GENERAL STRUCTURAL THEORY 3.

FIGURE 3.9 (a) Force P acting at an angle ␣ tends to slide block A against friction
with plane B. (b) When motion begins, the angle ␾ between the resultant R and the
normal force N is the angle of static friction.

Px ⫽ P sin ␣ (3.14a)

Py ⫽ P cos ␣ (3.14b)

For the block to be in equilibrium, 兺Fx ⫽ Fƒ ⫺ Px ⫽ 0 and 兺Fy ⫽ N ⫺ Py ⫽ 0. Hence,

Px ⫽ Fƒ (3.15a)

Py ⫽ N (3.15b)

For sliding not to occur, the following inequality must be satisfied:

Fƒ ⱕ ␮s N (3.16)

Substitution of Eqs. (3.15) into Eq. (3.16) yields

Px ⱕ ␮s Py (3.17)

Substitution of Eqs. (3.14) into Eq. (3.17) gives

P sin ␣ ⱕ ␮s P cos ␣

which simplifies to

tan ␣ ⱕ ␮s (3.18)

This indicates that the block will just begin to slide if the angle ␣ is gradually increased to
the angle of static friction ␾, where tan ␾ ⫽ ␮s or ␾ ⫽ tan⫺1 ␮s.
For the free-body diagram of the two-dimensional system shown in Fig. 3.9b, the resultant
force Ru of forces Fu and N defines the bounds of a plane sector with angle 2␾. For motion
not to occur, the resultant force R of forces Fƒ and N (Fig. 3.9a) must reside within this
plane sector. In three-dimensional systems, no motion occurs when R is located within a
cone of angle 2␾, called the cone of friction.
(F. P. Beer and E. R. Johnston, Vector Mechanics for Engineers—Statics and Dynamics,
McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York.)
3.10 SECTION THREE

STRUCTURAL MECHANICS—DYNAMICS

Dynamics is that branch of mechanics which deals with bodies in motion. Dynamics is
further divided into kinematics, the study of motion without regard to the forces causing
the motion, and kinetics, the study of the relationship between forces and resulting motions.

3.6 KINEMATICS

Kinematics relates displacement, velocity, acceleration, and time. Most engineering problems
in kinematics can be solved by assuming that the moving body is rigid and the motions
occur in one plane.
Plane motion of a rigid body may be divided into four categories: rectilinear translation,
in which all points of the rigid body move in straight lines; curvilinear translation, in
which all points of the body move on congruent curves; rotation, in which all particles
move in a circular path; and plane motion, a combination of translation and rotation in a
plane.
Rectilinear translation is often of particular interest to designers. Let an arbitrary point P
displace a distance ⌬s to P⬘ during time interval ⌬t. The average velocity of the point during
this interval is ⌬s / ⌬t. The instantaneous velocity is obtained by letting ⌬t approach zero:

⌬s ds
v ⫽ lim ⫽ (3.19)
⌬t→0 ⌬t dt

Let ⌬v be the difference between the instantaneous velocities at points P and P⬘ during the
time interval ⌬t. The average acceleration is ⌬v / ⌬t. The instantaneous acceleration is

⌬v dv d 2s
a ⫽ lim ⫽ ⫽ 2 (3.20)
⌬t→0 ⌬t dt dt

Suppose, for example, that the motion of a particle is described by the time-dependent
displacement function s(t) ⫽ t 4 ⫺ 2t 2 ⫹ 1. By Eq. (3.19), the velocity of the particle would
be

ds
v⫽ ⫽ 4t 3 ⫺ 4t
dt

By Eq. (3.20), the acceleration of the particle would be

dv d 2s
a⫽ ⫽ 2 ⫽ 12t 2 ⫺ 4
dt dt

With the same relationships, the displacement function s(t) could be determined from a
given acceleration function a(t). This can be done by integrating the acceleration function
twice with respect to time t. The first integration would yield the velocity function v(t) ⫽
兰a(t) dt, and the second would yield the displacement function s(t) ⫽ 兰兰a(t) dt dt.
These concepts can be extended to incorporate the relative motion of two points A and
B in a plane. In general, the displacement sA of A equals the vector sum of the displacement
of sB of B and the displacement sAB of A relative to B:
 GENERAL STRUCTURAL THEORY 3.11

sA ⫽ sB ⫹ sAB (3.21)

Differentiation of Eq. (3.21) with respect to time gives the velocity relation

vA ⫽ vB ⫹ vAB (3.22)

The acceleration of A is related to that of B by the vector sum

aA ⫽ aB ⫹ aAB (3.23)

These equations hold for any two points in a plane. They need not be points on a rigid body.
(J. L. Meriam and L. G. Kraige, Mechanics, Part II: Dynamics, John Wiley & Son, Inc.,
New York; F. P. Beer and E. R. Johnston, Vector Mechanics for Engineers—Statics and
Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York.)

