Engineering

Mechanics:
STATICS

Anthony Bedford and

Wallace Fowler
SI Edition

INTRODUCTION
 Intended Learning Outcomes
 How engineers design and construct Civil Engineering
Structures?
 Define Engineering Mechanics?
 Understand the physics underlying the designs.
 Use mathematical models to predict their behaviour.
 Learn how to analyze & predict the behaviors of
physical systems by studying mechanics.
 Enlist Some of the possible Applications of
Engineering Mechanics?
 Introduction
 How do engineers design and construct the devices
we use, from simple objects such as chairs and
pencils, sharpeners to complicated ones such as
dams, airplanes, and spacecraft?

EXCITATION RESPONSES
Loads Displacements
Vibrations Strains
Settlements Stress
Thermal Changes Stress Resultants

Mathematical/Structural
Real Structure Model
Introduction
 Students of engineering begin to
learn how to analyze and predict
the behaviors of physical systems
by studying mechanics.
 Backbone of civil engineering
 Introduction

 Knowledge of previous designs,

experiments, ingenuity & creativity to
develop new designs.
 Develop mathematical equations based on
the physical characteristics of the device
designs:
 Predict the behavior
 Modify the design
 Test the design prior to actual construction

(C) 2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd 5

 Introduction
 Mechanics
Branch of the physical sciences which deals with the effects of forces
on objects.
Branch of the physical sciences concerned with the state of rest or
motion of bodies that are subjected to the action of forces.

 Statics – Equilibrium of bodies under the action of forces

i.e. that are either at rest or move with a constant velocity. (acceleration is zero)
 Dynamics – the study of objects in motion
i.e. acceleration is not zero

FORCES EFFECTS
Loads Displacements
Vibrations Strains
Settlements Stress
Thermal Changes Stress Resultants

pv
Object
/Structural Model
 Learning Mechanics
 Problem solving procedures:
 Identifyinformation given & information to be
determined. Restate the problem in your own
words. Understand the physical system/model
involved.
 Develop a strategy, i.e. identify the principles
& equations that apply & decide how to use
them. Draw diagrams to help visualization.

(C) 2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd 7

 Learning Mechanics
 Problem solving procedures:
 Try to predict the answer to develop intuition
 help to recognize an incorrect answer.
 Solve the equations, interpret the results &
compare with your prediction  reality check
Is your answer reasonable?

(C) 2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd 8

 Learning Mechanics

 Calculators & Computers:

 To solve algebraic expression in terms of
given quantities.
 A calculator with trigonometric & logarithmic
functions is sufficient.
 Programmable calculator/computer with
problem-solving software such as Mathcad or
MATHLAB is convenient.

(C) 2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd 9

 Learning Mechanics
 Engineering Applications:
 Describes how mechanics is applied in
various fields of engineering.
 Emphasis on 2 essential aspects of
engineering:
 Design – to choose parameters values to

satisfy stated design criteria

 Safety – to evaluate the safety of devices

and choose parameter values to satisfy

stated safety requirements
(C) 2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd 10
Application of Engineering Mechanics
 Statics: equilibrium equations
 Designing structures

(mechanical & civil)

 Dynamics: motion equations
 Analyze responses of buildings

to earthquakes (civil)
 Determine trajectories of

satellites (aerospace)
Historical Development
 Mechanics is the Oldest of
the physical science.
 Earliest recorded writings in
mechanics are those of
Archimedes on the principle
of lever, principle of
buoyancy and center of
mass.

Archimedes
 Historical Development
 Archimedes (Greek mathematician, physicist,
engineer, inventor, astronomer)

Archimedes

Principle of buoyancy Archimedes screw

 Historical Development
 Stevinus (Flemish mathematician and engineer)

 Formulation of laws of vector

combination of forces.
 Formulated most of the
principles of Statics.

Stevin's proof of the law of the equilibrium on an inclined plane

 Historical Development
 Galileo (Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and
philosopher)

 First invention to dynamics

problem is credited to Galileo
for his experiments with falling
stones.
 Historical Development

Galileo

The phases of Venus, observed by Galileo in A replica of the earliest surviving telescope
1610 attributed to Galileo Galilei, on display at the
Griffith Observatory.
 Historical Development
 Issac Newton (English physicist, mathematician, astronomer,
natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian)

 Laws of motion
 Laws of gravitation
 Conceived the idea of
infinitesimal in
mathematical analysis.
 Historical Development

Isaac Newton

Reputed descendants of Newton's apple tree, at the Botanic Gardens in

Cambridge and the Instituto Balserio library garden, Argentina
 Historical Development
 Leonardo da Vinic (Italian mathematician, engineer, inventor,
anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer)

A design for a flying machine, (c. 1488) Institut

de France, Paris
 Historical Development
 Pierre Varignon (French mathematician)
 Historical Development
 Leonhard Euler (Swiss mathematician and physicist)

A geometric interpretation of Euler's formula

 Historical Development
 Jean le Rond D’Alembert (French mathematician,
mechanician, physicist, and philosopher)

 D’Alembert method for wave

equation.
 Historical Development
 Joseph Louis Lagrange (Italian mathematician, and
astronomer)

 Lagrangian Mechanics
 Creator of Calculus of
variation
 Euler-Lagrange equations for
extrema of functionals.
 Lagrange multipliers.
 Historical Development
 Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (French mathematician and
astronomer) (Newton of France)

 Laplace’s equation, transform

 Laplacian differential operator
 Restated and developed
Nebular hypothesis of the
origin of the solar system.
 One of the first scientists to
postulate the existence of
black holes and the notion of
gravitational collapse.
 Summary
 What is Engineering Mechanics?
 How engineers design and construct the Civil
Engineering Structures?
 Application of Engineering Mechanics?
 History of Engineering Mechanics?