Mechanics of Materials I:

Fundamentals of Stress & Strain and Axial Loading

Dr. Wayne Whiteman
Senior Academic Professional and Director of the Office of Student Services
Woodruff School of Mechanical EngineeringCalculate the internal forces due to
externa
loads applied to a real world engineering
structure
Classify Axial Centric Loading
Module 2 Learning OutcomesThe availability of rapidly increasing supplies of cheap
iron
or a huge variety of applications is universally recognized as
ne of the distinguishing characteristics of the first Industrial
Revolution. The transport of coal and iron, first on the canals
nd later on the railways, made these materials available all over
Britain and other countries embarking on industrialization.
While the cotton and iron industries were the leading sectors in
his vast transformation, the construction industry was also one
f the fastest growing, supplying as it did the new factories and
mills, the canals and railways and the new houses for the urban
opulation as well as a growing variety of services and utilities
or this population. There was a close symbiosis between the
ses of iron in the construction of the typical three- and four
torey cotton mills and woollen mills, the uses of iron in the
arges and the lock gates of the canals, the iron roads of the
ailways and the general progress of industry based on
machines. Ironbridge in Shropshire is rightly regarded as a
ymbol of the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. This did not
mean of course that older materials, such as timber, bricks and
tone, were no longer used. Typically, new or more abundant
nd cheaper materials do not displace the older ones but only
nlarge the range and capabilities of the industry, i.e. they permit
nnovation.
This was also the case with the abundant supplies of cheap
nd good quality steel which became available as a result of a
uccession of process innovations in the second half of the
ineteenth century. Not only did Bessemer steel rails vastly
mprove the efficiency and durability of railways all over the
world, numerous other applications of steel transformed the
otentialities of the construction industry. Skyscrapers were the
most obvious and spectacular manifestation of this new
otential, enhanced by the electric lift. The electrical industry
tself was a huge consumer of steel for its new structures and
hanged the design of new houses, offices and factories. Thus,
he history of the construction industry is intimately related to
he intensive use of new and cheaper materials in each
uccessive technological revolution. Not only has it been one of
he main users of these materials but through their applications
t has contributed to a whole constellation of innovations
ffecting both the production and use of these materials. This
was particularly evident in the recent wave of innovations
ffecting synthetic materials such as PVC, polystyrene, Perspex
nd polyethylene. Consequently, David Ganns historical
pproach is precisely what is needed to understand the
uccessive stages in the evolution of the industry.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the most recent and
ontemporary developments in information and communication
echnology. Here David Ganns account leaves behind all earlier
interpretations and bases itself on his thorough acquaintance
with numerous contemporary developments in the worldwide
construction industry. His work on the Japanese construction
industry is particularly important as it is in Japan that a new
pattern of innovation emerged: innovation based on the in-house
R&D activities of the construction firms themselves rather than
their suppliers. It is here that the systems approach, which is the
second major characteristic of David Ganns book, proves its
value. The evolution of the construction industry in any
particular country can be understood only in relation to the
wider social and economic system in which it is embedded. A
network of institutions interact with it and help to determine its
specific local features. No other book has demonstrated so well
this interdependence of institutional and technical change in
construction. I commend it most strongly to all those interested
in the taxonomy of innovation as well as those concerned with
the construction industry.
Chris Freeman
SPRU
May 1999