ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Dr. R. R. Das
Associate Professor
Dept. of Mechanical Engg.
IIT(ISM) Dhanbad
PRELEMINARY INSTRUCTIONS
In today's class we will try to :

• Distinguish between “Science” and “Engineering”

• Know what is “Engineering Mechanics”

• Overview various branches of “Engineering Mechanics”

• Understand the various Idealizations (Assumptions)

made in Engineering Mechanics

• Understand the concept of Force

 WHAT IS SCIENCE ?

A simple natural phenomenon is carefully observed and a

basic law of nature is discovered.
 WHAT IS SCIENCE ?

A simple natural phenomenon is carefully observed and

experimented and a basic law of nature is discovered.
 WHAT IS SCIENCE ?

Science is the knowledge that comes from observing

facts about Universe carefully, carrying out
experiments and making statements that are always
true in particular conditions.

The basic aim of “Science” is to reveal the general

truths and principles behind the various natural
phenomenas occurring around us.
 WHAT IS ENGINEERING ?

Engineering is the application of mathematics and

Science to design and manufacture items that benefit
humanity.

“Design” is the basic concept that distinguishes

“Engineers” from “Scientists”
 WHAT IS ENGINEERING MECHANICS ?

Mechanics may be defined as the science which

describes and predicts the conditions of rest or
motion of bodies under the action of forces.

Mechanics applied to Engineering is “Engineering

Mechanics”.

“Engineering Mechanics” is an integral component of

the education of Engineers whose disciplines are
related to Mechanical behaviour of Solids and Fluids.

It is appropriate to conclude that the subject of

“Engineering Mechanics” lies at the core of all
Engineering Analyses.
 BRANCHES OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Engineering Mechanics

Solid Mechanics Fluid Mechanics

Rigid body Deformable body Mechanics

Mechanics

Statics Dynamics

Kinematics Kinetics
 IDEALISATIONS IN MECHANICS
Mathematical models or Idealizations are used in
Mechanics to simplify the application of Theory. Some
of the important Idealizations are:

1.CONTINUUM: The rigid body is assumed have

continuous distribution of matter without any voids or
empty spaces.
The voids and cracks act as
stress risers and add
complicacy to the analyses.

Rigid bodies along with voids

and cracks are analyses under a
separate section of Mechanics
called FRACTURE MECHANICS
Voids
 IDEALISATIONS IN MECHANICS

2.PARTICLE: A rigid body in Mechanics is treated as

a PARTICLE if it’s range of motion is very large as
compared to it’s dimensions.

All the forces acting on the body can be treated to be

acting at a SINGLE POINT during the analyses.
 IDEALISATIONS IN MECHANICS
3.RIGID BODY: The body is assumed to be RIGID i.e., the
distance between any two points of the body remains
unchanged due to the application of the forces.

RIGID bodies are the bodies having negligibly small

deformations as compared to the size of the body.

Neglecting the deformations helps to calculate the

forces without using the MATERIAL PROPERTIES of the
bodies which are obtained from EXPERIMENTS.

Bodies undergoing considerable deformation as

compared their size are called DEFORMABLE BODIES and
are analyzed under MECHANICS OF DEFORMABLE
BODIES.
 STATICS
Analysis of a Rigid Body at Rest
 CONCEPT OF FORCE
Force may be defined as any action that tends to change
the state of rest or motion of the body to which it is
applied.

Force is completely specified by it’s:

magnitude
point of application
direction

1. Magnitude of force is measured through Newton (N) in

the SI system of units.

2. Point of application of a force acting on a body is that

point inside the body at which the force can be assumed to
be concentrated.
 CONCEPT OF FORCE

Practically the force applied on a body is distributed

over a specified area or volume.

This distributed force can be thought of acting at a

single point without sensibly changing the ultimate
effect of the force on the body.
Point of application
For example:
(Center of gravity)

Gravity force distributed

through out the volume of a
body can be assumed to be
concentrated at a single point
called CENTER OF GRAVITY of
the body
 CONCEPT OF FORCE

3. Direction of a force is the direction, along a

straight line through it’s point of application in which
the force tends to move the body to which it is
applied.

POINT OF APPLICATION

DIRECTION OF FORCE

LINE OF ACTION

m = 5 Kg
W= m X g
=5 X 9.8
= 49 N
 CONCEPT OF FORCE

Representation of a Force: Force possesses direction

as well as magnitude hence is a VECTOR QUANTITY and
can be represented graphically by a segment of line,
called a VECTOR.

