Composites in construction: A research experience for teachers

Abstract

A grant to the University of South Carolina from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program supported five high school science teachers to conduct engineering research on the university campus during the summer of 2002. The goal was to increase the teacher's knowledge of engineering materials and to enhance their inquiry skills. The teachers also developed several laboratory modules that were derived from their research to take back and use in their classroom. The teachers conducted research on the use of fiber reinforced composite materials to strengthen and stiffen the components of bridges. For the past two decades, composites have been introduced to the construction industry as a practical way to improve the load carrying capacity of existing concrete, steel and wooden structures. Wood was chosen for the RET research due to the availability of wood beams, the limited duration of their summer research experience, and the ease in creating easily transportable in-class laboratory modules. Specifically, the teachers investigated the factors affecting the strength of the bond between epoxy-glass composites and southern yellow pine. During the six-week program, the teachers learned to conduct literature research in the library, to design experiments, to fabricate composite material overlays on wood beams, to test the beams to determine strength and stiffness improvements and to test the bond strength after various environmental exposures. Through these experiences, the teachers gained increased content knowledge, design of experiments skills, and useful instructional materials.