OVERVIEW

The teaching deals with the fundamentals of structural mechanics and related solution techniques for the analysis and design of beams, frames and trusses under the elastic regime.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the teaching is to supply the fundamentals and related solution techniques to analyze the mechanical behavior of beams, frames and trusses and to form the basis for their structural design under the elastic regime.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The attendance and active participation in the proposed training activities (frontal lessons and exercises) together with the individual study will allow the student to:

recognize physical problems of structural engineering which can be solved through the analysis of beam structures;

know the collapse mechanisms of beam structures;

know the fundamentals of structural and solid mechanics with reference to beams;

analyze the equilibrium configurations of plane elastic frames subjected to arbitrary loading conditions in the linear field;

determine quantitatively the internal forces, displacements and stresses in beams as functions of loads and beam geometry;

evaluate the geometrical parameters of the beam cross section in phase of design;

estimate the maximum stresses to compare with material strength in phase of check. 

PREREQUISITES

Formal prerequisites for third year students are required

For a successfull learning, basic knowledge of mathematics and physics is required and taken for granted.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching provides frontal lessons in the classroom (60 hours). The presentation of theoretical contents alternates with exercises and applicative examples.

The aim is to encourage learning and discussion employing the appropriate technical termonilogy for structural engineering. Doing exercises with the teacher will be strongly encouraged. The aim is both that the teacher assesses the degree of comprehension of the class and that students learn an independent judgement about their individual knowledge. Transversal skills in terms of technical calculation ability will be also acquired.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Federico Scarpa (federico.scarpa@unige.it), the Polytechnic School's disability liaison.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The programme of the teaching includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

Solid mechanics: the Cauchy continuum; static problem and kinematic problem; linear elastic constitutive model and related limit of validity; linear elastic problem for deformable solids.

Structural mechanics of beams: kinematics and statics of constrained systems of plane beams; internal forces, deformations and displacements in beams structures; linear elastic problem for the plane beam; force solution method for statically indeterminate beam structures.

Design of beams: De Saint Venant problem and fundamental resultant loadings (normal force, bending moment and shear force); strength verifications; stability of equilibrium for beams.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Additional material will be available in the web classroom. Additional exercise will be also proposed and students encouraged to show and discuss their solutions with the teacher, who is willing to correct them also in PDF format, in order to check that the correct approach is followed.

The notes taken during the lessons and the material in the web classroom are sufficient for the preparation of the exam. Anyway, the following books are suggested as supporting and deepening texts:

- Hibbeler R.C. (2010). Meccanica dei solidi e delle strutture, Pearson - Prentice Hall (Edizione italiana);

- Nunziante L., Gambarotta L., Tralli A. (2011). Scienza delle costruzioni, McGrawHill, Milano.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/10375/p/studenti-orario

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam of the teaching consists in passing a written test for admission to an oral test.

The written test consists in the solution of exercises, which must be solved with extended calculations properly justified, as shown in detail during lectures. The written test must be held in the same exam session in which student intends to take the oral test and is graded according to qualitative and not quantitative criteria.

The oral test consist in an interview: the students can be required to solve further exercises, describe concepts, theories and formulations, as well as to derive equations and prove theorems.

Two exam dates for the ‘winter’ session (January and February) and three exam dates for the ‘summer’ session (June, July and September) will be available. During the teaching period, at the discretion of the teacher, either two partial written tests or three to five homework to do individually could be proposed only to the students attending the lessons in the present semester, in order to access the oral test at the end of lessons.

No other exam dates will be available.

The online registration for the written test is mandatory by 10 days before the preferred date. The oral test date will depend on the number of students admitted. Such a date will be communicated simultaneously with the written test results and will be available within 5 days after the written test.

The final grade will take into account the correctness and completeness of answers in both the written and the oral test, as well as the quality of exposition, the correct use of technical terminology and critical reasoning ability.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The details on how to prepare the exam and on the degree of deepening of each topic will be given during the lessons.

The maximum two-hours written test concerns 1 to 3 exercises on all the topics  presented in class. Neither notes nor books are admitted during the written test. The oral test includes questions concerning all the topics presented in class.

The exam aims to assess the ability to apply the theoretical bases of the teaching to general or specific cases of interest in the framework of structural engineering.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with particular needs are asked to contact the teacher at the beginning of lessons.