Structural
A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such ...
mechanics or Mechanics of structures is the computation of
deformation
Deformation can refer to:
* Deformation (engineering), changes in an object's shape or form due to the application of a force or forces.
** Deformation (physics), such changes considered and analyzed as displacements of continuum bodies.
* Defor ...
s,
deflection
Deflection or deflexion may refer to:
Board games
* Deflection (chess), a tactic that forces an opposing chess piece to leave a square
* Khet (game), formerly ''Deflexion'', an Egyptian-themed chess-like game using lasers
Mechanics
* Deflection ...
s, and internal
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...
s or
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
es (''stress equivalents'') within structures, either for design or for performance evaluation of existing structures. It is one subset of
structural analysis
Structural analysis is a branch of Solid Mechanics which uses simplified models for solids like bars, beams and shells for engineering decision making. Its main objective is to determine the effect of loads on the physical structures and thei ...
. Structural mechanics analysis needs input data such as
structural load
A structural load or structural action is a force, deformation, or acceleration applied to structural elements. A load causes stress, deformation, and displacement in a structure. Structural analysis, a discipline in engineering, analyzes the ef ...
s, the
structure's geometric representation and support conditions, and the materials' properties. Output quantities may include support reactions,
stresses and
displacements. Advanced structural mechanics may include the effects of stability and non-linear behaviors.
Mechanics of structures is a field of study within applied mechanics that investigates the behavior of structures under mechanical loads, such as bending of a beam, buckling of a column, torsion of a shaft, deflection of a thin shell, and vibration of a bridge.
There are three approaches to the analysis: the
energy methods,
flexibility method
In structural engineering, the flexibility method, also called the method of consistent deformations, is the traditional method for computing member forces and displacements in structural systems. Its modern version formulated in terms of the me ...
or
direct stiffness method As one of the methods of structural analysis, the direct stiffness method, also known as the matrix stiffness method, is particularly suited for computer-automated analysis of complex structures including the statically indeterminate type. It is a ...
which later developed into
finite element method
The finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat ...
and the
plastic analysis approach.
Energy method
*
Energy principles in structural mechanics Energy principles in structural mechanics express the relationships between stresses, strains or deformations, displacements, material properties, and external effects in the form of energy or work done by internal and external forces. Since ener ...
Flexibility method
*
Flexibility method
In structural engineering, the flexibility method, also called the method of consistent deformations, is the traditional method for computing member forces and displacements in structural systems. Its modern version formulated in terms of the me ...
Stiffness methods
*
Direct stiffness method As one of the methods of structural analysis, the direct stiffness method, also known as the matrix stiffness method, is particularly suited for computer-automated analysis of complex structures including the statically indeterminate type. It is a ...
*
Finite element method in structural mechanics The finite element method (FEM) is a powerful technique originally developed for numerical solution of complex problems in structural mechanics, and it remains the method of choice for complex systems. In the FEM, the structural system is modeled b ...
Plastic analysis approach
*
Plastic Analysis
Major topics
*
Beam theory
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
** Charged particle beam, a spatially localized gro ...
*
Buckling
In structural engineering, buckling is the sudden change in shape ( deformation) of a structural component under load, such as the bowing of a column under compression or the wrinkling of a plate under shear. If a structure is subjected to a ...
*
Earthquake engineering
*
Finite element method in structural mechanics The finite element method (FEM) is a powerful technique originally developed for numerical solution of complex problems in structural mechanics, and it remains the method of choice for complex systems. In the FEM, the structural system is modeled b ...
*
Plates and shells
*
Torsion
Torsion may refer to:
Science
* Torsion (mechanics), the twisting of an object due to an applied torque
* Torsion of spacetime, the field used in Einstein–Cartan theory and
** Alternatives to general relativity
* Torsion angle, in chemistry
Bi ...
*
Trusses
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...
*
Stiffening
Stiffening is any process that increases the rigidity and structural integrity of objects. Stiffening is used in crafts, art, industry, architecture, sports, aerospace, object construction, bookbinding, etc.
Mechanics
In mechanics, "stiffening" ...
*
Structural dynamics
Structural dynamics is a type of structural analysis which covers the behavior of a structure subjected to dynamic (actions having high acceleration) loading. Dynamic loads include people, wind, waves, traffic, earthquakes, and blasts. Any structur ...
*
Structural instability
{{DEFAULTSORT:Structural Mechanics
Building engineering
Structural engineering
Solid mechanics
Mechanics
Earthquake engineering