BME 271 Winter 2012

INTRODUCTION TO BIOMECHANICS

Professor: Wendy Murray, Ph.D.

Office: Tech M313
Phone: (312) 238-6965 (RIC office)
Email: w-murray@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 pm. (also available by appointment)

Teaching Assistant: Sarah Wohlman

Email: sarahwohlman2014@u.northwestern.edu
Office Hours: to be determined by online survey

Course Description: This course is an introductory biomechanics course. The course covers basic topics in
biomechanics, including biological and physiological applications of statics and strength of materials.

This course is designed for undergraduates in Biomedical Engineering and is intended to be taken during the
sophomore year. This course is required for all BME undergraduates.

Prior to taking this course students should know:

• Concepts of free-body diagrams and classical (Newtonian) mechanics
• Concepts of vector analysis, differentiation, and integration

Learning Objectives: At the end of this course, the student should be able to:

Analyze the strength of materials of biomechanical systems by applying the following concepts and
problem-solving tools:
- Stress and strain
- Stress transformation, finding principal stresses
- Properties of biological materials, material failure
- Models of material behavior, Hook's law
- Stress concentration
- Axial loading
- Bending, bending stresses

Demonstrate a deeper understanding of fundamental physics and statics. Specifically, the student should
be capable of applying fundamental knowledge, obtained from prerequisite and preparatory courses and briefly
reviewed in this course, to unfamiliar problems.

In particular, at the end of this course, the student should be better at::

Apply fundamental physics to biological (human) systems, including:

- Review of fundamental laws of mechanics
- Biomechanics and applications
- Working with dimensions, units and conversions
- Relevant measurements of biological systems (Anthropometry)
- Understanding how human musculoskeletal structures are involved in biomechanics.
- Force classifications in biomechanics
- Calculating forces, moments, and couples
- Resultant and equivalent force systems
- Computing center of gravity of composite bodies and centroid of distributed loads.
BME 271 Winter 2012

Analyze static biomechanical systems by applying the following concepts and problem-solving tools:
- Equilibrium
- Free body diagrams
- Constraints, supports, and reactions
- Musculoskeletal machines and lever systems
- Biomechanical applications of the Method of Sections
- Muscle forces and joint reaction forces

Text: Fundamentals of Biomechanics, 2nd Edition

Ozkaya and Nordin, Springer, 1998.

Other reading: Class handouts

Lectures: MWF 2:00-2:50pm

Tech M152

Grading: Important dates to remember:

Class participation 5%
Homework 10% F, 2/3: Midterm #1
Midterm #1 25% M, 2/27: Midterm #2
Midterm #2 25% Fr, 3/16, 3-5 pm: Final Exam
Final exam 35%

Homework Policy:

• Homework assignments will be announced in class and via Blackboard.

• Late homework will not be accepted.
• There will be no makeup assignments for missed homework.
• The lowest homework grade will be dropped when calculating your final grade
• You may discuss homework problems in groups, but when you sit down to write up the solutions, you
should do so separately and individually.
• TO BE VERY CLEAR, each student must turn in an individual homework assignment.

Test Policy:
There will be no make-up midterm exams.