ENGR 059. Mechanics of Solids

This course is about how structures carry loads and deform in response to loads, how and why they may fail and how we as engineers can approach the analysis of load bearing systems and communicate such analysis to other engineers. This course is a bridge between statics (which enables you to perform mechanical analyses of external and internal loading of structural elements) and design (how do we make a component/system that will serve its required purpose without failing). This course provides a foundation for understanding and interpreting the results of more advanced approaches to analyzing complex structures (e.g. finite element analyses). Specifically, this course will build on your knowledge from ENGR 006 to further help you to understand the concepts of stress, strain, and deformation; to compute relevant components of stress, strain and deformation during common loading conditions seen in structures; and to demonstrate how material properties and structural geometry contribute to stress, strain and deformation using governing equations. Laboratory activities will give you hands-on experience related to these topics.
Students are required to attend at the most four full labs the first half of the semester and the second half of the semester is self-scheduled.
Prerequisite: ENGR 006 or the equivalent.
Corequisite: MATH 025
Natural sciences and engineering practicum.
Lab included.
1 credit.
Fall 2024. Towles/O’Donnell.
Fall 2025. Staff.
Catalog chapter: Engineering
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/engineering

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