This online course from the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering introduces principles of structural analysis and mechanics of materials for understanding and predicting material behavior under stress.
You will learn fundamental concepts of continuum mechanics, including internal resultants, displacement field, stress, and strain, with applications to three essential types of elastic load-bearing elements: bars in axial loading, axisymmetric shafts in torsion, and symmetric beams in bending.
While emphasizing analytical techniques, the course also introduces computing environments using MATLAB and numerical methods (Finite Elements).
This is the first course in a 3-part series which explores how mechanical engineers use analytical methods and calculations to predict structural behavior. The three courses in the series are:
- Part 1 – 2.01x: Elements of Structures. Elastic response of Structural Elements: Bars, Shafts, Beams.
- Part 2 – 2.02.1x Mechanics of Deformable Structures: Part 1. Assemblages of Elastic, Elastic-Plastic, and Viscoelastic Structural Elements.
- Part 3 – 2.02.2x Mechanics of Deformable Structures: Part 2. Multi-axial Loading and Deformation. Energy Methods.
Based on the first subject in solid mechanics for MIT Mechanical Engineering students, these undergraduate-level courses will teach you to rely on the notions of equilibrium, geometric compatibility, and constitutive material response to ensure that your structures will perform their specified mechanical functions without failing.
