CE 302 Mechanics of Materials

Mechanics of materials is a branch of mechanics that studies the internal effects of stress and strain in a solid body that is subjected to an external loading. Stress is associated with the strength of the material from which the body is made, while strain is a measure of the deformation of the body. In addition to this, mechanics of materials includes the study of the body’s stability when a body such as a column is subjected to compressive loading. A thorough understanding of the fundamentals of this subject is of vital importance because many of the formulas and rules of design cited in engineering codes are based upon the principles of this subject.

This subject covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Introduction and fundamentals of mechanics of deformable materials.
• Concept of stress and strain and Hooke’s law.
• Concept of failure, yield and allowable stresses.
• Factor of safety and allowable stress design.
• Limitations of strains and deformations.
• Normal stress under axial loading and bending.
• Shear stress under shear force and torsion.
• Shear force and bending moment diagrams.
• Transformation of stress and strain and Mohr’s circle.
• Buckling of columns.