Course specification for MEC3107

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MEC3107 Thermofluids

Semester 1, 2020 On-campus Toowoomba
Short Description: Thermofluids
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences
School or Department : School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
Student contribution band : Band 2
ASCED code : 030799 - Mechanical, Industrial Enginee
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: (MEC2106 and ENM1600) or Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: GCNS or GDNS or MENS
Students cannot enrol in MEC3107 if they have successfully completed, or are currently enrolled in, MEC2101 or MEC3102

Rationale

Thermofluids is the study of fluids (liquids and gasses) and their interaction with the environment. Engineers take advantage of the ability to perform tasks by changing the temperature of fluids or forcing them to flow. Through an understanding of how these processes occur, engineers are able to refine current practices and devise new systems which perform more efficiently, which is beneficial to the environment and the economy. This course builds upon MEC2106 Introduction to Thermofluids by studying more complex systems and introducing more advanced analysis techniques to investigate the performance of individual components.

Synopsis

The analysis of thermofluids is based around forces and energy: this is how fluids interact with other fluids and solids as part of their environment. A consequence of every process is an increase in the chaos in the universe; the implications for this in engineering systems are explored. The effects of friction on subsonic fluid flow are investigated, while the nature of heat transfer transmitted by solids and fluids is explored in detail for practical situations.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. discriminate between systems which behave realistically and those which do not, applying this knowledge to analyse real engineering systems;
  2. analyse the effects of viscosity on the behaviour of fluids in subsonic flows;
  3. analyse the heat transfer through fluids and solids under static and dynamic conditions.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Introduction 20.00
2. Energy analysis of closed systems 10.00
3. Second law of thermodynamics 8.00
4. Entropy 8.00
5. Engine cycles 8.00
6. Internal viscous flow 11.00
7. External viscous flow 15.00
8. Steady heat conduction 10.00
9. Forced convection 10.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=MEC3107)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Cengel, YA, Cimbala, JM, and Turner, RH 2017, Fundamentals of thermal fluid sciences, 5th in SI Units edn, McGraw Hill.
(The text is available in electronic form and in soft cover. This textbook is also used in MEC2106 Introduction to Thermofluids and MEC4108 Advanced Thermofluids.)

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Cengel, YA & Boles, MA 2015, Thermodynamics: an engineering approach, 8th edn, McGraw Hill, NY.
Kreith, F & Bohn, MS 2011, Principles of heat transfer, 7th edn, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Australia.
Munson, BR, Young, DF & Okiishi, TH 2015, Fundamentals of fluid mechanics, 8th edn, Wiley, New York.
Singh, O 2008, Applied Thermodynamics, 3rd edn, New Age International, New Delhi.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 17.00
Lectures 26.00
Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 86.00
Tutorials 26.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Objectives Assessed Notes
Assignment 1 250 25 21 Apr 2020 1
Assignment 2 150 15 21 May 2020 2
Online Exam 600 60 End S1 1,2,3 (see note 1)

Notes
  1. This will be an open examination. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via ¾«¶«´«Ã½appDesk. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the official examination timetable has been released.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures and tutorials) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the marks available for that assessment item.

    Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.

    To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per Section 4.4.2 of the Assessment Procedure.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.

  6. Examination information:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    RESTRICTED: Candidates are allowed access only to specific materials during a Restricted Examination. The only materials that candidates may use in the restricted examination for this course are:
    1. writing materials (non-electronic and free from material which could give the student an unfair advantage in the examination);
    2. calculators which cannot hold textual information (Students must note the make and model of the calculator used in the examination on the front of the answer book or examination paper where applicable):
    3. Formula sheet (An A4 sheet (two sides) containing any information that they believe will be relevant for the examination). Tables, charts and graphs needed for the solution of the examination will be provided.


  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Students must familiarise themselves with the USQ Assessment Procedures (.

  2. Referencing in Assignments must comply with the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) style to be used is defined by the USQ library’s referencing guide. These policies can be found at

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:
1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. forms part of the Bachelor of Engineering Science, Bachelor of Engineering Honours, and Masters of Engineering Science and is benchmarked against the
o internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.
o professional accreditation standards of Engineers Australia.

Other requirements

  1. Computer, e-mail and Internet access:
    Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

  2. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.

Date printed 19 June 2020