Results from each simulation are included. Please note that none of these softwares are original. One of the animations was produced by academia, the other is commercial. This paper describes the model fundamentals and a specific design activity associated with each software. This animation allows realistic results to be obtained for the students while not having to worry about the financial cost of supplying each student with expensive equipment or worrying about equipment failure during the lab session.
Students are likewise able to test a variety of specimens in a short period of time.
The natural experimental error in the results can be adjusted to enable the students to study statistics, uncertainty, curve-fitting, or provide data for a spreadsheet analysis. The tensile tester screen layout is shown in Figure 1 . To test a specimen the user must click on the desired material, diameter, and length. The specimen will than appear in the simulated tensile tester on the right. The simulation stops when the yield point or fracture occurs.