
evaluate different solutions for 1 energy plan question.
Tribology is the study of interfaces in relative motion. The need to control friction is not new; however, its systematic study is relatively recent while its precise nature is still not fully understood. This course aims to introduce students to tribology – the study of contact, friction, lubrication and wear – starting from the traditional definitions and transitioning to recent theories and models used to understand the fundamentals of tribology and enable the design, analysis and optimization of devices over multiple scales.
Part of the course will deal with classical (macroscale) definitions and models of contact, friction and lubrication including, but not limited to:
Hertzian contact and Coulomb friction;
Hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic lubrication; and,
Wear.
Example applications will be utilized to demonstrate these themes with analytical solutions as well as representative experimental and simulation results.
Subsequently transitioning to smaller scales, the course will look at the role of surface topography in contact and friction and investigate the importance of adhesion as a function of scale and roughness. Theories (and models) to be discussed are, for example:
Short and long range atomic interactions;
Roughness characterization (statistical, numerical, fractal);
Sphere-on-flat models with adhesion (JKR, DMT, M-D);
Rough surface models (Greenwood-Williamson, CEB, SBL);
Other approaches (finite element-based models, molecular dynamics).
Brief descriptions of experimental methods will introduce students to the tools used in micro- and nanotribology, such as profilometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nanoindentation. The course will also cover the coupling of tribology with dynamics and vibrations, especially in the micro- and nanoscale, via reviews of applications such as the head-disk interface of hard disk drives.
Scientific reading, writing, and argumentation are important competences for researchers. In this course, students perform a literature study on an Ocean Energy-related topic of their choice under the guidance of a relevant PI. The literature study results in a written report.
The report comprises a written discussion based on a scientific problem and an objective literature research. The student is expected to show that they are able to take a scientific position based upon findings from a literature survey. Furthermore, they are able to present logical arguments in writing. Therefore, good writing skills are part of the assessment of the report.
At the end of this course the student is expected to be able to:
Formulate a question in a scientifically sound way
Conduct a literature survey
Present findings and conclusions through a scientific text
Take and justify an arguable position or vision
The course aims to integrate the knowledge gained from preceding courses on mathematics, modeling and programming, crystallizing this with carefully chosen application examples and assignment work performed within teams. Specifically, students will explore the interplay between mathematics and engineering in the context of the dynamics of engineering systems, where the goal is to predict system behavior. MATLAB is the main software used in this course.
A broad spectrum of dynamical physical and virtual systems is covered in this course, including structural, fluid and network dynamics, heat transfer, reaction kinetics, etc. Students will be exposed to different types of engineering research with characteristic examples of applications and the models used to study those. By the end of the course, students should be able to describe the behavior of such systems, build the models necessary to capture the main aspects of this behavior, and analyze model predictions compared to empirical observations of reality; these aspects will be tested in a final exam. Lectures will take place each week to introduce and strengthen the concepts and theory necessary for the computer practicals. Students will work in teams to submit assignments on each of the main topics of the course. A poster symposium will take place midway through the course.
Team grades are calculated based on assignment submissions (60%), symposium posters (10%), as well as midterm (10%) and final exams (20%). Receiving more than one insufficient grade (<5.5 out of 10) on the assignments will result in the team members receiving a fail in this course, as these students will not be able to take the final exam. Participation in the symposium poster session, as well as the midterm and final exams is mandatory to pass this course. Receiving a passing grade (>5.5 out of 10) on the final exam is required to pass the course. Individual grades will be calculated using a peer review scheme.
This tutorial will present methods and models used to model tribological phenomena -contact, friction, lubrication, adhesion, etc. - relevant to fundamental and technological research. Students will contribute with flipped-classroom activities on tribological topics of their choice and write essays with a literature review and future research directions.
Suggested journal papers will be used to guide students in their literature review for a tribological topic of their choice. Together with future research directions identified by each student for their chosen topic, literature review will be reported in a written essay.
CAD/CAM is meant to serve as a bridge between the fundamentals learned in previous courses (e.g. “Materials Science and Engineering,” “Mechanics for TBK,” “Production Techniques”), and the comprehensive approach necessary for production management. Knowledge gained in this course will be further enhanced and applied in subsequent courses, including “Design and Construction for TBK” and the “BSc Integration Project.”
An overview of fundamental principles from materials science, mechanics, stresses, machine element design, failure theories, as well as conceptual design and visualization techniques, will be given during lectures, comprising primarily team work in computer laboratories to complete various projects: CAD, FEM, CAE and RP. In addition, the students will learn the principles behind CAM and attend CNC demonstration sessions. Students will work in teams to design, analyse and produce the parts necessary to create a prototype assembly as a final project, or reverse-engineer and reproduce an existing assembly.
Lectures will be interspersed throughout the laboratory sessions to introduce the concepts necessary for the computer projects, including technical drawing and the finite element method. Emphasis will be placed on the validation of FEM results with analytical theory. SolidWorks will be used for all computer laboratory sessions.
In the lectures mainly materials of everyday life, such as metals, ceramics and polymers are treated with an emphasis on mechanical and electrical properties. The red line throughout the lectures is the “triangular relationship” between structures, properties and processing of materials, e.g. from the process applied the structure on various length scales from atomic to macroscopic scale can be predicted and from the structure the properties can be predicted. Knowledge and understanding of these relationships are important when designing with materials. In addition students will obtain basic skills (1) applying a method for optimum materials selection in product design (Cambridge Engineering Selector) and (2) performing finite element calculations (using linear elasticity theory) to analyze local stresses and strains present in materials with various geometries subjected to mechanical loading.
Topics in ME371 include structural design (making sure things don’t fail) and design of machine elements (gears, bearings, etc). By the end of the course you should be able to:
Select materials and size components to avoid failures by yielding, fracture, and fatigue;
Select efficient shapes for structures appropriate to the loading (bending, torsion, etc);
Design bolted joints;
Select and size rolling element bearings;
Design journal bearings and select appropriate lubricants;
Analyze gears for forces and stresses; select and size gears;
Design springs, brakes, clutches, belts, and chains.
In addition, you should learn important design skills such as:
Working through a design problem from the concept to the final detailed design;
Writing an effective report, and presenting the cogent analysis;
Finding and applying the appropriate empirical, as well as theoretical, knowledge;
Extensively utilize FEA in design.
The approach in teaching this class will be the use of in-class instruction with group exercises, homework, FEA and project assignments.