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 as ...
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.
* Defo ...
s,
deflections, and internal
forces or
stresses (''stress equivalents'') within structures, either for design or for performance evaluation of existing structures. It is one subset of
structural analysis. Structural mechanics analysis needs input data such as
structural loads, 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 mem ...
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 ene ...
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 mem ...
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
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 grou ...
*
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
*
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
*
Structural dynamics
*
Structural instability
{{DEFAULTSORT:Structural Mechanics
Building engineering
Structural engineering
Solid mechanics
Mechanics
Earthquake engineering