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Leveraging Mixed Reality for Augmented Structural Mechanics Education

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Leveraging Mixed Reality for Augmented Structural Mechanics Education Paper ID #35031 Leveraging Mixed Reality for Augmented Structural Mechanics Education Dr. Mohamad Alipour, University of Virginia Mohamad Alipour is a postdoctoral researcher with the Department of Engineering Systems and En- vironment at the University of Virginia. His research broadly focuses on data-driven structure and in- frastructure assessment and his specific research interests are in the field of learning-based information extraction, computer vision-based structural health monitoring and inspection, and mixed reality systems for structural analysis, design, and education. Prof. Devin K. Harris, University of Virginia Dr. Harris is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering within the Department of Engineering Systems at the University of Virginia (UVA). He is also the Director of the Center for Transportation Studies and a member of the Link Lab. Dr. Harris also holds an appointment as the Faculty Director of the UVA Clark Scholars Program. He joined the UVA as an Assistant Professor in July 2012. He had a prior appointment at Michigan Technological University as the Donald F. and Rose Ann Tomasini Assistant Professor in structural engineering. His research interests focus on large scale civil infrastructure systems with an emphasis on smart cities. Dr. Harris often uses both numerical and experimental techniques for evaluating the performance civil infrastructure systems, both in the laboratory and the field. His work has included studies on image-based measurement techniques, crowd-sourcing, data analytics, condition assessment and structural health monitoring, and the application of innovative materials in civil infrastructure. Dr. Mehrdad Shafiei Dizaji, University of Massachusetts Lowell I am a postdoctoral researcher at University of Massachusetts Lowell in Structural Dynamics & Acoustic Systems Laboratory working with Dr. Zhu Mao. My recent ongoing research focused on Data-Driven Structural Health Monitoring, Deep Learning, Signal Processing, Time Series, and Phase-Based Video Magnification. I received my PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2020 under supervision of Dr. Devin Harris. Mr. Zachary Bilmen, University of Virginia Zachary is a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science at the University of Virginia. He worked under Professor Devin Harris and Dr. Mohamad Alipour in developing software for Mixed Reality Applications of Civil Engineering education. Zac is interested in the application and development of cutting edge technologies, especially in context of cross-disciplinary projects. Ms. Zijia Zeng, University of Virginia Zijia graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. While there, she joined Professor Devin K. Harris’s research group and contributed to developing applications for non-intrusive infrastructure maintenance and structural visualization. Zijia’s fields of interest include immersive technology and computer vision, and she is currently working as a software engineer. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2021 Leveraging Mixed Reality for Augmented Structural Mechanics Education Abstract The field of structural mechanics deals with the behavior of bodies under loads, and a considerable portion of structural mechanics education involves the introduction of theoretical models to describe the behavior of real-world structural elements. However, the gap between abstract theoretical descriptions of the behavior in the classroom versus the experience and perception of the deformation can be an obstacle to structural mechanics education and learning. This paper presents preliminary results of the use of mixed reality technology to bridge this gap by enabling real-time simulation of structural elements and effective and immersive visualization of their structural response. To that end, this paper introduces a server-client architecture, where user- defined loading is applied to a finite element model of the structure on a computational server, and the computed response is superimposed and visualized in the physical environment. The results can be interactively examined from different viewpoints and the desired level of detail by the engineer under training. The proposed framework was used to create a series of visualization modules for a series of beams and a more complex bridge structure under flexure, torsion, tension, and compression. The system was then deployed in the form of a mobile augmented reality application accessible through smartphones for broad accessibility. Markerless tracking was used to increase the flexibility and ease-of-use of the application and color contours and colorbar displays were overlaid to improve students’ understanding of the deformation and strain results. Preliminary results of the implementation showed its promise as a flexible, interactive, and efficient learning tool. Future work should focus on the evaluation of the application to assess its effectiveness in improving structural mechanics education as well as to identify its potential limitations. Introduction Effective engineering education relies heavily on the capability of instructors to elicit connections between external representations of physical phenomena and the underlying laws of physics that explain them. For instance, teaching structural mechanics courses which are foundational components of civil, mechanical, aerospace, marine, naval, and offshore engineering sub- disciplines, relies on the ability to demonstrate the physical configuration of a structure (e.g., geometry, connections, supports, loads, etc.), as well as its deformation behavior under external loads. These courses are traditionally delivered by a primary lecture component usually complemented by structural laboratory demonstrations. While the lecture component covers the theoretical concepts and derivations using diagrams and simplified drawings, laboratory demonstrations are known to improve students’ understanding of the concepts through observation and experimentation [1]-[2]. Nevertheless, traditional modes of course delivery leave a gap between classroom depictions of idealized structural diagrams and a first-hand experience and perception of the structural members and their load-deformation behavior. This gap can result in reduced understanding of the physical phenomena and can be an obstacle to structural mechanics education and learning [3]-[6]. An example of classroom drawings of deformation behavior of a simple cantilever beam is shown in Figure 1, where the beam is subjected to different modes of loading and deformation (bending, torsion, tension, and compression). As can be seen, while these depictions help visualize structural deformation patterns, their static and 2D nature and lack of interactivity limits their intuitiveness and capability to fully convey the physical deformation phenomenon. For instance, it is tedious to use such 2D visualizations to demonstrate concepts such as: plane sections remaining plane in simplified bending, the effects of flexural and shear deformation in thin and thick beams, thinning and bulging of tensile and compressive members due to the Poisson effect, and warping of rectangular sections under torsion. Moreover, visualizing the 3D state of stress throughout the member in each one of these cases can be even more difficult. Figure 1. Sample classroom illustration of deformations under (a) bending, (b) torsion, (c) tension, and (d) compression Experimental laboratory demonstrations are an effective means of providing students with a physical understanding of engineering theories, but they can be prohibitively expensive and cumbersome [7]. For example, demonstrations involving medium to large structural members in structural mechanics laboratories require sizeable and costly loading machines and reaction frames attached to strong floors, placing smaller engineering programs and their students at a learning disadvantage. Even when such facilities are available, the flexibility and repeatability of such demonstrations are limited, preventing the students from creatively examining scenarios other than the prescribed set up to facilitate experience and discovery in their own time and from the comfort of their homes. Such limitations were even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the challenges of in-person training, which highlight the importance of complementary teaching aids that are not classroom-specific. Practical limitations aside, laboratory sessions usually focus on demonstrating the physical behavior with the expectation that the students establish a connection between the classroom theory and the physical phenomena they are witnessing in the laboratory. In other words, during an experiment, the sensing results can only be shown on a computer screen that is separate from the test specimen under loads. Registering the location of the sensing results on the screen with their corresponding locations on the specimen makes it difficult for students to make the connections and results in added cognitive load [8]. Alternatively, different forms of multimedia such as video demonstrations and computer simulations do not fully capture the experience of interacting with 3D representations of structures. This study aims to bridge the gap between abstract theoretical models and physical representations of behavior through the use of the emerging Mixed Reality technology. Mixed Reality (MR) aims to blend virtual and physical environments, creating an immersive experience and enabling interaction with
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