Structural Engineering Frames Quiz

Solid Mechanics Module (EG1031)

• The module covers the basics of Solid Mechanics and materials.

Module Outline

• What is Solid Mechanics?
• Why study Solid Mechanics?
• Examples and Applications
• Solid Mechanics in nutshell
• Solid Mechanics Module
• Structural Elements
• Next Lecture

Introduction to Solid Mechanics

• Solid mechanics (also known as mechanics of solids or mechanics of materials) is the branch of continuum mechanics that studies the behavior of solid materials, especially their deformation and failure under the action of forces, temperature changes, phase changes, and other external or internal agents.
• Key factors include solid components, different materials, different conditions, and predictions of deformation and failure.

Why study Solid Mechanics?

• Solid mechanics plays a pivotal role in engineering, technology, and science, impacting various industries and improving our daily lives.
• Essential for designing structures, machines, and systems to ensure safety, reliability, and efficiency across civil, aerospace, nuclear, biomedical, and mechanical engineering, as well as geology and various branches of physics and chemistry (like material science).
• Material optimization: Understanding material failure and deformation is critical for selecting the right material for specific applications.
• Driving innovation: Advances in materials and structures rely on solid mechanics principles.
• Ensuring safety: Safeguarding critical infrastructure like bridges, buildings, and aerospace components relies on these principles.

Examples and Applications

• Mechanical Engineering: Development of machinery, engines, and mechanical systems, optimizing components for strength, durability, and efficiency (including ship analysis and crash test simulations).
• Aerospace Engineering: Designing aircraft and spacecraft structures and evaluating materials for extreme conditions and structural integrity (including plane fuselage analysis).
• Structural Engineering: Designing and analyzing buildings, bridges, and infrastructure for safety and stability, ensuring load-bearing capacity and resistance to external forces (including terraced tower and bridge analysis).
• Material Science: Investigating material properties (elasticity, plasticity, and fracture mechanics) and developing new materials with improved characteristics (including crack growth and creep failure analysis).
• Biomechanics: Studying the mechanics of biological tissues and prosthetic devices, advancing medical implants and orthopaedic solutions (including knee and spine disc analysis).

Solid Mechanics in Nutshell

• A diagram illustrating Structures, Solid Mechanics, and Materials as interconnected components of Solid Mechanics.

Solid Mechanics Module Specifications

• 15 credits module.
• 22 Lectures (Mondays 9-11am, excluding weeks 11 and 12).
• 11 Workshops (including: 2 experiments (weeks 14-16 and 18-20), and 9 practical sessions (Thursdays 3-4pm, starting from week 13).
• Assessment:
  • Practical assignments (20%).
  • Examination (80%).
  • Re-assessment: examination only (100%).

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

• Articulate an understanding of the basic principles of solid mechanics and the mechanics of materials with applications to mechanical and aerospace systems and mechanisms.
• Demonstrate analytical understanding of different types of problems encountered in the design of mechanical and aerospace systems and mechanisms; identify and apply the required theory.
• Interpret data and perform fundamental design calculations across the fields of material properties, structural mechanics, and mechanics of machines.
• Describe the main properties and characteristics of practical materials.
• Have a good grasp of the principles of equilibrium (fundamental to all mechanical problems).
• Be familiar with the concepts of force, moment, reaction, and sign conventions.
• Understand how applied loads and support conditions are idealized in structural analysis.
• Be able to draw free body diagrams and calculate forces in simple planar structures.
• Know the difference between internal and external forces.
• Be able to classify a general structure into statically determinate, statically indeterminate, or mechanisms.

Learning Materials

• Lecture and practical sessions notes
• Recommended reference books (e.g., P.P. Benham, R.J. Crawford, C.G. Armstrong; M.F. Ashby and D.R.H. Jones).
• Online materials

Teaching Plan

• Topics covered in the Module:
  • Structures: (Trusses, Frames, Beams, Shafts, 2D Solids)
  • Materials: (Atoms, molecules, crystals, types of materials, origin of elasticity, plasticity, failure)
  • Response: (Stress and strain, Hooke's law, Tresca's criterion, elongation of bars, bending of beams, twisting of shafts, failure)

Structure

• A structure transmits load, usually from one place to another (typically the ground).
• Structural elements bear primary loads and provide structural support and/or enhance stability, aesthetics, or functionality.

Force and Moment

• A force is a vector quantity that changes an object's velocity (i.e., accelerates) or deforms it, unless counterbalanced by other forces.
• A moment is a vector quantity that quantifies the rotational effect of a force about a specific point or axis.

How do structures carry loads?

Methods of load carrying:

• Tension
• Compression
• Bending
• Shear
• Torsion

Structural Elements

• Trusses: composed of straight members (bars) connected at their ends by pin joints, designed to carry only axial loads.
• Struts: structural components designed to resist axial compression forces, used for pushing or bracing elements together.
• Beams: carry loads applied perpendicular to their longitudinal axis, distributing loads as bending moments and shear forces along their length (e.g., concrete and wooden buildings).
• Columns: vertical elements supporting compressive loads primarily acting along their longitudinal axis (e.g., concrete and wooden buildings).
• Cables: slender, flexible, tension-only elements resisting axial loads primarily in tension (e.g., in stadiums and bridges).
• Ties: structural components resisting axial tension forces, keeping two or more components together by pulling them in tension (example in London eye).
• Arches: curved structural elements supporting loads primarily through axial compression.
• Shafts: cylindrical or rod-like mechanical components transmitting rotational motion and torque (e.g., in gears, and car axles).
• Plates: two-dimensional elements with small thickness, carrying loads primarily through bending and flexural deformation .
• Shells: three-dimensional elements with curved geometries (spheres or cylinders) carrying loads through membrane action (tension or compression across the surface) and bending.

Further details on specific topics can be found in the corresponding lectures.