Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Continuum Mechanics

Code

10436

Academic unit

Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Department

Departamento de Engenharia Civil

Credits

6.0

Teacher in charge

João Carlos Gomes Rocha de Almeida, Zuzana Dimitrovova

Weekly hours

5

Total hours

100

Teaching language

Português

Objectives

Basic notions of Continuum Mechanics will be presented to students, namely concepts of continuum substance, stress, strain and constitutive relations will be introduced. Geometrical and physical linearity, principle of superposition, classical formulation of boundary-value problem and methods of its resolution will be explained in view of firm preparation of students for Mechanics of Materials and other related fields of study. Strain energy and principal of virtual work will also be explained, in order to establish basis for variational principles and consequently prepare students for further courses of Numerical Methods and especially of Finite Element Method.

Prerequisites

Students have to have basic notions of Statics, namely they have to know concepts of concentrated force, distributed force load, equilibrium, mass centre and geometrical object centre - centroid. Not much knowledge is required from Mathematical Analyses, except of graph of functions, integral of polynomial forms, matrix calculus and methods of linear algebraic equation system solution, when homogeneous and equally when non-homogeneous.

Subject matter

1. Cartesian tensors, tensor calculus
2. Concepts of continuum matter, objectives and restrictions of Continuum Mechanics
3. Stress
4. Strain
5. Material behavior
6. Boundary-values problem: definition and methods of solution
7. Principle of virtual work

Bibliography

V. Dias da Silva, "Mecânica e Resistência dos Materiais", ZUARI - Edição de Livros Técnicos, Lda.

A. Pietrzak, J. Andrade, A. Baptista, "Mecânica dos Sólidos Contínuos", Orion.

Teaching method

Teaching involves lectures and problem-solving sessions. There are also office hours available to clarify some concepts and students’ doubts. Lectures intend teaching of fundamental theoretical concepts, illustrating their application on simple problems relevant for comprehensive understanding. Lectures are given in PowerPoint presentations, prepared by instructors. Students have printed version available during the respective lecture. Problem-solving sessions complement theoretical concepts. Active students’ participation is stimulated. Additional concepts are illustrated in one laboratory session.
Web page of the discipline contents:
PowerPoint lectures presentations
Problems specification for problem-solving sessions
Solved problems relevant for the subject
List of supporting formulae needed for problems resolution
Guide for laboratory session and elaboration of the respective report.

Evaluation method

Detailed information is available in "Organização e Normas" link from the main menu of the MMC-web page.

Courses