All,

Could anyone recommend courses, online materials or text books that
would be suitable for teaching the finite element method to someone with
a non-engineering background. This request is on behalf of an MD
student wishing to use the FEM for modelling the wrist. We're initially
looking for introductory materials.

Best regards

Lee

I will be teaching a sophomore level class  mechanics of materials class.  The class will cover mechanics of basic strength of materials (e.g. beams, pressure vessels), but I also want to teach basic elements of failure mechanics (fracture, fatigue, plasticity, and wear.)  I'm looking for a recommendation of an undergrad mechanics textbook that covers the fracture, fatigue, plasticity, and wear.  The students will have had a statics and mechanics class and their textbook already covers strength of materials.  Thanks.

Dear All,

I've got to start teaching a masters level programme on nanocomposites, well 7 lectures worth of one anyway. It will serve as an introduction to NCs and briefly review the current stat of the art.

I would like opinions on textbooks to accompany such a module.

Any of you had any good experiences with any particular books ?

Thanks,

Chris

The publisher sent me the other day this new book by Audoly and Pomeau.  I haven’t gone through the book carefully, but a quick look has indicated that this is a very special book, well worth a close reading.  The book is beautifully written and well produced.  The authors have captured the recent excitement about thin elastic objects, such as rods, plates, and shells.  While existing books on plates and shells mostly focus on calculating critical loads for instability, this new book describes shapes produced by instability.  Examples include wrinkles in a leaf, ridges in a piece of crumpled paper, and curls of a hair.  The subject is photogenic, and the book contains a large number of delightful illustrations.  The book approaches the subject through physical phenomena, rather than mathematical formalisms.  The authors have intended it as a text for a course at the level of senior undergraduate students or beginning graduate students.         

 Early this year Amazon sent me a recommendation of this book by Morton Gurtin, Eliot Fried, and Lallit Anand.  I pre-ordered this book, which arrived the other day.  The authors are active and distinguished scholars.  The publisher has done an excellent job in producing the book.  It is simply a joy to hold the book in your hands, and read. 

As you can see from the table of contents posted on Amazon, the book consists of 114 Sections.  Each section reads like an essay, focusing on a particular idea.  The book is concerned with formulating field theories, and is excellent for graduate students and researchers in mechanics, especially those interested in creating new theories and computational methods.  I have requested our library to order a copy. 

I have posted an advanced solid mechanics textbook on http://solidmechanics.org/

It works on Internet Explorer, but may not work on all browsers. Topics include: mathematical descriptions of deformation and forces in solids; constitutive laws; analytical techniques and solutions to linear elastic and elastic-plastic boundary value problems; the use and implementation of FEA; fracture mechanics; and the theory of deformable rods, plates and shells.

Over 400 practice problems are provided, as well as demonstration finite element codes in MAPLE and (soon) MATLAB.

Here is a link to a 1996 book by C.H. Wang on Fracture Mechanics from the DSTO Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory in Melbourne.

http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/publications/1880/DSTO-GD-0103.pdf

A new book, "Tissue Mechanics" by SC Cowin and SB Doty is of potential interest to those from a classical mechanics background considering work in biomechanics. Downloadable versions of the first two chapters are available at the book's website along with a full table of contents and other supplemental information.