Unit Description and General Aims

This unit aims at introducing fundamental concepts and procedures in engineering statics and laying the groundwork for relevant subsequent units.

The topics covered in this unit include vectors, forces, equilibrium of a particle, moment, equilibrium of a rigid body, equilibrium of structures, internal forces, centre of gravity, centre of mass, centroid, friction, virtual work and potential energy.

Upon completion of this unit, students will have developed a solid understanding of such concepts as equilibrium equations, many of which form a basis for undertaking relevant subsequent units. Students will also have become familiar with some of the quantitative procedures that are most frequently used by an engineer.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Unit, students are expected to be able to:

1. Apply common operations of vectors and forces. 
   Bloom’s Level 3

2. Construct and solve equilibrium equations for a particle. 
   Bloom’s Level 4

3. Apply vector formulation to moments. 
   Bloom’s Level 3

4. Construct and solve equilibrium equations for a rigid body. 
   Bloom’s Level 4

5. Construct and solve equilibrium equations for a structure. 
   Bloom’s Level 4

6. Identify centre of gravity, centre of mass and centroid. 
   Bloom’s Level 3

Student assessment

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 assessment.

Prescribed and Recommended readings

Prescribed textbook:

R. C. Hibbeler, Engineering Mechanics: Statics, 15th Edition (SI Units). Pearson, 2021 - ISBN-13: 978-1292444048

Recommended reading:

Schmid, S. R., Hamrock, B. J., & Jacobson, B. O. (2014). Fundamentals of Machine Elements. CRC Press.

A. M. Bedford, W. Fowler and Y. Ahmad (2008), Engineering Mechanics: Statics, 5th edition, Pearson, ISBN-13: 9789810679637.

Unit Content

Topic 1

Introduction

• Review of basic quantities, units and SI units
• Review of scalars, vectors and basic vector operations
• Forces

Topic 2

Equilibrium of a Particle

• Free body diagram
• Two-dimensional equations of equilibrium
• Three-dimensional equations of equilibrium

Topic 3

Moment

• Moment: Scalar formulation
• Moment: Vector formulation
• Moment of a force about a line
• Couple
• Equivalent systems

Topic 4

Centre of Gravity, Centre of Mass and Centroid

• Centre of gravity
• Centre of mass
• Centroid
• Composite bodies
• Distributed loads

Topic 5

Equilibrium of a Rigid Body (1)

• Two-dimensional equations of equilibrium
• Applications

Topic 6

Equilibrium of a Rigid Body (2)

• A Three-dimensional equations of equilibrium
• Applications
• Two-force members and three-force members

Topic 7

Equilibrium of Structures (1)

• Planar trusses
• Planar trusses: Method of joints
• Planar trusses: Method of sections

Topic 8

Equilibrium of Structures (2)

• Space trusses
• Frames and machines

Topic 9

Internal Forces (1)

• Axial force, shear force and bending moment
• Shear force and bending moment at a specific cross section

Topic 10

Internal Forces (2)

• Shear force and bending moment diagrams

Topic 11

Friction

• Frictional forces on screws
• Frictional forces on flat belt
• Frictional forces on collar bearings, pivot bearings and disks
• Frictional forces on journal bearings
• Rolling resistance

Topic 12

Unit review

• Distributed loads – Applications
• Unit review

Software/Hardware Used

Software

• Software: N/A
• Version: N/A
• Instructions:  N/A
• Additional resources or files: N/A

Hardware

• N/A

Unit Changes Based on Student Feedback