Mechanics of Materials is a science of appropriately applying the mechanical properties of materials in engineering practice. From three aspects, it answers

·   if the materials are strong enough to ensure that the designs will not break;

·   if the materials are stiff enough to make the designs function the way they are intended to;

·   if the columns are stable enough to avoid buckling.

The main objective of this course is to provide the engineers with methods of analyzing various machines and structure members; to optimize their designs with maximizing safety and minimizing cost; to offer students the fundamental concepts and skills for solving engineering problems.

1.  Let students obtain the knowledge of strength, stiffness and stability of deformable      members. Understand the basic principles of analysis and designs of structural members.

2.  Master the fundamental concepts and calculations which will be widely used in the following study of specialized courses.

3.  Improve students' professional abilities through the training of problem-solving.

4. Promote students' all around abilities, including creativity, communication, team-work and leadership, etc.

Prerequisites: 

Calculus

Physics

Statics

Engineering Mechanics

Textbook:

Mechanics of Materials (Fifth Edition), R.C.Hibbeler, High Educational Press, 2004

Reference book:

1. Engineering Mechanics：Statics(Twelfth Edition), R.C. Hibbeler, High Educational Press, 2004

2. Engineering Mechanics, J. L. Meriam, ISBN: 978-0-471-78703

The most commonly encountered questions:

1. In Statics, the object is regarded as rigid body, where only external loads are considered.

2. In Mechanics of Materials, all bodies are deformable, where the internal reactions of materials  are    computed according to the application of external loads.

3. Structural members are the assemblage of various materials, so the strength and stiffness of structural members are related to the materials' properties they are made of.

4. This course has a lot of content. To correctly understand the principles and concepts, many exercises must be done.