Mechanics in Engineering

It may suffice to point out that there is no field in engineering that can be mastered without a thorough understanding of mechanics. To mention only a glamorous topic, the mapping of a satellites trajectory, the navigation of the rocket and its stabilization by platforms of gyroscopes, the structure and the engine of the rocket all these fundamental problems in space travel are, first, problems of mechanics. Eduard C. Pestel and William T. Thomson in Statics.

Introduction

The science of mechanics seeks to understand the behaviour of material bodies that are subjected to the action forces. Applied mechanics further seeks to apply knowledge of such behaviour to the solution of problems of practical interest in engineering, astronomy and other physical sciences. However, the behaviour of material bodies under the action of forces is determined by the nature of the material body, among other things. A force acting upon a liquid body does not necessarily produce the same effect as when it acts upon a solid body. Thus, material bodies may be classified into solids, liquids and gases 1, based on their behaviour under the action of forces. We shall confine ourselves to discussing the behaviour of solid bodies under the action of forces. This branch of mechanics is generally known as the mechanics of solids. Even when we confine ourselves to the mechanics of solid, we still observe that not all solid bodies behave in the same way under the action of a given force. For instance, a rubber cube will not behave in exactly the same way as a steel cube of the same geometrical form and size, when the two bodies are subjected to equal forces that tend to compress the cubes. The difference in the behaviour of the two bodies will be manifest in the extent to which the bodies will change in geometrical form and size, under the action of the compressive forces. Such change is known as deformation. From experience, we should expect that the rubber cube will deform much more that the steel cube will, when the two are subjected to equal compressive forces. The ability of a material to resist deformation is known as rigidity and we say that steel is more rigid than rubber since it has a higher ability to resist deformation, as compared to rubber. In reality, all material bodies do deform when subjected to the action of forces. But the extent of such deformation can vary widely and it is determined by the intensity of the
1

Liquids and gases are often grouped together and referred to as fluids, due to their ability to flow.

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applied forces as well as the rigidity of the material body. Some materials have such high rigidity that, unless they are subjected to excessive forces, they will undergo deformations that will be so small as to be practically negligible. Moreover, most machine and structural components will not perform their functions adequately if they deform excessively under the action of forces. Such components are therefore made of highly rigid materials that will undergo negligible deformations under their normal operating circumstances. In practice then it is useful to treat such components as if they were completely rigid and therefore cannot be deformed. Then we refer to such components as resistant bodies or rigid bodies. We shall confine ourselves to discussing the mechanics of rigid bodies. However, we should never loose sight of the fact that the concept of a rigid body is an idealization and that in reality no body is absolutely rigid, even though for many practical engineering purposes some mechanical components can be considered to be absolutely rigid. Moreover, even when we confine ourselves to the mechanics of rigid bodies, we observe that the behaviour of a rigid body under the action of forces is determined by the geometrical form and the dimensions (size) of the body, among other things. Where the geometrical dimensions of the body do not significantly affect the behaviour of the body that is subjected to the action of forces, we shall regard the body as a particle. The mechanical concept of a particle is another idealization and it does not necessarily mean a body of negligible size. There are many instances where large bodies such as the earth can be modeled as particles. This is the case, for example, when we want to study the orbital motion of the earth in the solar system. However, when we want to study the rotation of the earth about its own axis, we can no longer treat it as a particle. Evidently the suitable model to be used depends on the purpose of modeling, among other things. Any rigid solid body may be regarded as being composed of numerous material particles of infinitesimally small dimensions. These particles are also referred to as material points. It is for this reason that the mechanics of rigid bodies is also known as point mechanics, in contrast to continuum mechanics, which is concerned with deformable bodies, ranging from deformable solids to fluids. On the basis of the nature of the material bodies whose behaviour is of interest, the study of applied mechanics in engineering may be broadly classified into the mechanics of discrete rigid bodies and the mechanics of deformable continua, and further, into the offshoots thereof, as illustrated in Fig. 1.1. The engineering applications of rigid body mechanics are too numerous to be listed here, but one major application is in the study of the kinematics and the dynamics of machines, which is generally referred to as the mechanics of machines or the theory of machines. The transmission of mechanical power is one of the subjects studied under mechanics of machines. In engineering, the study of the mechanics of rigid bodies is commonly referred to simply as engineering mechanics. But the use of this terminology is merely conventional. In 2

