ME803

CONTINUUM MECHANICS
SPRING 2021
Dr. Sadaqat Ali

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 1

 INTRODUCTION
Instructor: Dr. Sadaqat Ali
BSc UET Peshawar, Pakistan
MS Malardalens University, Sweden
PhD Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia

Office: 210J
Email: sadaqat.ali@smme.nust.edu.pk
Consulting hours: drop-by during office hours/
appointment
Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 2
COURSE OUTLINE
Course Name: Continuum Mechanics (ME-803)
Credit Hours: 03
Tentative Assessment & Grading Policy:

 Assignments - 10%
 Quizzes - 10%
 OHT - 30%
 End Semester Exam - 50%

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 3

 TEXT BOOKS
▪ M. Lai, E. Krempl, D. Ruben
(2010), Introduction to
Continuum Mechanics, 4th
Ed., Oxford: Elsevier

▪ J. N Reddy (2013), An
Introduction to Continuum
Mechanics, 2nd Ed.,
Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press

Both available online Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 4
 HYBRID MODE
• Couse Material will be posted on Microsoft Teams
• All announcements and correspondence on MS Teams

If you need to contact me for anything, you can:

• direct message on Microsoft Teams
• email at sadaqat.ali@smme.nust.edu.pk
and I will get back to you

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 5

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Join the MS Team using the

team code:
v3pqqf1

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 6

GENERAL ADVICE
▪ Lectures will start at 5:00 pm
▪ To listen and practice questions more important
▪ Ask questions during lecture
▪ Review course material regularly
▪ Plagiarism not tolerated

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 8

 ME-803 Continuum Mechanics
INTRODUCTION 5th March 2021
Dr. Sadaqat Ali

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 9

 INTRODUCTION
▪Matter is formed of molecules, which in turn consist of atoms and
subatomic particles.
▪Thus, matter is not continuous.
▪However, there are many aspects of everyday experience
regarding the behaviors of materials, such as the deflection of a
structure under loads, the rate of discharge of water in a pipe under
a pressure gradient, or the drag force experienced by a body
moving in the air, that can be described and predicted with theories
that pay no attention to the molecular structure of materials

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 10

 WHAT IS CONTINUUM MECHANICS?
Mechanics
▪The subject of mechanics deals with the study of deformations and forces in matter,
whether it is a solid, liquid, or gas.
OR
▪Study of motion of bodies under the action of given forces.

Continuum Mechanics = The response of solids and fluids to external stresses

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 11

 WHAT IS CONTINUUM MECHANICS?
Continuum (Latin word Continuus – together)
▪Atoms and molecules fill the space “discretely”
▪For Engineering analysis, we can assume that the matter fills the space
“continuously” – continuum
▪ In such a study, we make the simplifying assumption, for analytical purposes, that
the matter is distributed continuously, without gaps or empty spaces (i.e., we
disregard the molecular structure of matter).
▪Such a hypothetical continuous matter is termed a continuum.
▪In essence, in a continuum all quantities such as mass density, displacements,
velocities, stresses, and so on vary continuously so that their spatial derivatives exist
and are continuous.

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 12

 CONTINUUM MECHANICS
▪ Continuum mechanics deals with the analysis of the
motion and the deformation of materials (solids, liquids
and gases)
▪ By assuming that the medium is a continuous Ignore discrete nature of matter
distribution of mass, disregarding its discrete molecular
structure and imagine it as being without any empty
spaces or gaps.
By experiments/phenomenologically
▪ The continuum theory regards matter as indefinitely
divisible.
▪ Theory of elasticity for solids and theory of dynamics
for liquids and gases.
▪ The continuum theory permits us to define the stress at
a point, a geometric point in space conceived as
occupying no volume, by a mathematical limit like the
definition of the derivative in differential calculus. Assume a continuum medium
Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 13
 CONTINUUM MECHANICS
▪ Stress at a point.
▪ Gives rise to the vast number of theories of beams,
plates and shells, plasticity, fluid mechanics and so on.
▪ The predictions of material behavior based on
continuum mechanics agree closely with what we
experience or observe experimentally over a wide
range of conditions.
▪ There are exceptions: failure due to fatigue cracking,
dislocations, turbulence, phenomena that occur at
atomic length and time scales…
▪ But for the vast majority of engineering problems,
Continuum Mechanics is applicable

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 14

 A SIMPLE EXAMPLE
▪ Consider a bar subjected to a tensile load.
▪ The behavior is characterized by these simple
governing equations, which we are familiar with from
statics and mechanics of materials
▪ But we are in the business of mechanics of bodies
with arbitrary shape, loading, constraints, etc.

▪ What is 𝜀 and 𝜎 for this complex case?

▪ How do we formulate our equations of kinematics,
balance laws, and constitutive models here?
The answer is provided by continuum mechanics.

