NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
MA2071 Laboratory Experiments (ME)
MA2072 Laboratory Experiments (AE)
__________________________________________________________________________
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS
SAFETY
As you will be working with electrical and mechanical equipment, you are required to be properly attired
with covered shoes and dressed in long pants (no shorts or bermudas) and short sleeve teeshirt/shirt/blouse. Observe all the safety rules and seek help from the staff-in-charge when in doubt.
Handle all equipment with care and always exercise precautions when in the laboratories.
1. ATTENDANCE
1.1 Check your official timetable to ensure you attend the laboratory group you are registered in.
1.2 Remain in the laboratory group you are registered in and report to the respective venues for the
experiment as scheduled for your laboratory group.
1.3 Attendance at all laboratory sessions is compulsory.
1.4 If you are not able to attend any of the scheduled sessions because of illness or some other
reasons, you will need to apply for short leave of absence immediately. A medical certificate or
letter, whichever is applicable, must be submitted together with your short leave application.
The application form is available at the MAE Undergraduate Office (N3-02a-14).
1.5 If you have missed any of the laboratory sessions, you must immediately arrange with the
supervisor of the experiment concerned for alternative make-up date(s). If you fail to do so, you
are deemed to have failed that particular assignment.
1.6 You are required to sign the class attendance list at each laboratory sessions for attendance
recording and for submission of log sheets and report.
1.7 Venues for the laboratory experiments are stated on the title page of the laboratory manual.
2. INTRODUCTION TO LABORATORY WORK
2.1 Laboratory experiments are regarded as one integral practical coursework elements in the 2nd
Year curriculum. You are required to pass this module to fulfill the course requirements.
2.2 Students are expected to put in an average of 3 to 4 hours per week to meet the AU hours
expected of laboratory work.
2.3 The objectives of laboratory experiments are:
a) to verify principles
b) to develop practical skills
c) to appreciate the use of instruments
d) to inculcate the use of the scientific method
e) to make and record observations
f) to interpret and present findings
g) to draw conclusions and make recommendations
2.4 You are required to complete all the ten (10) laboratory experiments within the semester.
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3. ASSESSMENT
3.1 Assessment of the laboratory experiments is based on both the student’s performance during
the laboratory sessions (CA) as well as his/her written assessment (9 log sheets and 1
technical report).
The assessment weightage is as follows:
9 Log Sheets
80%
CA
Log Sheets
50%
50%
1 Technical Report
20%
CA
Report
50%
50%
3.2 Students are assessed during the process of conducting the experiments and during the
discussion period. You are encouraged to participate actively in the laboratory and consultation
sessions.
Assessment is based on the following criteria:
a) ability to analyse and to innovate
b) understanding of the subject
c) ability to work together as a group
d) leadership capabilities in organising and motivating group members
e) active contribution to the group effort and investigation
f) display of appropriate practical skills and creative thinking
g) ability to present and communicate effectively
h) active participation in faculty-student consultation of written assessment
4. LOG SHEETS
4.1 Students must submit his/her log sheet at end of the stipulated time on the day of each of the
nine (9) experiment sessions.
4.2 Log sheets should be written on A4 sized paper/graph paper and should be attached with the
title page that comes with the experiment manual.
4.3 Log sheets should contain concise descriptions of the experiment, the results, the discussions,
and the conclusion. It should be written within 500 words (typically 1-2 pages).
4.4 Marked log sheets may be collected from the relevant laboratories one week after the date of
completion of the experiment. All log sheets not collected within 3 weeks after the date of the
experiment will be discarded.
5. TECHNICAL REPORT
5.1 The experiment of your 4th lab session is the designated experiment for your technical report.
5.2 Each student must submit the technical report to the assigned laboratory within one (1) week
from the date of the experiment of your 4th lab session.
5.3 The staff-in-charge will sign-in the report, with a counter-sign-in by the student.
5.4 Technical report should be within ten pages (10) including diagrams and list of references. It
should be type-written on A4 size paper with Point 12 Times Roman font, single spacing, and
with 25.4 mm margin all round. Correct referencing and citation are emphasized.
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5.5 The report must include analysis and possible solutions based on sound engineering principles.
Any sample results or calculations and graphs are to be included.
6. STRUCTURE FOR LOG SHEETS AND TECHNICAL REPORT
A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Be prepared for your laboratory work; study the Manual beforehand and read up the theory.
2. No marks will be given for copied material and/or copied reports.
3. Be relevant in content, concise in expression and correct in the use of English. Grades will
depend on the quality of the report, not quantity.
4. The formats set out below will be used to record all laboratory experiment/project work. If there
are modifications or special requirements for a particular experiment/project, your Supervisor will
give you the necessary instructions.
B. LOG SHEETS (Maximum 500 words):
It is a working record of the work done. Do not waste time by presenting unnecessary information. It
should incorporate the following:
1. Title Page
The title page is provided in your laboratory manuals. Your supervisor's name should also be
written on the title page.
2. Objectives
The objectives specify your aims in carrying out the experiment so that you know what you are
doing and can come to some conclusions at the end of the experiment.
3. Results
This section covers observations, a sample calculation and the results of your calculations which
can be presented in tables and/or graphs.
4. Discussion
Briefly comment on your work. You may compare your results with the theory or explain any
error and state how it affected the results. You are encouraged to discuss your experimental
observations with your laboratory partners (do not copy the written work). Devise paragraphs
and/or sub-sections to answer the discussion questions set out in the manual.
