Mechanics of deformable bodies

Mechanics of deformable bodies - abstract Mechanics of deformable bodies, often called the strength of material, is a subset of solid continuum mechanics. It deals with ascertaining deformation, strains, and stresses in deformable bodies (design elements of machines, structures in engineering) due to external loadings. Also, a prediction – related to the ability of design elements to withstand the prescribed loading – is studied. It reveals, that the analysis of the response of deformable bodies to external loadings evolved historically by two independent ways – an engineering and mathematical. Both approaches are presented in this text – the comprehension of the mathematical theory of elasticity allows better understanding of the theoretical backgrounds of modern computational tools while the knowledge of principles of the engineering strength of material permits to solve simple cases off-hand, to have a proper feelings for the ability of basic design parts to withstand the applied loading, and last but not least to have a computing etalons and benchmarks for checking the first approximations of solutions of complicated cases in engineering practice.