23/05/2000, 17:00 — 18:00 — Amphitheatre Pa1, Mathematics Building
Kumbakonam Rajagopal, Texas A and M University, College Station, USA
The Role of Mathematics in Several Areas of Mechanical Engineering
A variety of mathematical tools are used in modeling the various
processes that mechanical engineers are concerned with. In addition
to classical ordinary and partial differential equations that occur
naturally in problems involving the mechanics of fluids and solids,
and integral-differential models for materials with memory, novel
materials provide challenges in developing averaging methods and
homogenization procedures. Control of mechanical systems have
invoked the use of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic and Banach algebras,
randomness and indeterminacy inherent to certain problems have
required sophisticated mathematical tools based on probability and
statistics, and material symmetry consideration require appeal to
group theory. Here, I shall discuss some of the mathematical tools
used in the study of a variety of problems that confronts
mechanical engineers.