A
m = 5 Kg
W= m X g
=5 X 9.8 A
B
= 49 N
Scale: 7 N = 1 cm
B

7cm Either beginning or end of the

vector may be used to indicate the
B point of application of the force.
SYSTEM OF FORCE
 PRINCIPLES OF STATICS

When several forces of various magnitudes and

directions act upon a body, they are said to
constitute a system of forces.

The general problem of STATICS consists of finding

the conditions that such a system must satisfy in
order to have equilibrium of the body.

The various methods of solutions of this problem

are based on several axioms, called PRINCIPLES OF
STATICS.
FIRST PRINCIPLE OF STATICS

Also called Principle of Parallelogram of forces or

Parallelogram Law, first employed by Stevinus in 1586
and finally formulated by Varignon and Newton in 1687.

This principle helps to find out the RESULTANT of two

concurrent forces acting on a rigid body.

It sates that, “ If two forces P and Q acting through an

angle α, at point A of a rigid body, can be represented
vectorially by two adjacent sides AB and AC of a
parallelogram, then their action is equivalent to the
action of one force R, represented by vector AD,
obtained as the diagonal of the parallelogram
constructed on the vectors AB and AC”.
 FIRST PRINCIPLE OF STATICS
Geometrical approach
C
D
P β

A α P γ R
A
Q α Q B

The vector AD is called as the resultant of the vectors AB and AC

which are called as the components of the vector AD.
Analytical approach
R P 2  Q 2  2 PQ cos 
Q
sin   sin 
R
P
sin   sin 
R
 FIRST PRINCIPLE OF STATICS
Triangle law of Forces: If two coplanar, concurrent
forces P and Q acting at point A of a rigid body
through an angle α can be vectorially represented
through the two sides AB and BC of a triangle ABC,
taken in same order, then Resultant can be
represented by the third side of the triangle AC taken
in opposite order.
C
P
R
P
A α
A Q B
Q

•Resultant AC is the geometric sum of the Vectors AB

and BC.
•The Vectors do not represent the point of applications
hence are called as the free vectors.
SECOND PRINCIPLE OF STATICS (EQUILLIBRIUM LAW)
Two concurrent forces can be in equilibrium only if they
are of equal magnitude, opposite in direction, and
collinear in action.
TENSION

A slender bar will be in

equilibrium if it is acted upon by
two collinear forces of equal
magnitude and acting in COMPRESSION
opposite directions.

The bar is said to be either in

TENSION or in COMPRESSION.
THIRD PRINCIPLE OF STATICS (LAW OF SUPERPOSITION)

When two forces are in equilibrium (equal, opposite,

and collinear), their resultant is zero and their combined
action on a rigid body is equivalent to that of no force at
all.

The action of a given system of forces on a rigid body

will in no way be changed if we add to or subtract from
them another system of forces in equilibrium.

P
Q

Q
 THEOREM OF TRANSMISSIBILITY OF FORCES

Point of application of a force can be transmitted along

its line of action without changing the effect of the force
on any rigid body to which it is applied.
P
P

P P
A A

B B
P
Application of this theorem
may produce a considerable
change in the INTERNAL Tension
FORCES.

Should be applied to those Compression

problems where we are
interested only in the condition
of equilibrium of the rigid
body and not with the internal
Internal force
forces produced.
FOURTH PRINCIPLE OF STATICS (LAW OF ACTION AND
REACTION)

Any pressure on a support causes an equal and

opposite pressure from the support so that action and
reaction are two equal and opposite forces.

It is nothing but the Newton’s Third Law stated in a

form to suit to problems of Statics.
W
W S

B Rb
A
Ra
W
 CONCEPT OF FREE BODY DIAGRAM
In statics we deal with rigid bodies either partially or
completely constrained, which remains at rest under the
action of applied forces.

The rigid body is isolated from the supports and

constraints to show all the ACTIVE and REACTIVE forces
acting on the body.

The rigid body isolated from all the supports and

constraints in which all the forces (active and reactive)
are shown as vectors is called as a FREE-BODY
DIAGRAM.

Then we analyze what conditions these forces must

satisfy in order to be in equilibrium, i.e., in order to
have NO RESULTANT.
 COMPOSITION OF FORCES

Reducing a given system of forces into a single force

having the same effect is called as the COMPOSITION of
forces.

