Engineering mechanics

Lecture 1

Shaokoon Cheng, PhD

Email: Shaokoon.cheng@mq.edu.au
Tel: 98509063
Office: E6A, Rm 223
Consultation time: 2pm to 5pm (Tuesday)
Text book (non-mandatory): Engineering Mechanics. Statics. J.L. Meriam and L.G. Kraige
Pre-requisite: Trigonometry, Vectors.
What are you required to do?
1. Asterisk on slides.
2. Fill in the blanks.
3. Bring along your scientific calculator.
4. Test date 30th August 2013 (1 hour). 10% of overall mark.
5. Assignment 18th October 2013. Questions to be released on 25th September 2013.
6. Give answers in two decimal places.

Overview

Engineering mechanics
Forces
Force vectors
Moment of forces
Forces in members of structures and machines

Lecture 1

Lecture 1

Mechanics

Mechanics the physical science which deals with the

effects of forces on objects.
The principles of mechanics are central to research and
development in the fields of stability and strength of
structures and machines, robotics, fluid flow, molecular,
atomic, and sub- atomic behavior.

Lecture 1

Mechanics
Mechanical design.
Cranes
Remote controls
Aeroplanes

Wright.nasa.gov

Lecture 1

Mechanics
Analyze failure mechanisms.
Minneapolis I-35W bridge (2007)
(Undersized gusset plates, increase concrete surfacing load).

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Mechanics
Science.
Elucidating disease mechanisms
Eg. Malaria mosquito borne infectious disease.
Year 2010, 2000 deaths per day.

Force

Force

Stretching of red blood cells using optical tweezers.

Force

Lecture 1

Mechanics
Work, health and safety

Reference: www.redbubble.com

Lecture 1

Mechanics
Mechanics
__________

__________
__________

Fluid
mechanics

Statics
Dynamics
Rigid body: A body is considered rigid when the change in distance
between any two of its points is negligible.
Statics deals primarily with the calculation of external forces which act on
rigid bodies in equilibrium. Determination of the internal deformations
belongs to the study of the mechanics of deformable bodies.
Statics: study that concerns the __________ of bodies under action of
forces.

Lecture 1

Statics
Fundamental concepts

Force: ________" or ________" exerted by one body on another.

Characterized by its ____________, _________, and point of application.
Eg: Gravity (weight), Tension, Compression, Friction
Length:

Describe the size of a physical system in space.

Mass:
Mass is defined as the quantity of matter in a body. Mass is a
measure of the inertia of a body, which is its resistance to a change of
velocity. The mass of a body affects the gravitational attraction force
between it and other bodies.
Time:
Principles of statics are generally time independent. This
quantity plays an important role in the study of _______________.

Lecture 1

Statics *
SI units
Force:
Length:
Mass:
Friction:

Newtons (N)
Metres (m)
Kilograms (Kg)
Newtons (N)

0.000 000 001=10-9

0.000 001=10-6
0.001=10-3
1000=103
1 000 000=106
1 000 000 000=109

- n (nano)
- (micro)
- m (milli)
- k (kilo)
- M (mega)
- G (giga)

Lecture 1

Newton's Laws
F2
F1

F3

F4

Lecture 1

Force vectors
Newtons law of gravitation

F =G
F
G
M, m
r

= mutual force of attraction between 2 particles

= universal constant known as the constant of gravitation
= masses of the 2 particles
= distance between the 2 particles

m
-F F

Mm
r2

Two particles of mass M and m are

mutually with equal and opposite forces.

Lecture 1

Statics
Newtons law of gravitation

Reference: Engineering Mechanics. Statics. J.L. Meriam and L.G. Kraige

Lecture 1

Statics
Newtons law of gravitation
GM
r2
gr 2
G=
M
g=

F =G
F=

Mm
r2

gr 2 Mm

M r2

F = mg
W = mg
Weight is the gravitational force acting on a mass. Weight mass

Example

Force vectors
Scalar and Vectors
A scalar is any physical quantity that can be completely specified by
its _________________.
Eg: time, mass.
A vector is any physical quantity that requires both a magnitude and
direction for its ___________________ .
A vector is shown graphically by an arrow.
The head of the arrow indicates the sense of direction of the
vector.
For handwritten work, it is often convenient to denote a vector
quantity by simply drawing an arrow on top it. V
In print, vector quantities are represented by bold face letters such
as A, and its magnitude of the vector is italicized, Eg: 4V

Lecture 1

Lecture 1

Lecture 1

Force vectors*
Vectors operation
Operations - Eg: +, -, x, /

5 kg

10 kg

5 kg

1) Multiplication and division of vector by a scalar.

If a vector is multiplied by a positive scalar, its magnitude is increased
by that amount. When multiplied by a negative scalar it will also
change the _______________sense of the vector.

A
2A

- 0.5 A

Lecture 1

Force vectors*
Vectors operation
2) Vectors addition
A

= R

Vectors must obey the _________________ law of combination.

A
B

A
R

Lecture 1

Force vectors*
Vectors operation
3) Vectors subtraction
A

= R

Vectors must obey the parallelogram law of combination.

A
A
B

R
R

B
-B

Lecture 1

Force (vectors)
Importance of interpreting force as vectors
1) Finding resultant force.

F1 + F2 = R

R
Picture frame

Lecture 1

Force (vectors) *
Importance of interpreting force as vectors
2) Finding components of a force.

F1
R

F2

B
B
B

Example

Lecture 1

Lecture 1

Revision
Trigonometry

COS = A/H
A = H COS
SIN = O/H
O = H SIN

Lecture 1

Revision
Trigonometry
20o

30

10

25o

X=

X=

X=

20o

30

10
8

25o
8

x
X=

x
X=

X=

Revision

Lecture 1

Trigonometry

Revision
Trigonometry

Lecture 1

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Example

Solutions

Find the resultant force

Lecture 1

Example

Solutions

Find the resultant force

R
250 N

60O
120o

150 N

Cosine rule
250 N

a2 = b2 + c2 2bc COS A
R2 = 1502 + 2502 2(250)(150) COS 60o

60O

150 N

R = 217.94 N

Sine rule
SIN A
a

SIN B
b

SIN 60o
217.94

SIN x
150

x = 36.59 o
= 81.59 o

Lecture 1

Example
Solutions

Find the angle if the

resultant force is directed
horizontally to the right.

8 kN
xo

6 kN
50o

50o
6 kN
Sine rule
SIN B
SIN A
=
a
b
o
SIN
x
SIN 50
=
6
8
X = 35o
= 55o

Lecture 1

Statics
Principle of transmissibility
Rigid body

When dealing with the mechanics of a

__________ body, we ignore deformations
in the body and concern ourselves with only
the net external effects of external forces.

For example, the force P acting on the rigid

body may be applied at A or at B or at any
other point on its LINE OF ACTION.

Lecture 1

Example

Fa
20o

110o
950N

50o

50o
Fb

Revision
Trigonometry

Lecture 1