Engineering for the marine environment requires the analysis of complex systems including their hydrodynamic characteristics, structural integrity, and dynamic responses. Marine mechanics is at the heart of these analyses and involves the study of the fundamental physics of marine systems along with the development and use of analysis tools. Whether the marine systems is a ship, an offshore structure for oil and gas recovery, or a coastal structure to prevent shoreline erosion, their design requires the same basic analysis tools of applied mechanics and numerical modeling.
The basics of graduate-level marine mechanics are taught in the required (for the M.S.E. degree) course NA 500 Engineering Analysis in the Marine Environment, and the elective courses NA 510 Marine Structural Mechanics, NA 520 Wave Loads on Ships and Offshore Structures, and NA 540 Marine Dynamics III. NA 500 deals with the analysis of marine systems using a variety of analyltical and numerical techniques. Examples are taken from ship motions, viscous flows, structures and stochastic processes. NA 510 covers the fundamentals of elasticity and plasticity theories. Special strength problems encountered in marine structures are addressed, including shear lag, post-buckling strength, and plastic collapse. NA 520 investigates the wave loads on marine vechicles and structures including the wave resistance of a ship, wave diffraction forces on offshore structures, viscous shear stresses, and radiation forces due to ship motions. Emphasis is on modern numerical techniques. NA 540 examines the dynamics of marine vehicles and structures: both linear and nonlinear responses are discussed. An introduction to coastal engineering is provided by NA 420 Environmental Ocean Dynamics and NA 455 Environmental Nearshore Dynamics. NA 420 presents an overview of the fundamental applied physics that describes the motion of the oceans. NA 455 provides fundamental concepts of coastal hydrodynamics and sediment and pollutant transport. Special emphasis is placed upon waves and the generation of currents in the coastal region and their effects on pollutant transport, coastlines, and engineering structures.
Beyond the core courses, the department offers a wide variety of courses for the student interested in the mechanics area; for example NA 410 Marine Structures II, NA 430 Marine Power Systems II, NA 440 Marine Dynamics II, NA 469 Underwater Operations, NA 512 Finite Element Methods in Solid and Structural Mechanics, NA 522 Experimental Marine Engineering, NA 528 Remote Sensing of Ocean Dynamics, NA 550 Offshore Engineering Analysis, NA 627 Wave Motion in Fluids, NA 644 Numerical Methods for Vibro-Acoustic Modeling of Complex Systems. The complete graduate course listings are given near the end of the brochure. In addition to the courses offered in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, students usually elect mechanics-based courses in other departments such as Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mathematics. A complete listing of the course offerings of the College of Engineering can be found in the College Bulletin (and on the College's website: http://www.engin.umich.edu). The program of study for each student will depend on the individual student's needs.
Hydrodynamics
A typical program for a student with focus in hydrodynamics is given below:
Fall
| NA 500 | Engineering Analysis in the Marine Environment | 4 |
| NA 540 | Marine Dynamics III | 4 |
| NA 425 | Environmental Ocean Dynamics | 4 |
| NA 520 | Wave Loads on Ships and Offshore Structures | 4 |
| NA 440 | Marine Dynamics II | 4 |
| ME 520 | Advanced Fluid Mechanics I or other Engineering elective | 3 |
| MA 454 | Boundary Value Problems for Partial Differential Equations | 3 |
| NA 522 | Experimental Marine Engineering | 3 |
| NA 590 | Directed Study | 3 |
Structures
A typical program for a student with focus in structures is given below:
Fall
| NA 500 | Engineering Analysis in the Marine Environment | 4 |
| NA 540 | Marine Dynamics III | 4 |
| NA 410 | Marine Structures II | 4 |
| MA 417 | Matrix Algebra I | 3 |
| NA 510 | Marine Structural Mechanics | 4 |
| NA 512 | Finite Element Methods in Solid and Structural Mechanics | 3 |
| ME 512 | Theory of Elasticity | 3 |
| NA xxx | Engineering elective | 3 |
| MA 450 | Advanced Mathematics for Engineers I or other Engineering elective | 4 |
Coastal Processes
A typical program with focus in marine environmental engineering is the following:
Fall
| NA 500 | Engineering Analysis in the Marine Environment | 4 |
| NA 420 | Environmental Ocean Dynamics | 4 |
| NA 520* | Advanced Fluid Mechanics I | 3 |
| CEE 527 | Coastal Hydraulics | 3 |
| NA 455 | Environmental Nearshore Dynamics | 3 |
| NA 528 |
Remote Sensing of Ocean Dynamics | 3 |
| ME 520 |
Wave Loads on Ships and Offshore Structures | 4 |
| NA 454 |
Boundary Value Problems for Partial Differential | 3 |
| MA 522 |
Experimental Marine Engineering or NA 590+ Directed Study | 3 |
* For students in this focus area, ME 520 may replace the second required core course.
+ It is suggested that students use a directed study course in the
spring half term to do a field experiment in the marine environmental area.
Extensive field equipment is available through the Ocean Engineering Laboratory
described in the Research Facilities section of this brochure.