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reality, engineering mechanics encompasses much more than the mechanics of rigid bodies. Applied Mechanics

Mechanics of Discrete Rigid Bodies

Mechanics of Deformable Continua

Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines

Solid Mechanics

Fluid Mechanics

Fig. 1.1 Some Applications of Applied Mechanics in Engineering

For convenience, the study of engineering mechanics is normally subdivided into statics, kinematics and kinetics, as illustrated in Fig. 1.2, below. Engineering Mechanics

Dynamics

Statics

Kinematics

Kinetics

Fig. 1.2 Subdivisions of Engineering Mechanics

If we consider the mechanics of a particle, for instance, statics will then be concerned with situations in which the vector sum of forces acting upon the particle is zero. In common terminology we can describe this situation as one in which the forces are balanced, but in scientific terminology we say that the particle is in equilibrium. 3

Mechanics in Engineering

If we now consider the mechanics of a rigid body then statics will be concerned with situations in which the vector sum of the forces acting upon the body, as well as the vector sum of the moments of these forces, taken about any point, will simultaneously be equal to zero. This means that the rigid body will be in a state of equilibrium. Therefore, in the mechanical context, statics may be defined as the study of equilibrium. Again, if we consider the mechanics of a particle, kinematics would be concerned with the motions that the particle can execute under given constraints. Constraints upon motion can take on many and varied forms but, for instance, suppose that a particle is so constrained that it only moves within a plane. Moreover, suppose that the particle, even as it changes position in the plane, remains at a constant distance from a fixed point. Even without delving into the physical nature of the constraints, we can discern that the resultant motion of the particle in question can only be along a circular path (trajectory) whose centre would be at the fixed point from which the particle keeps a constant distance. The study and description of such motion is the subject of kinematics. Therefore, kinematics may be defined as the study of possible motions under given constraints. If we consider the motion of rigid bodies then kinematics would be concerned with both translational and rotational motion. The two modes of motion often do occur simultaneously. When the forces acting upon a particle are balanced, their effect would be to either keep the particle in a state of rest or to keep the particle moving without changing its state of motion (Newtons first law of motion). When a particle moves without change in its state of motion, we say that the particle is in a state of uniform motion. Rest may be considered to be a special state of uniform motion in which the velocity of the particle is zero and remains so. In the study of mechanical power transmission and the working of machines, while rest as a state of motion may appear to be trivial, the state of equilibrium is often found to be useful. When the forces acting upon a particle are not balanced, we should expect a change in the state of motion of the particle. The change of motion may take the form of commencement of motion of a particle that was initially at rest. If the unbalanced forces act upon a particle that was initially in motion, the change of motion could take the form of a change in the magnitude of velocity (a reduction or an increase in the magnitude of velocity) and/or a change in the direction of motion. In general, change in the state of motion is referred to as acceleration. In the context of the mechanics of a particle, kinetics may be defined as the study of the relationship between forces and motion, including change in the state of motion. It builds upon concepts that are developed in statics as well as kinematics. Three mechanical relationships play a major role in the study of kinetics:

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The force-acceleration relationship, The impulse-momentum relationship, The work-energy relationship.

When we come to consider the kinetics of rigid bodies, we would be concerned not only with forces and translational motion but also with the moments of forces and rotational motion.

Basic Laws of Rigid Body Mechanics

Since rigid bodies cannot be deformed, the effect of forces acting upon rigid bodies is to move the bodies without deforming them. Rigid body mechanics is based on the three axioms2 that were formulated by Sir Isaac Newton in 1687 in his epochal work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica3. The three axioms are stated below: 2. 3. 4. Every body continues in its state of rest, or uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by the action of forces impressed upon it. The change of motion is proportional to the motive force impressed, and it occurs in the direction of the straight line in which that force is impressed. To every action there is always an opposed and equal reaction; or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and oppositely directed.

