Study strength of materials, the foundational mechanical engineering subject. Learn how to analyze and predict deformation and failure in structures made of elastic, elastic-plastic and viscoelastic materials.
Study strength of materials, the foundational mechanical engineering subject. Learn how to analyze and predict deformation and failure in structures made of elastic, elastic-plastic and viscoelastic materials.
Many natural and engineered structures can be modeled as systems of interconnected structural elements loaded along their axis (bars), in torsion (shafts) and in bending (beams). In this course you will learn to use equations for static equilibrium, geometric compatibility and constitutive material response to analyze the performance of structural systems.
Multivariable Calculus (Derivatives, Integrals (1D, 2D); Physics: Classical Mechanics (Vectors, Forces, Torques, Newton’s Laws); 2.01x (axial loading, torsion, bending).
Dr. Simona Socrate is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a Principal Research Scientist at MIT/ISN. She earned a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Rome (1991), and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT (1995). She has been teaching classes in structural mechanics at MIT for more than twenty years. Her research efforts focus on the mechanical behavior of fabrics, composites, and soft biological tissue. Her areas of interest include measuring and modeling the high strain rate properties of biological tissue to prevent injuries, and investigating the mechanics of pregnancy to reduce the risk of pre-term delivery.
Professor David Parks graduated in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Brown University. He was Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering and Applied Science at Yale University for two and a half years before moving to MIT, where he is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering. His primary interests focus on the development of accurate and tractable models of the mechanical behavior of engineering materials that are based on essential features of the material structures and mechanisms of deformation and failure in a range of materials including metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites. Recent research has centered on the mechanical behavior of graphene under extreme loading, and on solid state roll-bonding of polymer laminae via plastic deformation.