Course Syllabus

MECH 400 Advanced eechanics of Materials

Spring of 2009

 

General Information

Class hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1:00 - 1:50 AM, MEB 241

Office hours: MWF 2:00 - 3:00 PM, & TT 2:30-3:00, MEB 221 or by appointment

web-site: http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~mech400

 

Instructor

Prof. Ed Akin

Office: Mechanical Engineering Building, Room 221

Phone:  (713) 348-4879

Email:  akin@rice.edu

 

Course Description

Advanced topics in solid mechanics including energy methods, the principle of virtual work, pressure vessels, buckling, aspects of elasticity, curved beams, fracture mechanics, and their software assisted application to the reliable design of structures.   The three fundamental aspects of these problems include equilibrium, geometric compatibility, and material constitutive laws.   The course will build on concepts introduced in MECH 311.

 

Recommended Textbook

R.D. Cook and W. Young, Advanced Mechanics of Materials, Prentice Hall, 2th Edition, 1999.

Fondren Library Reserve Books

A.P. Boresi, Advanced mechanics of materials  5th ed, Wiley, 1993. 

W. Bickford, Advanced Mechanics of Materials, Prentice Hall, 2001.

R. Solecki and R.J. Conant, Advanced Mechanics of Materials, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.

A.C. Ugural, Advanced strength and applied elasticity, Prentice Hall, 2003.

M. Vable, Intermediate mechanics of materials, Oxford Univ. Press, 2008 

 

Grading

Homework       70%

Midterm Exam 15%     (take-home)

Final Exam      15%     (take home)

 

Homework Policy

Homework will be assigned on the last class of the week (usually Friday).  It will be due on the last class of the following week (usually the next Friday).    Homework is meant as an exercise and you are encouraged to consult anyone (students, teaching assistants, me) and anything (notes, books, your own experiments) if it helps you to understand the material.  However, you may not consult another person's completed solution to any given problem or solutions from past years. 

 

Exam Policy

The midterm exam will be assigned on a Friday and will be due at the beginning of the next Wednesday class.  The final exam will be assinged on the last day of classes and due at the end of the finals period.  Tests are taken under the Rice Honor Code system.  You may only consult the textbook, any materials posted on the website, any software used in class, and any notes that you have personally taken.  You may use a calculator, including programmable calculators.  The test must be taken during a 3-hour period, with an optional single 30-minute break.

 

 

Course Calendar 2009

  Jan 5  Introduction, Review

  Jan 7  Discontinuous distribbutions (web posting)

  Jan 9  Discontinuous distribbutions, TK Solver

  Jan 12  Analytic FE spring models

  Jan 14  Analytic FE spring models

  Jan 16  3D vectors and stresses

  Jan 19  NO CLASS, M.L. King day

  Jan 21  Index notation and transformations

  Jan 23  Principal stresses, 3D Mohr's circle

  Jan 26  Stress cubic equation, TK Solver

  Jan 28  Principal strains, Strain energy

  Jan 30  Failure criteria

  Feb 2  Energy methods

  Feb 4  Castigliano's theorems

  Feb 6  Castigliano's theorems

  Feb 9  Priniple of stationary potential energy

  Feb 11  Rayleigh-Ritz method

  Feb 13  1D finite element concepts

  Feb 16  Classic cubic beam element

  Feb 18  Beam on elastic foundation element

  Feb 20  Review, TEST 1 (take home, open notes)

  Feb 23  Planar non-symmetric curved beams

  Feb 25  Planar curved beams, TK Solver

  Feb 27  Planar curved beams, TK Solver

  Mar 2 - 6  NO CLASS, spring recess

  Mar 9  Planar curved beams, TK Solver

  Mar 11  Elasticity, equilibrium equations

  Mar 13  Saint-Venant's principle

  Mar 16  Traction boundary conditions

  Mar 18  Airy stress functions

  Mar 20  2D Airy stress functions

  Mar 23  2D Airy stress functions, Maple

  Mar 25  Torsion of non-circular shafts

  Mar 27  Torsion of non-circular shafts

  Mar 30  Membrane and thermal analogies

  Apr 1  Thick wall cylinders

  Apr 3  NO CLASS, break

  Apr 6  Thick wall cylinders

  Apr 8  Thick wall cylinders

  Apr 10  Linear fracture mechanics

  Apr 13  Linear fracture mechanics

  Apr 15  Linear fracture mechanics

  Apr 17  Review (Takehome final, open book)

 

Students with disabilities

Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours.  Additionally, students should contact Disabled Student Services at the Ley Student Center.