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 15

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: AERODYNAMICS
Governing equations
• Momentum balance (Navier Stokes)
• Turbulence closure conditions
• Mass conservation
• Constitutive relations (gas law?)

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 16

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: NANO/MICROFLUIDICS
Governing equations
• Equilibrium
• Constitutive relations
• Multi-scale methods

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 17

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: STRUCTURAL MECHANICS
Governing equations
• Equilibrium (momentum for vibrations)
• Kinematics (beams, shells, plates)
• Material Models (elasticity, plasticity)

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 18

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: MATERIALS SCIENCE
Governing equations
• Equilibrium
• Constitutive relations
• Multiphysics
• Failure criteria

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 19

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: MACHINE DESIGN
Governing equations
• Equilibrium (momentum for modal analysis)
• Constitutive equations – elasticity/plasticity
• Failure criteria/Fracture Mechanics

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 20

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: BIOMECHANICS
Governing equations
• Equilibrium/Navier Stokes
• Mass conservation
• Constitutive equations
• Growth laws?
• Failure criteria

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 21

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: ACOUSTICS
Governing equations
• Linearized Navier-Stokes equations
• Ideal gas law
• Mass conservation

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 22

 APPLICATIONS OF CONTINUUM
MECHANICS: CLIMATE MODELING
Governing equations
• Momentum balance
• Thermal energy balance
• Mass conservation
• Constitutive eqs for air/water

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 23

 CURRENT RESEARCH TOPICS IN CONTINUUM
MECHANICS
• Coupled problems – multiphysics: e.g.
• Li ion batteries (chemistry/diffusion/mechanical stress)
• Biophysics/mechanics/chemistry - eg mechanotransduction
• New materials – eg hydrogels
• Coupled fluids/solids – blood flow; tissue mechanics

• Deriving/understanding constitutive relations from fundamental physics

• Molecular dynamics
• Multiscale methods – concurrent or global climate model

• Major unresolved fundamental issues

• How to treat kinetics of slow processes at atomic scales or mesoscale?
• Complexity – eg plasticity (dislocations) – or turbulent flow
• Uncertainty – existing models nearly always deterministic; applications
need eg statistics of failures

• Numerical Methods
• Applications….
DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 24
 CONTINUUM MECHANICS
▪ Theory can be divided into two main parts
1. General principles common to all media
2. Constitutive equations defining idealized materials.
▪ The general principles are axioms considered to be self-evident from our
experience with the physical world, such as conservation of mass; the
balance of linear momentum, moment of momentum, and energy; and the
entropy inequality law.
▪ There are two equivalent forms of the general principles
1. Integral form, formulated for a finite volume of material in the
continuum,
2. Field equations for differential volume of material (particles) at every
point of the field of interest.
▪ Field equations are often derived from the integral form. They can also be
derived directly from the free body of a differential volume

Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 25

 CONTINUUM MECHANICS
▪ The second major part of the theory of continuum mechanics concerns the
“constitutive equations” that are used to define idealized materials.
▪ Idealized materials represent certain aspects of the mechanical behaviors of
natural materials
o For example, for many materials, under restricted conditions, the deformation caused by the
application of loads disappears with the removal of the loads. This aspect of material behaviors is
represented by the constitutive equation of an elastic body.
o Under even more restricted conditions, the state of stress at a point depends linearly on the change
of lengths and angles suffered by elements at the point measured from the state where the external
and internal forces vanish. This defines the linearly elastic solid.
o Another example is supplied by the classical definition of viscosity, which is based on the assumption
that the state of stress depends linearly on the instantaneous rates of change of lengths and angles.
Such a constitutive equation defines the linearly viscous fluid.

▪ The mechanical behaviors of real materials vary not only from material to
material but also with different loading conditions for a given material.
▪ This leads to the formulation of many constitutive equations defining the many
different aspects of material behaviors. Dr. SADAQAT ALI- spring 2021 - SMME, NUST 26
 COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, you will be able to:
• Precisely describe the motion, deformation and forces in a
continuum solid or fluid
• Derive equations of motion and conservation laws for a
continuum solid or fluid
• Identify constitutive models for linear elastic solids
• Solve simple boundary value problems for linearized elasticity
Broader goal:
• Apply these descriptions to solve specific complex problems of
solids or fluids
(eventually allowing us to analyze and design engineering systems)

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 27

TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE
S. No Topic Week
1 Mathematical preliminaries: 1-2
tensor calculus and index notation
2 Kinematics of deformation: 3-5
strain-displacement equations
3 Kinetics: equilibrium of forces and moments 6-7
4 Conservation laws (mass, momentum, energy) 8-9
5 Thermodynamics – first and second laws 10
6 Constitutive relations – stress-strain relations 11-12
7 Simple boundary value problems: linear elastic solid 13-14
8 *Simple boundary value problems: Newtonian fluid 15

DR. SADAQAT ALI- SPRING 2021 - SMME, NUST 28