Applications of the principles of mechanics of materials have increased considerably over the last 25 years. Today's routine industrial practices and techniques were only esoteric research topics just a few years ago.

That research is now relevant to such diverse but commonplace applications as electronic packaging, medical implantation, geology (seismic prediction), and engineered wood products. It is in this rapidly changing world that Madhukar Vable's Mechanics of Materials takes its place as a standard text for civil, mechanical, and aerospace engineering majors, as well as for any other engineering discipline that includes mechanics of materials as a basic course.

Vable's distinct pedagogical approach translates into exceptional features that enhance student participation in learning. It assumes a complementary connection between intuition, experimental observation, and mathematical generalization, suggesting that intuitive development and understanding need not be at odds with mathematical logic, rigor, and generalization. This approach also emphasizes engineering practice without distracting from the main point of the text.

With strong practical examples and real-life engineering problems praised by reviewers, Mechanics of Materials promises to provide the skills and principles that students need to organize, integrate, and make sense of the flood of information emerging in the world of modern engineering.

Pedagogical Features 
Overview: Each chapter begins with a concise Overview that describes the motivation and major learning objective behind the chapter.

Points and Formulas to Remember: Each chapter ends with a convenient one-page synopsis of essential topics.

Plans and Comments: Every example starts with a Plan for solving the problem and ends with Comments that connect the example with previous and future concepts in the text, putting examples firmly into context within the field of mechanics.

Quick Tests: Quick Tests help students effectively diagnose their own understanding of text material. 

Consolidate Your Knowledge: These boxes follow major topics and prompt students to write a synopsis of or derive a formula for material just covered, encouraging development of personal reasoning skills. 

General Information: These intriguing sections connect historical development and advanced topics to material in each chapter.

"Stretch Yourself": Problems labeled "Stretch Yourself" contain important reference material that will be useful to students as future engineers.

Closure: Every chapter closes with helpful links to topics in subsequent chapters.

Formula Sheet: These useful sheets are found inside the back cover of the book for easy reference. They list equations of essential topics but include no explanations of variables and equations, making them perfect for use during exams.

Read Mechanics of Materials, Second Edition Online

You can download Mechanics of Materials in PDF format.

Hardcover: 774 pages
Author: Madhukar Vable
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (January 30, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0195133374
ISBN-13: 978-0195133370

PREFACE
Mechanics is the body of knowledge that deals with the relationships between forces and the motion of points through space, including the material space. Material science is the body of knowledge that deals with the properties of materials, including their mechanical properties.

Mechanics is very deductive—having defined some variables and given some basic premises, one can logically deduce relationships between the variables. Material science is very empirical—having defined some variables one establishes the relationships between the variables experimentally. Mechanics of materials synthesizes the empirical relationships of materials into the logical framework of mechanics, to produce formulas for use in the design of structures and other solid bodies.

There has been, and continues to be, a tremendous growth in mechanics, material science, and in new applications of mechanics of materials. Techniques such as the finite-element method and Moiré interferometry were research topics in mechanics, but today these techniques are used routinely in engineering design and analysis.

Wood and metal were the preferred materials in engineering design, but today machine components and structures may be made of plastics, ceramics, polymer composites, and metal-matrix composites. Mechanics of materials was primarily used for structural analysis in aerospace, civil, and mechanical engineering, but today mechanics of materials is used in electronic packaging, medical implants, the explanation of geological movements, and the manufacturing of wood products to meet specific strength requirements.

Though the principles in mechanics of materials have not changed in the past hundred years, the presentation of these principles must evolve to provide the students with a foundation that will permit them to readily incorporate the growing body of knowledge as an extension of the fundamental principles and not as something added on, and vaguely connected to what they already know. This has been my primary motivation for writing this book. ...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Madhukar Vable is at Michigan Technological University.

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