Fundamentals of Structural Mechanics and Analysis

Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive presentation of the fundamental aspects of structural mechanics and analysis. It aims to help develop in the students the ability to analyze structures in a simple and logical manner. The major thrust in this book is on energy principles. The text, organized into sixteen chapters, covers the entire syllabus of structural analysis usually prescribed in the undergraduate level civil engineering programme and covered in two courses. The first eight chapters deal with the basic techniques for analysis, based on classical methods, of common determinate structural elements and simple structures. The following eight chapters cover the procedures for analysis of indeterminate structures, with emphasis on the use of modern matrix methods such as flexibility and stiffness methods, including the finite element techniques. Primarily designed as a textbook for undergraduate students of civil engineering, the book will also prove immensely useful for professionals engaged in structural design and engineering.