Composition can be done either by successive

application of Parallelogram law of forces or by using the
POLYGON LAW OF FORCES.

It states that if the forces acting on a body can be

represented by the sides of a polygon taken in order, then
the resultant is given by the closing side of the polygon
taken in opposite order.
 RESOLUTION OF FORCES
Replacement of a single force by several components
which will be equivalent to the given force is called as
RESOLUTION OF A FORCE.

Both the Parallelogram and Triangle laws of forces can

be applied to resolve a force.
Given: R, β, γ and α

P R Then, P = R sin γ/sin α

β
Q = R sin β/sin α
γ
α

Q
When, α = 900
Then, P = R sin γ
Q = R sin β = R cos γ
 EQUILIBRIUM OF CONCURRENT FORCES IN A PLANE
A rigid body acted upon by a system of concurrent,
coplanar forces will be in equilibrium if the forces
represented by the sides of a polygon form a closed
polygon indicating zero resultant.

Lami’s Theorem: If a rigid body is in equilibrium

under the application of three concurrent coplanar
forces, each force is proportional to the sine of the
angle between the other two forces.
Π- α
Q γ P As per SINE RULE of triangle:
P Q R Q
 
sin(   ) sin(   ) sin(   ) R
α
β
P Q R
   Π- β Π-γ
sin  sin  sin  P

R
 EXAMPLE
A ball of weight 49 N is suspended from a string which makes an angle of 45
degrees with a wall as shown in the figure. Find the reaction force and tension
produced in the string
Scos α
S S
α S α α

B Rb Rb
Rb
Ssin α
W W W
Free Body Diagram Lami’s Theorem Method of Resolution

W S

B Rb C
Graphical Method
 PROBLEMS FROM SET 2.3
1. An electric light fixture of weight Q = 178 N is supported as shown in fig. Determine
the tensile forces S1 and S2 in the wires BA and BC if their angles of inclination are as
shown. Solution:
Point ‘B’ is at equilibrium under the action of three
coplanar, concurrent forces. So considering its FBD.
Geometrical approach : Y S
1

S1 S2
Q
450 600
x
x
S2 B
Lames Theorem:
S1 S2 Q
 
sin(90  45) sin(90  60) sin 75 Q = 178 N
Method of Resolution: cos 45
S1 cos 60  S 2 cos 45......( i )  S1  178   130.30 N
sin 75 Y
S1 sin 60  S 2 sin 45  178.....( ii) cos 60
S1  130.3N , S 2  92.139N S 2  178   92.139N
sin 75
2. A ball of weight Q = 53.4 N rests in a right-angled trough, as shown in the Figure.
Determine the forces exerted on the sides of the trough at D and E if all surfaces are
perfectly smooth.
Solution:
The ball, is at equilibrium under the action of three
coplanar, concurrent forces. So considering its FBD,
Lames Theorem: R R Q
E D
 
sin(90  60) sin(90  30) sin 90
cos 60
 RE  53.4   26.7 N
sin 90
cos 30
RD  53.4   46.24 N
Y sin 90
Y
Q = 53.4 N RD
RE

300 600
x x
x x
E

D
RE Q = 53.4 N
RD Y Y
 Solution:
The bar AB is at equilibrium under the action of three
coplanar, concurrent forces.
But FBD of the bar AB will not involve the axial force
in the bar AB, which is of “COMPRESSION” in nature.
So, let us consider equilibrium of the point ‘B’ on the
bar AB which is also in equilibrium under the action of
three coplanar, concurrent forces.
Lames Theorem:
S1 S2 P Y
 
sin 90 sin(90   ) sin(180   ) S1
sin 90 α
 S1  P   P cos ec B S2
sin  x
x
cos
S2  P   P cot 
sin 
P
Y
9. Two smooth circular cylinders, each of weight W = 445 N and radius r = 152 mm, are
connected at their centers by a string AB of length l = 406 mm and rest upon a horizontal
plane, supporting above them a third cylinder of weight Q =890 N and radius r = 152 mm.
Find the forces S in the string and the pressures produced on the floor at the points of
contact D and E. Y
RCA
RCB

θ θ
C
x x

Y Y
NA W NB
Y

A SA SB B
x θ x x θ x

RAC W W
RBC
Y Y
10. Two identical rollers, each of weight Q = 445 N, are supported by an inclined plane
and a vertical wall as shown in the figure. Assuming smooth surfaces, Find the reactions
induced at the points of support A,B and C.