MECHANICS OF SOLIDS

Mechanical III/I

LOADS ON STRUCTURE AND

RESPONSE OF MATERIALS

Session 01: Introduction

2022
Learning Objectives
• Define mechanics.

• Define a particle, a rigid body and a deformable body.

• Define mechanics of solids.

1.1 Introduction
Mechanics is concerned with the motion of particles or bodies
under the action of a system of forces.

A particle has a mass that is concentrated in one point whereas a

body is an aggregate of constrained particles that are geometrically
distributed within a certain boundary.

If the particles within a body are constrained such that the distance
between any two in the aggregate remains unchanged, the body
form will remain unaltered and this defines a rigid body. If the
distance between any two particles changes, there will be a change
of form and the body is deformable.
The displacement of any particle in a body may be considered to
be the displacement resulting from the motion of the body as a
whole, called rigid body displacement, and the displacement due to
change of form, called deformation.

All bodies are essentially deformable. A rigid body is, in fact, an

idealized concept adopted when studying the mechanics of rigid
bodies.

The subject of mechanics of deformable bodies is concerned with

determining deformations set up in a body as a result of a system
of applied forces. According to their behavior under load,
deformable bodies are classified into solids, fluids, or semi-fluids.

This course is concerned with solids.

The subject of Mechanics of Solids deals with the deformable solids
under loads and with their deformations and internal forces that are
produced.
The relations between applied loads, deformations and the internal
forces that are produced in a deformable solid are of great
importance in designing structures and machines. Such relations
combined with the properties of materials are used to calculate the
size of the structural members.
The concept of calculating the shape and size in mechanics of solids
depends upon the nature of deformable bodies to resist the
deformations. While resisting deformations under some applied load
system the body produces an internal resistance at each point of any
section. This internal resistance per unit area of the section is called
stress.
The equations of equilibrium obtained from statics will not be
sufficient to determine the unknown loads or reactions acting upon
the body. In such cases it is necessary to consider the changes in the
shape and size after the application of the load. Such consideration
will lead to another fundamental quantity – strain. The strain will be
defined as the deformation in a unit length.

The stress and strain are correlated through some physical

properties of material. In the course of the text such properties will
be defined and relations will be developed

It will become apparent subsequently that the stress and strain often
depend upon the type of load and its relationship with the geometry
of the element.
Review Questions

1. Define mechanics, particle, rigid body and deformable body.

2. Differentiate between rigid body motion and deformation.

3. Define mechanics of solids.