Course
Outline
Instructor: Dr. Judah Ari-Gur, Room F-246
Tel.: (269) 276-3419,
Fax: (269) 276-3421
E-mail: judah.ari-gur@wmich
edu
Webpage: http://www.wmich.edu/mae/faculty/jag.htm
Office
hours: Mon. 3-3:50 p.m., Fri. 12-12:50 p.m.
Textbook: Bedford, A. and Fowler, W., Engineering Mechanics -
Statics, Fourth Edition, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2005.
Catalog
Description
(revised):
Forces and moments acting upon structural bodies
under static loads. Concepts of vectors, free-body diagrams, equilibrium, shear
and moment diagrams, centroids, moments
of inertia and friction.
Prerequisites: MATH 123.
ME 256 is a pre-engineering curriculum
requirement for:
aeronautical engineering; civil engineering;
construction engineering; electrical engineering; mechanical engineering.
ME 256 is a prerequisite to ME 257 (and ME 258).
Objectives: The concepts of equilibrium and balance are universal. They extend into areas of life, far beyond
engineering. The main objective of this
course is to study the equilibrium of forces and moments acting upon static
structures. Most of the applications
will include loaded parts and assemblies of mechanical systems and simple
structural components.
Topics: Extended review of vector algebra. (Ch. 2)
Force systems. Free-body diagrams. Equilibrium of forces. (Ch. 3)
Moment of a force. Couples. Resultants. (Ch. 4)
Rigid body equilibrium equations. Supports and
reactions. (Ch. 5)
Trusses. Frames and machines. (Ch. 6)
Centroids.
Mass centers. (Ch. 7)
Area moment of inertia. Mass moment of inertia.
(Ch. 8)
Dry friction. (Ch. 9)
Internal forces and moments. Force and moment diagrams. (Ch. 10, '1-3)
Grading: Homework (20%)
Quizzes (30%)
Midterm exam (20%) [Thur., 17 Feb. 2005]
Final exam (30%) [Mon., 18 Apr. 2005, 2:45-4:45
p.m.]
Homework problems will be assigned regularly and
collected once a week at the beginning of the Thursday class. Two problems,
randomly selected, will be graded.
Quizzes will be given weekly. One of the homework
problems from the last two submissions will be given as a 15-minute quiz at the
end of the Tuesday class. The use of
notes and books is not allowed.
In both the midterm exam and the final
exam the use of the course textbook is allowed.
A=90%- ; BA=85%- ; B=80%- ; CB=75%- ; C=70%- ;
DC=65%- ; D=60%- .
Notes: | Best learning is achieved by studying regularly, solving
many problems, asking questions and discussing difficulties.
| Don't rely on solved examples. They may seem easy, but solving problems on your own may be
difficult.
| Explore the applications of Statics to comprehend (and
enjoy) the subject.
| Grades are not assigned by the course instructor. They are
gained by the student and only recorded and calculated by the instructor.