ME 272 Mechanics of Materials (4 cr.)



Prerequisites: ME 270
Corequisites: NONE
Textbooks: F.P. Beer and E.R. Johnston, Jr., Mechanics of Materials, McGraw Hill, Fourth Edition.
Description: Analysis of stress and strain; equations of equilibrium and compatibility; stress/strain laws; extension, torsion, and bending of bars; membrane theory of pressure vessels; elastic stability; selected topics. Laboratory experiments include testing of mechanical properties and failure analysis.
Goals: To teach students basic knowledge of the behavior of various elastic members under different type of loading. In the laboratory portion of the course, students perform basic experiments related to the theoretical part of this course.
Lecture Outcomes:
Laboratory Outcomes:
Topics:
  1. Stress and strain in axial loading, Hooke’s law, displacement, Poisson’s ratio, shear stress and shear strain, generalized stress-strain relationship, strain energy. (6 classes)

  2. Torsion of bars of solid or hollow circular cross-sections, determination of shear stresses and angle of twist of such members and torsion of thin-walled hollow members. (3 classes)

  3. Pure bending of beams, flexure formula, section modulus, shearing stress in beams. (3 classes)

  4. Shear force and bending moment in beams, method of cross-sections, method of differential relations between load, shear force, and bending moment. (2 classes)

  5. Analysis of plane stress and plane strain, principal stresses and strains, maximum shear stress, Mohr’s circle. (3 classes)

  6. Deflection of beams, method of differential equation, boundary conditions for various types of support, introduction to singularity functions and their applications in deflection of beams, moment area method. (4 classes)

  7. Buckling of columns, Euler formula for long columns, various supports, secant formula, short columns. (3 classes)

  8. Special topics: combined stresses, and either statically indeterminate members or pressure vessels. (3 classes)

  9. Exams. (3 classes)
Laboratory Experiments:
  1. Tensile Testing
  2. Hardness Testing
  3. Stress Concentrations
  4. Torsion of Circular Bars
  5. Torsion of Prismatic Bars
  6. Bending of Beams
  7. Buckling of Columns
Lab: Click here to view ME 272 Laboratory Homepage