Solved Problems in Applied Mechanics of Solids

The best way to learn the physical sciences and mathematics is to dive in and start solving problems. With this in mind, Solved Problems in Applied Mechanics of Solids offers a large number of example problems that are designed to help students and practicing engineers learn to predict stresses and deformation in solids that are subjected to mechanical or thermal loading. The book will also be useful for instructors who are looking for worked examples to use in lectures or assignments.

The book is intended to be used as a companion volume to A.F. Bower’s “Applied Mechanics of Solids,” 2nd ed. CRC press, Boca Raton FL (2025). The chapter headings and sub-sections are identical in both volumes, and every topic covered in the main text has a set of relevant worked examples in this book.

The problem sets and their solutions cover background mathematics; the physical and mathematical laws that govern deformation in solids; models of material behavior; solutions to boundary value problems using classical methods of analysis; finite element analysis (including a set of tutorial style problems that can be solved with the ‘learning edition’ of the commercial finite element code ABAQUS®); finite element coding; fracture mechanics and failure analysis; as well as structural theories of rods, plates and shells.

The text is supplemented by a GitHub site which includes solutions in MATLAB® to the finite element coding problems, as well as model databases for ABAQUS® that solve the finite element analysis problems. In addition, the example problems (without solutions) can be found on the same website.

Author Biography

Allan Bower is emeritus professor of engineering at Brown University, where he taught in the undergraduate mechanical engineering program and the graduate program in mechanics of solids. His research interests were in solid mechanics, and included topics such as the strength of contacting surfaces; thin films for microelectronics; metal forming; and the mechanical behavior of energy storage materials. He also enjoyed working with Brown’s talented students in a broad range of engineering courses, and was the recipient of various teaching awards, including Brown’s Royce family professorship in teaching excellence