ENGINEERING MECHANICS NOTES - 1

THREE LAWS OF MOTION: (Remember correctly)

1. The first law of motion states that a body tends to stay in the state of rest
or of uniform motion unless an external force is applied.

2. The second law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of
a body is directly proportional to the applied force and is in the same
direction.

3. The third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction.

FORCE SYSTEM:

 If all the forces in a system lie in a single plane, it is called a coplanar

force system.
 If the line of action of all forces lies along a single line then it is called
collinear force system.

MOMENT OF FORCE:

 Moment of a force about a point is the measure of its rotation effect.

 It is the product of the magnitude of the force and the perpendicular
distance of the point from the line of action of the force.
 The point from where the moment is taken is called moment centre
and the perpendicular distance of the point from the line of action of
the force is called moment arm.
 A couple is formed by two parallel forces equal in magnitude and
opposite in direction are separated by a definite distance. The
translator effect of a couple is zero and it has only rotational effect.

FRICTION:

 When two surfaces are in contact, burr and roughness get interlocked
thereby making movement difficult.
 When a body moves or tends to move over another body, a force
opposing the motion is developed at the contact surface.
  The force that opposes the movement or tendency of movement is
called frictional force or friction.
 Frictional force has a property of adjusting its magnitude to the force
trying to produce motion to the body so that motion is prevented.
 The magnitude of friction cannot be increased beyond a limit which is
known as limiting or maximum friction force.
 If applied force is more than limiting friction, the body will move. The
static friction is friction force till the body is stationary.
 Dynamic friction is friction force acting when body is moving.
 A body (weight W) is being pulled with a force P. The body is
stationary till force P increases to limiting friction (F).
 The coefficient of friction (mue) is defined as the ratio of limiting
friction force (F) to normal reaction of the body.
 mue = F/N where N = Normal reaction = W
 A body is stationary if F > P and the body starts moving if P > F.

COULOMB’S LAW OF FRICTION:

1. The force of friction always acts in a direction opposite to the direction

in which the body tends to move.
2. The magnitude of friction force is equal to the applied force till it
remains stationary.
3. The limiting friction bears a constant ratio to the reaction force
between the two surfaces.
4. The friction force depends upon the roughness/smoothness between
the surfaces.
5. The force of friction does not depend on the area of contact.
6. Dynamic friction has a lower value than that of the limiting friction.

ANALYSIS OF BEAMS:

A beam is a structural element which has one dimension considerably

larger than other two dimensions (generally width and depth) and it is
supported at a few points. The distance between the supports is called
span. A beam is usually loaded normal to its cross-sectional areas. Every
cross-section of a beam faces bending and shear when it is loaded. The
load finally gets transferred to supports. The system of applied forces and
reactions keep the beam in equilibrium.

When a horizontal beam is loaded with vertical loads, it bends due to action
of loads. The internal shear stress and bending moment are developed to
resist bending. The amount of bending in the beam depends upon the
amount and type of loads, length of the beam, elasticity of the beam and
dimensions of the beam. The best way of studying and to analyze is to
draw the Shear Force Diagram (SFD) and Bending Moment Diagram
(BMD) of the beam.

TYPES OF BEAMS:

1. Simply supported
2. Cantilever type
3. Overhanging
4. Hinged and roller supported
5. Fixed
6. Continuous (having more than two suppots)

TYPES OF SUPPORTS:

1. Simple support
2. Roller support
3. Hinged support

TYPES OF LOADS:

1. Point load or concentrated load

2. Uniformly distributed load (UDL)
3. Uniformly varying load
4. General loading
5. External moment

TRUSSES:
A truss is a structure made of slender members which are assumed to be
pin connected at ends. It is capable of taking loads at joints. It is designed
to resist geometrical distortion under any applied system of loading.

A truss can be a plane truss or space truss. In a plane truss, all members
lie in a single plane. The force system acting on the truss is coplanar and it
is in the plane of the truss. Bridge trusses and roof trusses are examples of
plane trusses.

A truss in which all members do not lie in the same plane is called a space
truss. A transmission tower is an example of a space truss.

TYPES OF PLANE TRUSS:

A triangular structure made up of three members joined by pins is stable

and it is the basic element of a plane truss.

Trusses formed by four or more members in the shape of polygon of as

many sides are non rigid and unstable. However, these can be made stable
by adding diagonal members which convert a polygon into a group of
triangle forms. If we add one diagonal to a non-rigid four member truss, we
get a rigid and stable truss having two triangular forms.

A truss is said to be perfect if the number of members is just sufficient to

prevent its distortion when it is subjected to an external force system. For a
perfect truss, the correlation between the number of joints (J) and the
number of members (m) is given by the equation m = 2J – 3. A perfect
truss is statically determinable, i.e. equations of static equilibrium are
sufficient to determine the forces in its members.

A truss is termed as imperfect truss if the number of members in it is less

than what is required for a perfect truss. An imperfect truss cannot prevent
geometrical distortion when loaded. It is also statically indeterminable. A
redundant truss has members more that are required for a perfect truss. A
redundant truss is over rigid and statically indeterminable.

SUPPORTS:
A perfect truss has a support at both ends. One end is generally resting on
the roller support and the other end is hinged. The roller support is
frictionless and provides a reaction at right angle to the roller base. For the
hinged support, the direction of reaction depends upon the load system on
the truss. It depends on the net horizontal and vertical forces acting at the
hinged support. If the truss has a roller support at both ends, the truss can
slide and fall under horizontal load such as wind load. Also if the truss has
hinged support at both ends, the movement of the truss under varying
temperature is impossible which may lead to failure of the truss.

ANALYSIS OF PLANE TRUSS:

The analysis of a perfect and plane truss involves the determination of

reactions at supports and internal stresses induced in the members due to
external loads. For analysis the following assumptions are made.

1 – The ends of members are pin connected.

2 – Truss members are straight.

3 – The displacement of truss is small.

4 – Loads are applied only at the joints.

5 – Self weight of each member is negligible.

6 – Each member has uniform cross-section.

7 – All members are two force members. Each member is a straight link
joining two points of application of force. Forces at the end of member are
equal, opposite and collinear.

A truss is determinable or non-determinable depending on the number of

unknown forces and moments acting on it as compared to the number of
equations of equilibrium which can be formed. A determinate truss can be
analyzed with three equations of static equilibrium. Since three unknowns
can be solved with three equations, therefore the truss having up to three
unknowns at a joint can be determined.
Bow’s notation is used in the graphical solution of a truss. It is a method of
designating a force by placing capital letters on either side of the force.

The members of the truss can be classified as ties or struts. Ties are
members under tensile stress while struts are members under compressive
stress. The force in a member is tensile if the member pulls the joint to
which it is connected. The force in the member is compressive if the
member pushes the joint to which it is connected. Certain members of truss
may not be subjected to any force when truss is loaded.

METHODS OF ANALYSIS A OF SIMPLE TRUSS:

1 – GRAPHICAL METHOD

2 – METHOD OF JOINTS

3 – METHOD OF SECTIONS

4 – MIXED METHOD

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