Mechanics of Materials 2

Book excerpt: One of the most important subjects for any student of engineering or materials to master is the behaviour of materials and structures under load. The way in which they react to applied forces, the deflections resulting and the stresses and strains set up in the bodies concerned are all vital considerations when designing a mechanical component such that it will not fail under predicted load during its service lifetime.Building upon the fundamentals established in the introductory volume Mechanics of Materials 1, this book extends the scope of material covered into more complex areas such as unsymmetrical bending, loading and deflection of struts, rings, discs, cylinders plates, diaphragms and thin walled sections. There is a new treatment of the Finite Element Method of analysis, and more advanced topics such as contact and residual stresses, stress concentrations, fatigue, creep and fracture are also covered. Each chapter contains a summary of the essential formulae which are developed in the chapter, and a large number of worked examples which progress in level of difficulty as the principles are enlarged upon. In addition, each chapter concludes with an extensive selection of problems for solution by the student, mostly examination questions from professional and academic bodies, which are graded according to difficulty and furnished with answers at the end.