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Exploring Materials Engineering with DIY Test Machine & Arduino
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[QUOTE="Gersty, post: 6027629, member: 161820"] Hello there. I'm a veteran science teacher at the middle and high school level. I've taught a few years of physics and am interested in moving towards engineering. I have looked at a number of available curricula like Project Lead the Way which require a significant investment in time and money regarding training and curriculum materials. I'm still considering this approach but in the meantime wanted to get my feet wet. I am interested in building a quarter-long unit on [I]Materials Engineering. [/I]For this unit I want to build a low cost universal testing machine based on a 10-20 kg load cell and Arduino. The idea is to have kids do some of the same build projects they would do in an ordinary physics class (toothpick bridge, CO2 car, windmill, crane, trebuchet, etc...) but have them test a number of materials for strength and toughness in tension, compression, and bending. They would learn to build a stress strain curve and calculate Young's Modulus in order to decide which materials to use in their build project. I'm looking for advice regarding... 1. Building the test machine. I've looked at 2-3 examples of DIY test machines on youtube already. I'm thinking about using threaded rod and rectangular steel tubing. No access to welding gear means I'll be bolting it together. 2. Is a 10kg load cell like this one [U][URL]https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13329[/URL][/U] sufficient? Should I go with 20 kg? I'm new to the idea of stress and strain calculations and so I'm not sure what size my samples will need to be but I'm planning on using popsicle stick sized samples of wood, plastics, thin metal pipes and tubes, toothpicks, etc...Given that, what amount of force will I need to apply, and which load cell will be appropriate? 3. Arduino as a data collection device. I have researched the idea of using an Arduino Uno with a load cell amplifier HX711 board and have spent time online with Arduino tutorials and it seems do-able. Thanks in advance for any input. [/QUOTE]
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