KB4027 - Introduction to Fluid Mechanics and Soil Mechanics

The module will include a range of learning materials such as presentations, notes, seminar questions for you to answer, and other resources such as video links, spreadsheets, and specific software-related files. All these resources will be arranged in a convenient learning journey, giving you a clear expectation of the material to be studied and tasks to be completed on a week-by-week basis. You will be expected to complete the appropriate tasks in your weekly journey before attending programmed sessions. You will take part in lectures to develop your knowledge and understanding of the module material and in seminars, where you will learn to apply the concepts learned to engineering problems. You will participate in practical classes to further cement your learning of theoretical principles and to research relevant physical phenomena. There may be occasions within the semester where normal teaching will be suspended to allow your learning to be supplemented by a range of activities such as design workshops, guest presentations, professional body events, site visits and field work.

Support will include feedback from tutors during seminars, lectures, and practical sessions to clarify and deepen your understanding of the module material. In addition, tutors will use the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to provide electronic versions of module material. The University’s VLE offers remote access to materials and aids for reinforcing your learning. All of these support mechanisms and learning and teaching approaches will help to you to prepare for the assessments and prepare you for further learning in the programme.

The module and the wider programme teams will provide a supportive approach, enabling you to quickly and easily access and speak to any member of the programme team, as required.

The University Library and other student services also offer a variety of academic skills training both online and face to face, which you can access as needed.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Explain the fundamentals of fluid mechanics and apply the fundamentals to theoretical and practical problems.
2. Explain the fundamentals of soil mechanics and apply the fundamentals to theoretical and practical problems.


Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Plot and discuss experimental results and draw conclusions based upon them.


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
4. Work as a member of a small team in order to safely carry out laboratory testing and respect the values of other team members.

Formative Assessments
You will be formatively assessed on all learning outcomes during the seminars and workshops by the module tutor leading the session. Discussion with the module tutor and reflection on your performance will allow you to continuously monitor your ability to feed this forward for your improvement.

Summative Assessment
You will be summatively assessed by Coursework and Examination.

Your coursework will be used to assess your ability to satisfy MLOs 3 and 4. It will be of 2500 words equivalent length and be worth 30% of the module marks.
You will receive individual feedback with marks and comments for each section that you complete. Your feedback will give generic consideration of your work, highlighting those areas that you completed successfully and toffering guidance for your further learning.

The examination will assess your ability to satisfy MLOs 1 and 2. It will be of 2.5 hours duration and be worth 70% of the module marks. Feedback on this will feed into future assessments as well as supporting your future learning.

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In this module you will learn the fundamentals of the behaviour of fluids and of soils, enabling you to describe their behaviour under various different conditions and describe it using mathematical concepts. Many civil engineering projects require an understanding of fluid mechanics – for example, water supply and waste water systems, river, coastal and offshore engineering projects require you to understand the behaviour of static and moving water, while other projects require the consideration of wind loading on structures. Further, almost all civil engineering projects involve soil mechanics, since they have foundations built on soil or use soil as a construction material in excavations, embankments, and similar structures. Assessment in this module is through a combination of coursework and examination. Supportive individual feedback will be provided for each assessment which will identify areas of merit and offer guidance for future improvement.