BIOE 574 Continuum Biomechanics
Bioscience Research Collaborative (BRC) 285
Instructor:
Jane Grande-Allen
Office hours: Wednesdays 4-5 PM, Thursdays 1-2 PM
Fall 2014
10:00-10:50 am MWF
BRC 619, x3704, grande@rice.edu
TA:
Sydney Gibson (sydney.m.gibson@rice.edu)
Office Hours: TBD. You can also email Sydney to meet at other times.
Brief description of course
This course deals with elements of continuum mechanics relevant to bioengineering. The
course covers important concepts in tensor calculus, kinematics, stress and strain, and
constitutive theories of continua. Selected topics in bone, articular cartilage, blood and
circulation, cardiovascular tissues, and cell biomechanics will be discussed to illustrate the
application of continuum mechanics to bioengineering problems.
Textbook
Introduction to Continuum Biomechanics by Athanasiou and Natoli
Morgan & Claypool Publishers, 2009
Free download of textbook PDF from
http://www.morganclaypool.com/doi/abs/10.2200/S00121ED1V01Y200805BME019
Course topics
 Introduction to continuum theory and continuum mechanics
 Tensor calculus
 Kinematics and strain (motion, deformation, strain tensor)
 Stress (traction, stress tensor)
 Elasticity (linear elasticity, bone elasticity)
 Newtonian fluids
 Circulation (blood)
 Viscoelasticity (linear viscoelasticity, standard linear solid, cell mechanics, and selected
nonlinear models)
 Mixture theory (biphasic theory of articular cartilage)
 Poroelasticity/hyperelasticity (soft hydrated tissues etc. – time permitting)
Course Materials: The course website is on Owlspace - login with your Rice ID. You need to be
registered for the course and login with your Rice ID to have an access to class materials.
Contact the TA if you have a problem. The syllabus, any additional readings, exam schedule,
homework assignments and solutions, and team teaching project information will be posted on
the website as well. Emailed questions that are relevant for all class participants will be
documented in the list of announcements on the website (these may be developed into a FAQ
if needed). Please check this list before emailing your question. You will receive announcements
in your email once new materials are uploaded to the website.
Important note regarding handouts
 Lectures will be mostly given using the board and occasionally (rarely) using handouts.
 When there are handouts of material for the upcoming lecture (mainly illustrations), these
will be posted in advance whenever possible and that you will be notified by email. These
will not actually be handed out in class. You will be responsible for bringing those materials.
 Even when lecture material handouts are prepared, they will NOT contain all the material
discussed in the lecture, so they are not a substitute for attending class.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Homework
Seven homework problem sets will be assigned throughout the semester and will account for
25% of the final grade. No homeworks will be dropped. Homework will be handed out and will
be due one week later at the beginning of class (10 am) unless otherwise noted.
The homework problems handed out one by one as part of the team teaching projects (TTP)
will be due the following lecture period. These will be graded but will be weighted less than the
problem sets. The homework problems need to be individual work, not handed in by TTP
teams.
No late homework will be accepted without permission of the instructor. If an assignment is
turned in late without a valid excuse, the grade will be reduced 10% per day. If your
assignment is late, you must write the number of days it is late on the first page (Honor Code).
Valid reasons such as illness and family emergencies will be dealt with on an individual basis. No
credit can be given for the homework after the key is published on Owlspace.
Exams
There will be three exams (two midterms and final) which will each account for 15% of the final
grade. The first midterm will cover Chapters 1-3. The second midterm will cover Chapters 4-7
(as well as QLV and FOV models). The final exam will include all material covered in the course.
All exams will be taken “in-class” during a specially scheduled time during the evening or during
finals week.
Team teaching project (TTP)
A team teaching project will account for 25% of the course grade. Topics may be chosen from
areas including the biomechanics of bone, teeth, articular cartilage, tendon/ligament, brain,
skin, cardiovascular tissues, cells, fluid mechanics of blood flow in arteries, air flow in the lungs,
or other biological structures such as invertebrate exoskeleton or plants. Student teams will
present a mechanics topic related to their chosen biomechanics area, necessarily including the
relevant mathematics. The student teams will then present their material in the form of a 45minute lecture and assign one homework problem that they will grade. The lecture must be
completely performed on the whiteboard, and a typed report of the lecture will be required.
Students will receive a handout with further details.
All assignments should be neatly prepared. It is expected that problem sets will be partly
handwritten. Neatness is important. Showing your work on homework assignments is
CRITICAL. Use a computer program (i.e., Excel, Matlab, Mathematica) for iteratively solving,
tabulating, and plotting data if necessary. Plots must be clearly labeled (title, axes, legend) and
different data sets must be distinguishable when printed.
The preferred way for you to turn in homework is HARD COPY turned in at the start of class.
All assignments must show:
 The assignment number, student name(s), course number, and date. Put your name on
every page.
 The statement of the problem, significant detail about the methods used in the solution
 A clearly identified solution (put a box around final answers)
 If you used reference material other than the textbooks in the preparation of any and all
work, proper citations should be included (author, title of book/article/webpage, publishing
information/URL).
COURSE ADMINISTRATION
Grading policy
The final grade will be determined as follows:
 Homework assignments: 25%
 Project: 25%
 Midterm 1: 15%
 Midterm 2: 15%
 Final Exam: 15%
 Class participation: 5%
Final Course Grades (A, B, etc.) will be determined by the distribution of grades in the class, but
you will not receive a letter grade lower than your average numerical grade (A+=99-100, A=9498, A-=90-93, B+=87-89, B=84-86, B-=80-83, etc., Pass = 60 and above). Depending upon the
class average, there may be a curve but this is not guaranteed.
These grades reflect student performance on the assignments turned in. If assignments
totaling 10% or more of the final course grade are not turned in, the instructor retains the right
to fail the student for the course.
Honor code policy
Students are encouraged to talk to each other, the teaching assistants, the instructors, or
anyone else about any assignment in the course that is not specifically designated as pledged.
This assistance is limited to the discussion of the problem and perhaps sketching of a solution.
Regrade requests
Regrading will be considered, but ONLY if you turn in your original assignment AND a neatly
prepared document justifying why you believe why your answer is correct. Only the material in
question will be regraded, so there is no risk in asking for a regrade, but you MUST justify your
request with your own clear explanation of the answer.
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to attend all classes. Attendance will be taken periodically throughout
the first few weeks of class in order for the instructor to learn student names. Attending class
regularly and asking/answering questions will contribute to your in-class participation portion
of the grade. Attendance is mandatory at exams and presentations. Student choosing to miss
one of these dates to attend another commitment must make up the exam at a time
convenient to the instructors or the TAs within 1 week of the missed class. If you miss an exam
without a documented excuse, a minimum 20% grade penalty will be imposed. If a convenient
time cannot be established or the student chooses not to make up the exam, the student will
receive zero points for this particular exam in the final course grade.
Other classes and extracurricular activities are not valid excuses for missing class. Illness and
family emergencies are valid excuses and will be dealt with on an individual basis. Contact Dr.
Grande-Allen immediately as soon as an emergency arises. If you choose to miss a day,
planning ahead will help. You can have another student turn in your homework for you. You
are also responsible for obtaining missed lecture notes from your classmates so that you can
review for the exams.
TA sessions are optional, but encouraged. The TA will be available for review sessions
(indicated above) to go over previous homework assignments and to answer questions about
current homework assignments and upcoming exams.
Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this class is encouraged to
contact the instructor after class or during office hours. Additionally, students should
contact the Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.