MECHANICS OF MATERIALS

Introduction
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Learning Objectives:
1. Recall topics under mechanics of rigid bodies (statics)
2. Understanding the concept of stress

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ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Everything from individual particles to the tallest buildings to a rushing river experiences forces and torques. Each object—liquid or
solid, large or small—responds differently under different conditions. Engineering mechanics examines these external forces.

Three fundamental areas of engineering mechanics are STATICS, DYNAMICS, and STRENGTH/MECHANICS OF MATERIALS.

STATICS
STUDY OF THE EXTERNAL
EFFECTS OF FORCES ON RIGID
ENGINEERING BODIES
MECHANICS DYNAMICS

STUDY OF THE INTERNAL

MECHANICS
EFFECTS OF FORCES ON
OF
BODIES
MATERIALS

A. REVIEW OF MECHANICS OF RIGID BODIES (STATICS)

Statics is the foundation course for mechanics of materials. It is primarily concerned to system of forces applied to
body at rest. It includes the following topics: resultant of force system; equilibrium of force system; cables; friction; trusses;
frames; centroid; center of gravity; and moment of inertia.

A.1 TYPES OF FORCES AND MOMENTS

We classify the forces and moments into three categories: external, reaction and, internal.

A.1.1 External Forces and Moments

• those that are applied to the body and often referred to as the load on the body. These forces are
assumed to be “known” in an analysis; sometimes carry as variables.
• 1. Surface forces: act on the surface and are transmitted to the body by contact

• 2. Body Forces: act at every point of the body, no direct contact. Gravitational forces and
electromagnetic forces are two examples of body forces (force per unit volume)
A.1.2 Reaction Forces and Moments

• Other forces and moments are developed at the support of a body to resist movement due to
external forces (moments). These reaction forces(moments) are usually not known and must be
calculated before further analysis can be conducted

A.1.3 Internal Forces and Moments

• A body is held together by internal forces.

• Internal forces (moments) acting on a specific region within the body can be attained by the
Method of Section.
• Always exist in pairs that are equal and opposite on the two surfaces produces by an imaginary
cut.

• Forces that are normal to the imaginary cut surface are called normal forces (N). The normal force
that pulls away from the surface is called tensile force. The normal force that pushes the surface is
called compressive force.
• The normal force acting in the direction of the axis of the body is called axial force.
• Forces that are tangent to the imaginary cut surface are called shear forces (V).
• Internal moments about an axis normal to imaginary cut surface are called torsional moments or
torque (T).
• Internal moments about an axis tangent to imaginary cut surface are called torsional moments or
bending moment (M)
A.2 FREE BODY DIAGRAM

The diagram showing all the forces acting on a free body is called free-body diagram. Only then applying
equilibrium equations will be useful.

A body is in static equilibrium if the vector sum of all forces acting on a free body and the vector sum of all moments
about any point in space are zero:

∑𝑭 = 𝟎 ∑𝑴 = 𝟎

A structure on which the number of unknown reaction forces and moments is greater than the number of equilibrium
equations (six in three dimensions and three in two dimensions) is called a statically indeterminate structure. Statically
indeterminate problems arise when more supports than the needed are used to support a structure. Extra supports may be
used for safety considerations of for the purpose of increasing the stiffness of a structure.

Degree of static redundancy = number of unknown reactions – number of equilibrium equations

A.3 CENTROIDS

A.3.1 Centroids of common geometrical figures

A.3.2 Centroids of composite figures

Ay¯=Σay Ax¯=Σax

Where:

A = total area
a = area of each geometric figures
x/y = distance of centroid of each figures to datum
y¯ / x¯= centroid with respect to axes
 A.4 MOMENTS OF INERTIA

A.4.1 Moments of Inertia of common shapes

A.4.3 Transfer formula for

Moment of Inertia

I=I¯+Ad^2

Where:

x′ = centroidal axis
x = any axis parallel to the centroidal axis
I = moment of inertia about the x-axis
I¯ = centroidal moment of inertia
A = area of the section
d = distance between x and x’

B. MECHANICS OF MATERIALS

Mechanics of Materials is a branch of applied mechanics that deals with the behavior of solid bodies subjected to various
types of loading. The principal objective of mechanics of materials is to determine the stresses, strains and displacements in
structures and their components due to the loads acting on them. To determine stresses and strains, we use physical properties
of materials as well as numerous theoretical laws and concepts.

B.1 STRESSES
Consider a prismatic bar under a axial force F (disregarding weight of bar) and an axial force is a load directed along the
axis of the member, resulting in either tension or compression in the bar.
 Internal actions exposed by making imaginary cut at section mn

Continuously distributed stresses acting over entire cross section, and the axial force, F acting at the cross section is
the resultant of those stresses. Stress has units of force per unit area and is denoted by Greek Letter σ (sigma). In general,
stresses acting on a plane may be uniform or may be vary in intensity. In this course, stresses acting on cross section assumed
are uniformly distributed over the area. Then resultant of those stress must be equal to the magnitude of the stress times the
cross-sectional area A of the bar.

Stress = intensity of internal forces

Stress = Force / Area

Where:
=Stress(N/m2)
F =force applied
A = cross-sectional area of the material
Note: dividing load by area does not give the stress at all points in the cross-sectional area; it merely determines the
average stress.

A.3.1 Normal Stress

Stresses act perpendicular to the cut surface are called normal stresses. They can be compressive or
tensile.

A.3.1 Shear Stress

Stresses act parallel to the cut surface are called shear stresses. A shearing stress is produced
whenever the applied loads cause one section of a body to slide past its adjacent section.

Where:
τ = shear stress
F = force applied
A = cross-sectional area of the material