Mechanics of Materials

Citation

Hibbeler, R. C. (2023). Mechanics of Materials (11th ed.). Pearson.

Chapter Summary

The eleventh edition has 14 chapters, followed by appendices on geometric properties of areas and structural shapes and on slopes and deflections of beams, partial solutions to the fundamental problems, and selected answers. The table of contents marks sections containing more advanced material with a star. Pearson describes the book as methodical and highly visual, with a step-by-step procedure for analysis and practical applications drawn from many fields of engineering.

Chapters 1–2: Stress; Strain

Chapter 1 introduces the equilibrium of a deformable body and the concept of stress, then average normal stress in an axially loaded bar and average shear stress. It closes with the two design philosophies named in its last sections: allowable stress design and limit state design. Chapter 2 is short, with two sections on deformation and on strain.

Chapter 3: Mechanical Properties of Materials

The tension and compression test, the stress–strain diagram, the behaviour of ductile and brittle materials, strain energy, Poisson's ratio and the shear stress–strain diagram. Failure due to creep and fatigue is a starred section.

Chapter 4: Axial Load

Saint-Venant's principle, elastic deformation of an axially loaded member, superposition, statically indeterminate members and the force method of analysis, thermal stress and stress concentrations. Inelastic axial deformation and residual stress are starred.

Chapter 5: Torsion

The torsion formula, power transmission, angle of twist and statically indeterminate torque-loaded members, with stress concentration. Solid noncircular shafts, thin-walled closed tubes, inelastic torsion and residual stress are starred.

Chapter 6: Bending

Shear and moment diagrams, with a graphical method for constructing them, followed by bending deformation of a straight member, the flexure formula and unsymmetric bending. Composite beams, reinforced concrete beams, curved beams and inelastic bending are starred; stress concentrations are not.

Chapters 7–8: Transverse Shear; Combined Loadings

Chapter 7 covers shear in straight members, the shear formula and shear flow in built-up and thin-walled members, with the shear center for open thin-walled members as a starred section. Chapter 8 treats thin-walled pressure vessels and the state of stress caused by combined loadings.

Chapters 9–10: Stress Transformation; Strain Transformation

Chapter 9 covers plane-stress transformation, principal stresses and maximum in-plane shear stress, Mohr's circle for plane stress and absolute maximum shear stress. Chapter 10 does the same for plane strain, with strain rosettes and material property relationships, while Mohr's circle for strain, absolute maximum shear strain and theories of failure are starred.

Chapter 11: Design of Beams and Shafts

The basis for beam design and the design of prismatic beams. Fully stressed beams and shaft design are starred.

Chapter 12: Deflection of Beams and Shafts

The elastic curve, slope and displacement by integration, and the method of superposition, applied to statically indeterminate beams and shafts. Discontinuity functions and the moment-area method (also for indeterminate cases) are starred.

Chapter 13: Buckling of Columns

Critical load, the ideal pin-supported column and columns with other supports. The secant formula, inelastic buckling and the design of columns for concentric and eccentric loading are starred.

Chapter 14: Energy Methods

External work and strain energy, elastic strain energy for various loadings, conservation of energy and impact loading. The principle of virtual work, virtual forces for trusses and beams and Castigliano's theorem (for trusses and beams) are starred.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–4: Stress, Strain and Axial Load

• Allowable stress and limit state design: two ways of relating design to material strength, both named in Chapter 1.
• Saint-Venant's principle: the first topic of the axial load chapter.
• Force method of analysis: a way to solve statically indeterminate axial members, introduced in Chapter 4.

Chapters 5–8: Torsion, Bending and Shear

• Torsion and flexure formulas: the central results of Chapters 5 and 6.
• Shear flow: the shear formula extended to built-up and thin-walled members in Chapter 7.
• Combined loading: Chapter 8's analysis of the state of stress when several loads act together.

Chapters 9–14: Transformation, Design, Deflection and Energy

• Mohr's circle: for plane stress in Chapter 9 and plane strain in Chapter 10.
• Elastic curve: the basis of the deflection methods in Chapter 12.
• Critical load: the buckling concept of Chapter 13.
• Virtual work and Castigliano's theorem: starred energy methods in Chapter 14.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A fine-grained, stepwise structure. Fourteen chapters separate topics: stress and strain are separate chapters, as are transverse shear, combined loadings, stress transformation and strain transformation. Each chapter is divided into numbered sections.
• Advanced material is flagged. Starred sections mark creep and fatigue, inelastic behaviour, residual stress, noncircular torsion, curved beams, failure theories, discontinuity functions, the moment-area method and virtual work, which lets a course choose its depth.
• Procedures for analysis. Pearson highlights Hibbeler's step-by-step procedure for analysis and a highly visual approach, aimed at building the problem-solving fluency that design courses assume. It also describes practical applications from many fields of engineering.
• Both design philosophies are named. Chapter 1 ends with allowable stress design and limit state design, and Chapter 11 devotes separate sections to beam design and shaft design.

Limitations

• Frequent starring. A large fraction of the sections in Chapters 3 to 14 carry stars, so deciding what counts as core is left to the instructor or reader.
• Fine chapter divisions. Strain gets only two sections in Chapter 2, and indeterminate beams are spread over four sections of Chapter 12 and across methods, so related ideas sit in different places.
• Narrow scope. The contents contain no chapter on thick-walled cylinders, fatigue design or fracture; creep and fatigue appear in a single starred section of Chapter 3 and failure theories in a starred section of Chapter 10.
• Edition details. Pearson lists a 7 July 2022 publication with a 2023 copyright, and the listed hardcover ISBN is described as a 2022 update.

Where It Fits in the Course

Hibbeler is one of two standard first courses in mechanics of materials on this list, the other being Beer, Johnston, DeWolf and Mazurek's Mechanics of Materials. They cover broadly the same topics, from stress and strain through torsion, bending, transformations, deflection, buckling and energy methods. Hibbeler separates topics into 14 chapters, while Beer and Johnston has 11 chapters, and either can be the main text with the other used for extra explanations and problems.

For a next step, Ugural and Fenster's Advanced Mechanics of Materials and Applied Elasticity extends elementary strength of materials into elasticity, plates, shells and contact stresses, and Sadd's Elasticity: Theory, Applications, and Numerics is a graduate text. J. E. Gordon's The New Science of Strong Materials and Blockley's Structural Engineering: A Very Short Introduction are non-technical books that can be read alongside for intuition.

How to Use This Book

The book is for second-year engineering students after a statics course; Chapter 1 begins with the equilibrium of a deformable body. A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1 to 14 in order, skipping starred sections on a first pass.
• Add as the course needs: starred sections on inelastic behaviour, composite and curved beams, the shear center, discontinuity functions and the moment-area method.
• Later chapters: Chapters 9 and 10 build on the stress concepts of the first eight chapters, Chapter 11 on beam design follows naturally after Chapters 6 and 7, and Chapter 12 begins with the elastic curve.
• Practice: work the fundamental problems, which have partial solutions in the back of the book, before the assigned ones, and use the selected answers to check results.