These three axioms, now known as Newtons laws of motion, were based on the experimental and phenomenological evidence available in Newtons time 4. As they were appreciably expanded at the end of the nineteenth century, Newtons empirical laws had to be revised. However, in engineering applications, except those dealing with nuclear and fast-moving-electron phenomena, these laws are still valid without reservation. Newton stated his laws for particles, but, as we shall see in due course, their application can be extended to rigid bodies. Since the geometrical form and size of a particle are negligible, the concept of deformation does not arise when we deal with particle mechanics. A particle is virtually rigid. Therefore, the effect of forces on particles can only result in the gross motion of a particle from one location to another in space. In the modern form in which Newtons laws are commonly used in engineering, they can be re-stated as follows:

2 3

An axiom may be defined as a self-evident truth. This can be translated into English to mean The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. 4 Isaac Newton was born in 1642 in Woolsthorpe, England and died in 1727 in London.

Mechanics in Engineering

1.

When the sum of all the forces acting upon a particle is zero, its velocity will be constant. In particular, if the particle in question is initially at rest then it will remain at rest. When the sum of all the forces acting upon a particle is other than zero, the sum of these forces will be equal to the rate of change of the linear momentum of the particle. If the mass of the particle happens to be constant then the sum of these forces will be equal to the product of the mass and the linear acceleration of the particle. The forces exerted by two particles upon each other are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

2.

3.

As we have noted earlier, Newtons laws were stated for particles. However, in the 18 th century, the Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler 5 derived his two laws which enable us to deal with the motions of finite-sized rigid bodies. Eulers laws may be stated as follows: 1. 2. The resultant of the external forces acting on a body is at all times equal to the time derivative of its momentum. The resultant moment of these external forces about a fixed point is equal to the time derivative of the bodys moment of momentum6 about that point.

Eulers laws enable us to study the motions of bodies, whether or not they can be modeled as particles. The first law enables us to understand the motion of the centre of mass of the body and the second law enables us to understand the rotational motion of the body. Moreover, an action-reaction principle akin to Newtons third law may be derived from the two Eulers laws. Another important contribution by Isaac Newton is the Law of Gravitation, which expresses the gravitational attraction between two particles in terms of their masses ( m1 , m2 ) and the distance ( r ) between them. The magnitude ( F ) of the force of attraction on either particle is given by:
F =G m1m2 r2

(1.1)

In the above equation, G is the universal gravitation constant. For a small body (which may be modeled as a particle) being attracted by the earth, the force of attraction is given approximately by the following equation:
5 6

Euler was born on April 15, 1707 in Basel and died on September 18, 1783 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The moment of momentum is also known as the angular momentum.

Mechanics in Engineering
F =G Mm r2

(1.2)

In the above equation, M is the mass of the earth, m is the mass of the particle, and r is the distance from the particle to the centre of the earth. If the particle is located on or near the surface of the earth, r would then be approximately equal to the radius, re of the earth and, to good approximation, the force of attraction between the earth and the particle, which is known as the weight of the particle, would be:
GM F = r2 e m = mg

(1.3)

The symbol g is known as the strength of the gravitational field or the gravitational acceleration. Although g varies slightly from place to place on earth, we shall, unless otherwise stated, use the nominal value of 9.8 m s 2 .

Further Reading
BEER, FERDINAND P., E. RUSSELL JOHNSTON, Jr. and ELLIOT R. EISENBERG. Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Statics. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. BEER, FERDINAND P., E. RUSSELL JOHNSTON, Jr. and ELLIOT R. EISENBERG. Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. MERIAM, J. L. and L. G. KRAIGE. Engineering Mechanics: Statics. John Wiley and Sons Incorporated. MERIAM, J. L. and L. G. KRAIGE. Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics. John Wiley and Sons Incorporated. McGILL, DAVID J. and WILTON W. KING. Engineering Mechanics: Statics. PWS-KENT Publishing Company. McGILL, DAVID J. and WILTON W. KING. Engineering Mechanics: An Introduction to Dynamics. PWS-KENT Publishing Company. The Internet.