3.7 KINETICS

Kinetics is that part of dynamics that includes the relationship between forces and any
resulting motion.
Newton’s second law relates force and acceleration by

F ⫽ ma (3.24)

where the force F and the acceleration a are vectors having the same direction, and the mass
m is a scalar.
The acceleration, for example, of a particle of mass m subject to the action of concurrent
forces, F1, F2, and F3, can be determined from Eq. (3.24) by resolving each of the forces
into three mutually perpendicular directions x, y, and z. The sums of the components in each
direction are given by

兺Fx ⫽ F1x ⫹ F2x ⫹ F3x (3.25a)

兺Fy ⫽ F1y ⫹ F2y ⫹ F3y (3.25b)

兺Fz ⫽ F1z ⫹ F2z ⫹ F3z (3.25c)

The magnitude of the resultant of the three concurrent forces is

兺F ⫽ 兹(兺Fx)2 ⫹ (兺Fy)2 ⫹ (兺Fz)2 (3.26)

The acceleration of the particle is related to the force resultant by

兺F ⫽ ma (3.27)

The acceleration can then be determined from

兺F
a⫽ (3.28)
m

In a similar manner, the magnitudes of the components of the acceleration vector a are
3.12 SECTION THREE

d 2x 兺Fx
ax ⫽ ⫽ (3.29a)
dt 2 m
d 2y 兺Fy
ay ⫽ ⫽ (3.29b)
dt 2 m
d 2z 兺Fz
az ⫽ ⫽ (3.29c)
dt 2 m
Transformation of Eq. (3.27) into the form
兺F ⫺ ma ⫽ 0 (3.30)

provides a condition in dynamics that often can be treated as an instantaneous condition in

statics; i.e., if a mass is suddenly accelerated in one direction by a force or a system of
forces, an inertia force ma will be developed in the opposite direction so that the mass
remains in a condition of dynamic equilibrium. This concept is known as d’Alembert’s
principle.
The principle of motion for a single particle can be extended to any number of particles
in a system:
兺Fx ⫽ 兺mi aix ⫽ max (3.31a)

兺Fy ⫽ 兺mi aiy ⫽ may (3.31b)

兺Fz ⫽ 兺mi aiz ⫽ maz (3.31c)

where, for example, 兺Fx ⫽ algebraic sum of all x-component forces acting on the system
of particles
兺mi aix ⫽ algebraic sum of the products of the mass of each particle and
the x component of its acceleration
m ⫽ total mass of the system
ax ⫽ acceleration of the center of the mass of the particles in the x
direction
Extension of these relationships permits calculation of the location of the center of mass
(centroid for a homogeneous body) of an object:
兺mi xi
x⫽ (3.32a)
m
兺mi yi
y ⫽ (3.32b)
m
兺mi zi
z⫽ (3.32c)
m

where x, y, z ⫽ coordinates of center of mass of the system

m ⫽ total mass of the system
兺mi xi ⫽ algebraic sum of the products of the mass of each particle and its x coor-
dinate
兺mi yi ⫽ algebraic sum of the products of the mass of each particle and its y coor-
dinate
兺mi zi ⫽ algebraic sum of the products of the mass of each particle and its z coor-
dinate
 GENERAL STRUCTURAL THEORY 3.13

Concepts of impulse and momentum are useful in solving problems where forces are
expressed as a function of time. These problems include both the kinematics and the kinetics
parts of dynamics.
By Eqs. (3.29), the equations of motion of a particle with mass m are
dvx
兺Fx ⫽ max ⫽ m (3.33a)
dt
dvy
兺Fy ⫽ may ⫽ m (3.33b)
dt
dvz
兺Fz ⫽ maz ⫽ m (3.33c)
dt
Since m for a single particle is constant, these equations also can be written as
兺Fx dt ⫽ d(mvx) (3.34a)

兺Fy dt ⫽ d(mvy) (3.34b)

兺Fz dt ⫽ d(mvz) (3.34c)

The product of mass and linear velocity is called linear momentum. The product of force
and time is called linear impulse.
Equations (3.34) are an alternate way of stating Newton’s second law. The action of 兺Fx,
兺Fy, and 兺Fz during a finite interval of time t can be found by integrating both sides of Eqs.
(3.34):

冕 t1

t0
兺Fx dt ⫽ m(vx)t1 ⫺ m(vx)t0 (3.35a)

冕 t1

t0
兺Fy dt ⫽ m(vy)t1 ⫺ m(vy)t0 (3.35b)

冕 t1

t0
兺Fz dt ⫽ m(vz)t1 ⫺ m(vz)t0 (3.35c)

That is, the sum of the impulses on a body equals its change in momentum.
(J. L. Meriam and L. G. Kraige, Mechanics, Part II: Dynamics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
New York; F. P. Beer and E. R. Johnston, Vector Mechanics for Engineers—Statics and
Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York.)

MECHANICS OF MATERIALS

Mechanics of materials, or strength of materials, incorporates the strength and stiffness

properties of a material into the static and dynamic behavior of a structure.

3.8 STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAMS

Suppose that a homogeneous steel bar with a constant cross-sectional area A is subjected to
tension under axial load P (Fig. 3.10a). A gage length L is selected away from the ends of