Er.

Aakarsha Khawas
Assistant Professor/ Structural Engineer
Pulchowk Campus, IOE

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1. Definitions, Type and Scope of Mechanics
2. Fundamental Concepts and Principles of Engineering
Mechanics
3. Concept of Particle, Rigid and Deformed Bodies
4. Physical Meaning of Equilibrium and its Essence in
Structural Application
5. Equation of Equilibrium in 2D and 3D Analysis of Particle
and Rigid Body
6. Concept of Free Body Diagram with Examples

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DEFINITION:
 Mechanics is the science which describes and checks the
condition of rest or motion of bodies under the action of
forces.
 A knowledge of its basic concepts and principles is a must
for an engineer engaged in design of various types of
structures.

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 Newtonian
Mechanics/
Engineering
mechanics

Mechanics of
Mechanics of Mechanics of
Deformable
Rigid Body Fluid
Body

Statics Dynamics

Kinematics Kinetics

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 Mechanics of Rigid Body
 It deals with the bodies whose configuration (or internal
structure ) does not change even after the application
of large force.

Rigid Body:
 Body in which particles are so interconnected that they
do not change their relative positions however large the
force applied may be.
 The size and shape of the body does not change.

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Mechanics of Rigid Body
 Statics: it deals with the forces and their effects while
acting upon the body at rest
 Dynamics: it deals with the forces and their effects while
acting upon the body at motion.
 Kinematics: it studies the motion of particle or body
without considering the forces causing the motion. It
deals with the change in position, velocity and
acceleration of moving bodies with respect to time.
 Kinetics: it studies the motion of particle or body
considering the forces causing the motion. It uses
Newton's 2nd law.
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Mechanics of Deformable Body
 Deals with the study of such bodies whose shape and
size changes (i.e. deforms) after the application of
force.
 When applying a force on a body or a structure, if
there is appreciable change in the shape and size of
the body then such a body is called deformable body.
 The body deforms such that any two points of the
body can move relative to each other as a function of
time.

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Deformable Body:
 When applying a force on a body or a structure, if there is
appreciable change in the shape and size of the body
then such a body is called deformable body.
 The body deforms such that any two points of the body
can move relative to each other as a function of time.

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 Note:

In reality, all material bodies may change their

shape and size on the application of forces.
Changes are small for solid bodies i.e. these
changes do not affect the condition of rest or
motion of solid bodies. So they are assumed to
be perfectly rigid.

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Particle:
 A very small amount of matter which may be assumed to
occupy a single point in space.
 The component of the body whose dimension can be
neglected in comparison to other dimensions involved in
the body/system.
 The mass of particle is assumed to be concentrated at a
point and a particle is sometimes called a mass point.

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Particle:
 Example:
 In celestial mechanics, earth or planets may be treated
as particle since the dimension of the earth can be
neglected in comparison to the whole system.
 But in atomic physics, even an atom is not considered
as a particle since the dimension of an atom cannot be
neglected.

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Principles Of Mechanics:
The study of mechanics rests on 6 fundamental
principles (based on experimental evidence):
1. Parallelogram law for the addition of forces
2. Principle of Transmissibility
3. Newton’s First Law
4. Newton’s Second Law
5. Newton’s Third Law
6. Newton’s law of Gravitation

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1. Parallelogram Law for the Addition of Forces

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3. Newton’s First Law: “Every body continues in its state of rest
or of uniform motion in a straight line if there is no
unbalanced force acting upon it.”
4. Newton’s Second Law: “The rate of change of linear
momentum is directly proportional to the applied force and
it takes place in the direction of the applied force.”
5. Newton’s Third Law: “To every action, there is equal and
opposite reaction.”
6. Newton’s law of Gravitation: “Everybody in the universe
attracts every body with a force directly proportional to the
product of their mass and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance separating them.”

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Scope of engineering mechanics:
 Foundation of most engineering sciences.
 It can coupled with the knowledge of other specialized
courses such as Strength of materials, theory of
structures, theory of mechanics
 It provides fundamental principles and formulae for the
analysis and design of different structures.
 It acts as a bridge between pure sciences and engineering
sciences.

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 Principle of Static equilibrium:
It states that a stationary body which is subjected to coplanar
forces will be in equilibrium if
 Resultant of the forces acting on the system is zero
ΣF = 0
OR
Sum of horizontal forces and vertical forces acting on the
system is zero
ΣFx = 0
ΣFy = 0
 Sum of moment due to the forces acting on the system about
any point in the plane of forces must be equal to zero i.e. there
should not be any rotation.
ΣM = 0
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 Equations of Static Equilibrium:
 For the analysis of the rigid body, which is under
equilibrium, the statics provide the following equations
called as the Equations of Static Equilibrium.
 For 2D analysis:
a) Particle
ΣFx = 0
ΣFy = 0
b) Rigid body
ΣFx = 0
ΣFy = 0
ΣM= 0
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 For 3D analysis:
a) Particle
ΣFx = 0; ΣFy = 0; ΣFz = 0
b) Rigid body
ΣFx = 0; ΣFy = 0; ΣFz = 0
ΣMx= 0; ΣMy= 0; ΣMz= 0

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Physical meaning of equilibrium:
 A particle is said to be equilibrium if it is at rest or
stationary
 A body is in equilibrium if all the particles that may be
considered to form the body are in equilibrium.
 The system of external forces will impart no translation
or rotational motion to the body considered.

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Essence of equilibrium in structural
application
 In structures, due to applied external forces, the
members are subjected to internal forces and stresses
 Internal forces must be found out for design.
 So to find the unknown reactions and forces on the body
or structure, it should be in equilibrium so that we can
apply the equations of static equilibrium.

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 Concept of Free Body Diagram
 It is a simple sketch of the body drawn in such a way that
it shows all the applied forces, reaction forces, weights
and moments on the body.

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Use of FBD:
 By drawing FBD, we can clearly define the exact system
of forces so we can use equation of equilibrium
correctly which enables us to find the value of
unknown reactions.
 So drawing a clear and accurate FBD is the most
important (and foremost) step in the solution of any
equilibrium problem.

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a) A sphere resting on a frictionless plane surface

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b) A circular roller of weight W hangs by a string and rest
against a smooth (frictionless) vertical wall

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c) A sphere in a v-shaped groove

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d) A uniform ladder leans against a smooth wall
and rest on rough floor

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 Guidelines for drawing FBD:
 FBD should have no external supports or connections.
 Self weight (W = mg) should be indicated with vertical
downward arrow
 Reactions from the supports and connections should be
indicated
 Uncut members force should not be shown
 Tension in rope or string is directed towards support
 Adopted coordinate system and sense of unknown
force should be shown

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