1 INTEGRATING SIMULATION RESEARCH INTO CURRICULUM MODULES ON MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF MATERIALS: FROM THE ATOMISTIC TO THE CONTINUUM MRS Workshop Proceedings Ronald D. Kriz, Diana Farkas, and Romesh C. Batra Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia Abstract We describe the development of modules for teaching a senior level course, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, that incorporate the results of state of the art simulation techniques. The modules are Web-Java based and make extensive use of materials available through the Internet. The most important characteristic of these modules is that they teach the basics of materials mechanical behavior using research simulation codes that are state of the art in the materials simulation community. The simulation results span various length scales and start at the atomistic level, using embedded atom method techniques reaching finite element simulations at the continuum level. The modules attempt to stress the way in which macroscopic properties are controlled by phenomena at the atomistic and microstructural levels. Advanced computation and visualization techniques, including CAVE™ = virtual reality technology, are used to convey some of the more basic concepts. The course was taught by an interdisciplinary team of material scientists and engineering mechanicians. We will discuss our experience in teaching the course and the lessons learned. Keywords: Atomistic-Models; Continuum-Models; WWW modules; Java Introduction: Module Development Background Modules were developed and distributed on our SUN-VNI Wave-Java Web server, Ref [1]. Early efforts to create a distributed, Web-based, visual computing environment were funded by SUN Microsystems, Visual Numerics, and Virginia Tech’s Advanced Communications and Information Technology Center (ACTIC). This project was largely motivated by a student project, “Educational Atomic Models Using PV-WAVE & Java” by Arturo Falck, in ESM4714: Scientific Visual Data Analysis and Multmedia, Spring semester 1996, Ref [2]. The purpose of this project was to create a user-friendly Web-based interface to interact with large computer simulation models of cracks and dislocations in crystal lattices by using CGI (Common Gateway Interface). With CGI, an interactive Web-based form was created that students used to: 1) enter information required by the simulation, 2) compile that information into a data file, and 3) submit this file as a batch job to a remote supercomputer. Upon completion, the results from the supercomputer simulation were transferred back to the server for viewing at remote-site workstations. Unique to this project was the level of industrial participation by SUN Microsystems and Visual Numerics in the creation of a general Java Web-based interface, see Ref [3]. Early Java prototypes developed at Virginia Tech have been replaced with JWave interfaces developed by Visual Numerics except for the = CAVE™ is a trademark of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory of the University of Illinois Journal of Materials Education, Vol. 21, No. (1&2), pp. 43-52, 1999.