Nathan Thielen's blog

Christian and I thought comparing the theory of bent beams to that of straight beams would be interesting because we only explored straight beams this semester in class. Bent beams are important since they are encountered regularly in practice, for example a hook. The geometry of a bent beam changes the equations governing the behavior. So, understanding how the geometry changes the beams behavior is our primary interest.

Deformable Bodies and Their Material Behavior by HW Haslach and RW Armstrong is a great reference book for solid mechanics. This text discusses a wide variety of materials, the relationships between applied stresses, displacements and material properties, the mathematical approximations to predict mechanical behaviors, and the practical uses for the theory. The text helps to understand how the theory can be applied to practical problems. The text has many worked examples to common problems.

Solid mechanics was at the top of my course list because of my interest in
strength of
materials. Prior courses in solid mechanics include undergraduate mechanics of
materials and an introduction to solid mechanics course. Mechanical engineering
was my undergraduate major. My main weakness related to this course is the
ability to take a real world problem, which is not spelled out and correctly
apply the theories learned in the course. My primary strength related to this