CE 27000 – Introductory Structural Mechanics

Credits and contact hours:

  • 4 credits
  • Lectures: 3 times per week for 50 minutes per meeting for 15 weeks
  • Lab Prep: One 50-minute lab prep meeting per week for 15 weeks
  • Labs: One 2-hour lab per week for 15 weeks

Specific course information:

  • Catalog description: Loads; structural forms; analysis of axially loaded members, flexural members, torsional members; combined loading conditions; buckling. Basic behavioral characteristics of structural elements and systems illustrated by laboratory experiments.
  • Prerequisites:
    • CE 29700 Basic Mechanics I (Statics) – Minimum Grade C-
    • PHYS 17200 Modern Mechanics – Minimum Grade D-
    • MA 26100 Multivariate Calculus – Minimum Grade C-
  • Course status: Required core course in Civil Engineering curriculum.

Specific Goals for the course:

  • Student learning outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course the student shall be able to:
    • Analyze how different types of structural components carry loads i.e. members with axial loads, members that bend, members with torsion, and combinations.
    • Determine stresses and strains in these types of structural components.
    • Conduct experiments to evaluate the theoretically modeled behavior of these members
  •  Relationship of course to program outcomes
    • Outcome 1: An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
    • Outcome 6: An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret the data, and use engineering judgement to draw conclusions

Topics:

  • Truss analysis
    • Method of joints (Beer et al.: Sec. 6.1)
    • Method of sections (Beer et al.: Sec. 6.2)
  • Cable systems
    • Cables with concentrated loads (Beer et al.: Sec. 7.4A)
    • Cables with distributed loads (Beer et al.: Sec. 7.4B)
    • Parabolic cables (Beer et al.: Sec. 7.4C)
    • Catenary (Beer et al.: Sec. 7.5)
  • Axial loads
    • Stresses (Hibbeler: Secs. 1.1-1.7)
    • Strains (Hibbeler: 2.1-2.2)
    • Stress-strain relations (Hibbeler 3.1-3.5)
    • Deformation (Hibbeler: Secs. 4.1-4.5)
    • Thermal stress (Hibbeler: Sec. 4.6)
    • Stress concentrations (Hibbeler: Sec. 4.7)
  • Bending
    • Shear and bending moment diagrams (Hibbeler: Sec. 6.1)
    • Load, shear, and bending moment relations (Hibbeler: Sec. 6.2)
    • Deformation and stresses (Hibbeler: Secs. 6.3-6.4)
    • Composite beams (Hibbeler: Secs. 6.6-6.7)
  • Transverse shear
    • Shear stresses (Hibbeler: Secs. 7.1-7.2)
    • Shear flow (Hibbeler: Secs. 7.3-7.4)
    • Deflections of beams and shafts
    • The elastic curve (Hibbeler: Secs. 12.1)
    • Slope and displacement (Hibbeler: Secs. 12.2,12.5)
    • Statically indeterminate beams (Hibbeler: Secs. 12.6-12.7, 12.9)
  • Torsion
    • Elastic stresses and strains (Hibbeler: Secs. 5.1-5.2)
    • Elastic deformation (Hibbeler: Secs. 5.4-5.5)
    • Combined loadings
    • Pressure vessels (Hibbeler: Sec. 8.1)
    • Combined loading (Hibbeler: Sec. 8.2)
    • Unsymmetric bending (Hibbeler: Sec. 6.5)
  • Buckling of columns
    • Euler’s buckling formula (Hibbeler: Secs. 13.1-13.2)
    • Various types of supports (Hibbeler: Sec. 13.3)
  • Stress transformations
    • Plane-stress transformation (Hibbeler: Secs. 9.1-9.2)
    • Principal stresses and maximum in-plane shear (Hibbeler: Sec. 9.3)
    • Mohr’s circle (Hibbeler: Sec 9.4)