5. Conclusion
State the key point(s) or inference(s) you have logically deduced from the results and
discussions. Take into consideration the objectives of the experiment and state to what extent
they have been met.
C. TECHNICAL REPORT (About 10 pages):
Assume that your reader is a fellow student who is not familiar with the specific work you are
reporting. It consists of the following sections:
1. Title Page
The title page is provided in your laboratory manual. Your supervisor's name should also be
written on the title page.
2. Abstract
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This is a summary of your report and is not to be confused with the Introduction. It enables the
reader to know what the report is about by highlighting the main points made in the major
sections. Briefly (not more than 100 Words) tell the reader what you did and what conclusions
you came to.
3. Table of Contents
4. Introduction
This section prepares the reader to understand the report and may be subdivided into these
sub-sections:
(i) background
(ii) problem (only if appropriate)
(iii) objectives
(iv) scope
5. Theory/Literature Review
Briefly include the background theory or provide a detailed reference where it can be found.
Details of any required derivation are to be put in the Appendix.
6. Design of Report
This should be a brief description of the equipment you used. If detailed descriptions are
required, they should be placed in the Appendix. Standard instrumentation, e.g., micrometers,
voltmeters, should not be described. If you have made any modifications, explain. It is important
to be accurate because a reader may disagree with your results and may want to examine your
equipment. Illustrations by simple diagrams may save you a long description. Provide titles and
label your diagrams clearly and refer to them in your text by using a clear numbering system
(e.g., Fig. 1 A Pressure Transducer).
7. Procedure
Describe briefly in the correct sequence the important aspects of the procedure you adopted to
conduct the project and obtain the results, explaining any modifications you have made to the
instructions in the Manual. Use the past tense to report on the procedures undertaken.
8. Results
This section usually includes:
(a) observations,
(b) sample calculation(s), and
(c) results of your calculation (tabulated and/or presented graphically).
To present your data or results clearly, make sure that proper titles or lead-in statements are
used and appropriate explanations are given. Some types of laboratory work are descriptive,
and the results will not be quantitative, hence, you may describe the key observations and
results in prose paragraphs.
9. Discussion (not more than five pages)
In this section, you discuss the findings and results of your work. You might want to explain any
differences between your measurements and theoretical predictions by comparing the
theoretical curve with the experimental curve. You might want to account for any errors and
suggest improvements through modification to the experiment/project equipment, procedure, or
precautions to be taken. You may draw deductions from the results.
10. Conclusion
Here briefly (not more than half a page) present the conclusions you have reached as a result of
your work; or state to what extent the objectives of the project have been met. It is not a
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repetition of the Discussion, but a statement of the key point(s) or inferences logically deduced
from the results and discussions.
11. Reference
In listing references, the APA Author/Year system or the Numbered References Method can be
used. You may arrange the references alphabetically by the surname of the author or number
the references and list them in the order in which they are referred to in the text. However, the
format for the entries in each item is to be strictly observed. For example, the reference to an
article from a journal should be as follows: author's surname and initials, year of publication, title
of paper or article, title of journal, volume number and pages. (E.g., Martin, J. 1992. Slender
body oscillation under simulated atmospheric boundary layer condition. Engineer Digest
52(19):122-126.)
12. Appendix
Any detailed technical information, for example, the theory and derivations, description of
equipment referred to but not put in the main text, will be appended at the end of the report. It
should also include all graphs, tables, etc. not directly needed in the main sections of your report
but which may be useful information for the reader. The appendices are lettered in the order in
which they are mentioned in the text (e.g., Appendix A) and labelled with appropriate titles (e.g.,
Appendix A Method Used to Calibrate Pressure Transducer).
D. USE OF GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS IN REPORT WRITING
1. Graphics provide important illustrations in technical reports. They are classified and numbered
as Tables and Figures. Both tables and figures can be incorporated into the text of the report or
attached under the Appendix/Appendices section, according to their relative importance.
2. Tables are used to record data taken from readings or to present quantitative findings. They are
hence numbered and referred to exclusively as tables. For example:
Table 1 Results of fibreglass impellers endurance test at variable rpm
3. Figures include all other illustrations used in the report, such as diagrams, schematics, flow
charts, statistical charts, graphs, and photographs. They should be numbered clearly according
to their order of appearance in the report. For example:
Fig. 1 Test rig with three degrees of freedom
Fig. 2 Flow chart of instruments used in the experimental set up
Fig. 3 Lateral force spectra at difference angles of incidence
4. In the use of graphic illustrations in the report, the following points should be observed:
(i) All tables and figures must be numbered.
(ii) A title should be devised (in a noun phrase) for every table/figure.
(iii) Every illustration should be complete with proper legends and labels.
(iv) Units used must be accurate and where possible, SI Units should be used.
(v) Scales for the figures should be appropriately devised. For example, to allow comparison of
results, the scales of four graphs can be reduced so as to be able to display them within the
same page.
(vi) An illustration used in the text should be well integrated with a lead-in sentence or phrase in
front. For example:
Fig. 1 illustrates the forces on a triangular building for a given wind direction.
Fig. 2 shows the test rig which allows a semi rigid model to oscillate in a linear model.
Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of the instruments used in the collection and monitoring of data.
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(vii) Relevant explanations or interpretations should immediately follow the illustrations.
(viii) Illustrations used in the appendices should be mentioned in the text so that proper reference
can be made.
5. A sample of a figure used as an illustration in a report is shown below.
Fig. 1 Comparison of theoretical and experimental steady state torque of two blade wind turbine at
different wind speeds
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