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Lecture

Structural Mechanics Fundamentals

In course

ME-231(b): Structural mechanics for SV

This course aims to provide a concise understanding of how materials and structures react to loads. It covers the basics of stress and strain in multi dimensions, deformation and failure criteria. The course is tailored to problems students from life scien ...

Description

This lecture introduces the concept of treating a bar under tension or compression as a spring, explaining how the stiffness of the bar is related to its properties and geometry. The method of sections is used to analyze complex structures by breaking them down into smaller components. The lecture then delves into the derivation of the basic principles behind finite element analysis, which is essential for solving deformations and forces in structures using computer programs. The displacement stiffness method is explored as a way to solve over-constrained systems, with a focus on stress concentration and the Sambhanans principle to understand how forces distribute unevenly in structures.

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Instructor

Georg Fantner

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Related concepts (32)

Structural analysis

Structural analysis is a branch of solid mechanics which uses simplified models for solids like bars, beams and shells for engineering decision making. Its main objective is to determine the effect of loads on the physical structures and their components. In contrast to theory of elasticity, the models used in structure analysis are often differential equations in one spatial variable. Structures subject to this type of analysis include all that must withstand loads, such as buildings, bridges, aircraft and ships.

Stiffness

Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. The stiffness, of a body is a measure of the resistance offered by an elastic body to deformation. For an elastic body with a single degree of freedom (DOF) (for example, stretching or compression of a rod), the stiffness is defined as where, is the force on the body is the displacement produced by the force along the same degree of freedom (for instance, the change in length of a stretched spring) In the International System of Units, stiffness is typically measured in newtons per meter ().

Direct stiffness method

As one of the methods of structural analysis, the direct stiffness method, also known as the matrix stiffness method, is particularly suited for computer-automated analysis of complex structures including the statically indeterminate type. It is a matrix method that makes use of the members' stiffness relations for computing member forces and displacements in structures. The direct stiffness method is the most common implementation of the finite element method (FEM).

Infinitesimal strain theory

In continuum mechanics, the infinitesimal strain theory is a mathematical approach to the description of the deformation of a solid body in which the displacements of the material particles are assumed to be much smaller (indeed, infinitesimally smaller) than any relevant dimension of the body; so that its geometry and the constitutive properties of the material (such as density and stiffness) at each point of space can be assumed to be unchanged by the deformation.

Geometry

Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a geometer. Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point, line, plane, distance, angle, surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts.

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