Version  1.2                          

 

Unit Name Strength of Materials
Unit Code BCS204
Unit History Previously: BCS204S Advanced Strength of Materials
Unit Duration 1 Semester
Award

Bachelor of Science (Engineering)

Duration 3 years    
Year Level Two
Unit Creator / Reviewer Dr Vincent Wang / Dr Ana Evangelista
Common/Stream: Stream 
Pre/Co-requisites N/A
Credit Points

3

Total Course Credit Points 81 (27 x 3)
Mode of Delivery Online or on-campus. 
Unit Workload (Total student workload including “contact hours” = 10 hours per week; 5 hours per week for 24 week delivery)
Pre-recordings / Lecture – 1.5 hours
Tutorial – 1.5 hours
Guided labs / Group work / Assessments – 2 hours
Personal Study recommended – 5 hours

Unit Description and General Aims

The objective in presenting this unit is to impart to students the key components of study into engineering strength of materials, particularly internal forces, stresses and deformation, with an emphasis on analysis procedures.

The topics covered in this unit include stress and strain, mechanical properties of materials, axially loaded members, torsion, shear force and bending moment in beams, bending stress and shear stress in beams, slope and deflection of beams, stress transformation, strain transformation and buckling of columns.

At the conclusion of this unit, students will have acquired the requisite specialised knowledge to examine strength and deformation of beams, shafts and columns. Furthermore, the acquisition of the information from this unit will provide students with a basis on which more advanced forms of analysis and design skills can be further developed in later units.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Calculate the stresses and deformation in axially loaded members and members subjected to torques.
    Bloom's Level 3
  2. Determine the shear forces, bending moments, bending stresses and shear stresses present in beams.
    Bloom's Level 5
  3. Determine the slope and deflection of beams.
    Bloom's Level 5
  4. Assess and explain the stress state and the strain state of a point on a cross section of a structural member.
    Bloom's Level 5
  5. Examine the critical load for buckling of a column.
    Bloom's Level 4

Student Assessment

Assessment Type When assessed Weighting (% of total unit marks) Learning Outcomes Assessed

Assessment 1

Type: Weekly Quizzes

 

Topics 2 to Topic 11

 Weekly 15% All

Assessment 2

Type: Test (Invigilated)

Description: Students will need to answer some short and/or long answer questions and/or solve some simple numerical problems.

 Due after Topic 5 25% 2

Assessment 3

Type: Practical (Report)

Description: Students may complete a practical assessment based on problems to solve or practical project to demonstrate a good understanding of the fundamental concepts.

 Due after Topic 9 20% 2 and 3

Assessment 4

Type: Exam (Invigilated)

Description: An examination with a mix of MCQs, theoretical short/detailed answer questions and engineering problems.

 Final Week 40% 1 to 5

 

Overall requirements: Students must achieve a result of 50% or above in the exam itself to pass the exam, and must pass the exam to be able to pass the unit. An overall final unit score of 50% or above must be achieved to pass the unit once all assessment, including the exam, has been completed.

Prescribed and Recommended Readings

Prescribed textbook:

  • R. C. Hibbeler, Mechanics of Materials, 9th Edition (SI units). Pearson, ISBN-13: 978-9810694364

Unit Content

Topic 1

Stress, Strain and Mechanical Properties of Materials

  • Normal stress and shear stress
  • Normal strain and shear strain
  • Tension and compression test
  • Ductile material and brittle material
  • Stress-strain curve
  • Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio and shear modulus

Topic 2

Axially Loaded Members

  • Axial force and axial force diagram
  • Saint-Venant’s Principle
  • Normal stress in an axially loaded member
  • Factor of safety
  • Deformation of an axially loaded member
  • Stress concentration

Topic 3

Torsion

  • Torque and torque diagram
  • Shear stress in a circular shaft
  • Angle of twist
  • Noncircular shafts

Topic 4

Shear Force and Bending Moment in Beams

  • Shear force
  • Bending moment
  • Shear force diagram and bending moment diagram
  • Relations between distributed load, shear force and bending moment

Topic 5

Geometric Properties of an Area

  • Centroid of an area
  • Centroid of a composite area
  • Moment of inertia of an area
  • Parallel axis theorem
  • Moment of inertia of a composite area
  • Radius of gyration

Topic 6

Bending Stress in Beams

  • Bending in beams and neutral axis
  • Formula for the bending stress in beams
  • Asymmetric bending
  • Combined bending and axial loads
  • Composite beams

Topic 7

Shear Stress in Beams

  • Shear in beams
  • Formula for the shear stress in beams
  • Shear flow

Topic 8

Slope and Deflection of Beams (1)

  • Elastic curve, slope and deflection
  • Slope and deflection by integration

Topic 9

Slope and Deflection of Beams (2)

  • Slope and deflection by discontinuity functions
  • Method of superposition

Topic 10

Stress Transformation

  • Stress state
  • General formulas for stress transformation
  • Principal stresses and maximum in-plane shear stress
  • Mohr’s circle

Topic 11

Strain Transformation

  • Strain state
  • General formulas for strain transformation
  • Principal strains and maximum in-plane shear strain
  • Strain rosettes

Topic 12

Buckling of Columns

  • Critical load
  • Column with pin supports
  • Columns with various kinds of support
  • Unit review

Software/Hardware Used

Software

  • Software: Solidworks

  • Version: N/A

  • Instructions:  N/A

  • Additional resources or files: N/A

Hardware

  • N/A

Unit Changes Based on Student Feedback