Engineering Mechanics

Instructor: Dr Rabia Shaukat

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Course Outline + Books

Force System, force, rectangular components, moment, couples, resultant of forces, moments and couples (two and three-
dimensional systems), equilibrium, mechanical systems, isolation and equilibrium equations for two and three-dimensional
systems. Free body diagram, two forces and three force members, plane trusses, method of joints

Recommended Books: 1. Engineering Mechanics, Dynamics, R.C. Hibbeler and S.C. Fan, 14th Edition, Pearson,
2 Engineering Mechanics, Statics, J.L. Meriam and L.G. Kraig, , John Wiley & Sons,
3 Vector Mechanics for Engineers, Statics, Ferdinand P. Beer and E.Russell Johnston McGraw-Hill

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

List of CLOs Mapped with PLOs
ME 121 Engineering Statics (1st Semester)

# Course Learning Outcomes Domain Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Determine various static forces

on particles and rigid bodies
C-3
1

Compute the effect of static

loads on various structure
C-4
2

PLO1: Engineering Knowledge: An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering

fundamentals and an engineering specialization to the solution of complex engineering problems.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Mechanics

 Mechanics is the physical science which deals with the effects of forces on objects.

 No other subject plays a greater role in engineering analysis than mechanics.

 Although the principles of mechanics are few, they have wide application in engineering.

 The principles of mechanics are central to research and development in the fields of vibrations, stability and strength
of structures and machines, robotics, rocket and spacecraft design, automatic control, engine performance, fluid flow,
electrical machines and apparatus, and molecular, atomic, and subatomic behaviour.
 A thorough understanding of this subject is an essential prerequisite for work in these and many other fields.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Branches of Mechanics

The subject of mechanics is logically divided into two parts:

Statics

which concerns the equilibrium of bodies under action of forces

Dynamics

which concerns the motion of bodies

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Basic Concepts

Force is the action of one body on another. A force tends to move a body in the direction of its action. The action of
a force is characterized by its magnitude, by the direction of its action, and by its point of application. Thus force is
a vector quantity.

Particle is a body of negligible dimensions. In the mathematical sense, a particle is a body whose dimensions are
considered to be near zero so that we may analyze it as a mass concentrated at a point.

Rigid body. A body is considered rigid when the change in distance between any two of its points is negligible for
the purpose at hand.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Scalars and Vectors

We use two kinds of quantities in mechanics—scalars and vectors.

Scalar quantities are those with which only a magnitude is associated. Examples of scalar quantities are time, volume, density, speed,
energy, and mass.

Vector quantities, on the other hand, possess direction as well as magnitude.

Examples of vector quantities are displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, moment, and momentum. Speed is a scalar. It is the
magnitude of velocity, which is a vector. Thus velocity is specified by a direction as well as a speed.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Working with vectors

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Working with vectors

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Working with vectors

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Working with vectors

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Newton’s Laws

Law 1. A particle remains at rest or continues to move with uniform velocity (in a straight line with a constant speed) if
there is no unbalanced force acting on it.

Law II. The acceleration of a particle is proportional to the vector sum of forces acting on it, and is in the direction of
this vector sum.

Law III. The forces of action and reaction between interacting bodies are equal in magnitude, opposite in direction, and
collinear (they lie on the same line).

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Force Systems

This chapter deals with the effects of forces which act on engineering structures and mechanisms.

The experience gained here will help you in the study of mechanics and in other subjects such as stress analysis, design of
structures and machines, and fluid flow.

This chapter lays the foundation for a basic understanding not only of statics but also of the entire subject of mechanics.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Principle of Transmissibility

It states that a force may be applied at any point on its given line of action without altering the resultant effects of the force
external to the rigid body on which it acts.

Thus, whenever we are interested in only the resultant external effects of a force, the force may be treated as a sliding vector,
and we need specify only the magnitude, direction, and line of action of the force, and not its point of application.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Force Classification

Forces are classified as either contact or body forces.

A contact force is produced by direct physical contact; an example is the force exerted on a body by a supporting surface.

On the other hand, a body force is generated by virtue of the position of a body within a force field such as a gravitational,
electric, or magnetic field. An example of a body force is your weight.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Force Classification

Forces may be further classified as either concentrated or distributed.

Every contact force is actually applied over a finite area and is therefore really a distributed force.

However, when the dimensions of the area are very small compared with the other dimensions of the body, we may consider
the force to be concentrated at a point with negligible loss of accuracy.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

 Concurrent Forces

Two or more forces are said to be concurrent at a point if their lines of action intersect at that point. The forces F1 and F2
shown in have a common point of application and are concurrent at the point A. Thus, they can be added using the
parallelogram law in their common plane to obtain their sum or resultant R.

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
TWO-DIMENSIONAL FORCE SYSTEMS

Rectangular components

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TWO-DIMENSIONAL FORCE SYSTEMS

Rectangular components

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Conventions for describing vectors

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
 Dot product

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore
 51 55 57 58 85

Mechanical Engineering Department, New Campus, UET Lahore