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Introduction to Continuum Mechanics
Continuum Mechanics is a branch of physical mechanics that describes the macroscopic mechanical behavior of solid or fluid materials considered to be continuously distributed. It is fundamental to the fields of civil, mechanical, chemical and bioengineering. This time-tested text has been used for over 35 years to introduce junior and senior-level undergraduate engineering students, as well as graduate students, to the basic principles of continuum mechanics and their applications to real engineering problems. The text begins with a detailed presentation of the coordinate invariant quantity, the tensor, introduced as a linear transformation. This is then followed by the formulation of the kinematics of deformation, large as well as very small, the description of stresses and the basic laws of continuum mechanics. As applications of these laws, the behaviors of certain material idealizations (models) including the elastic, viscous and viscoelastic materials, are presented.
This new edition offers expanded coverage of the subject matter both in terms of details and contents, providing greater flexibility for either a one or two-semester course in either continuum mechanics or elasticity. Although this current edition has expanded the coverage of the subject matter, it nevertheless uses the same approach as that in the earlier editions - that one can cover advanced topics in an elementary way that go from simple to complex, using a wealth of illustrative examples and problems. It is, and will remain, one of the most accessible textbooks on this challenging engineering subject.
Significantly expanded coverage of elasticity in Chapter 5, including solutions of some 3-D problems based on the fundamental potential functions approach.
New section at the end of Chapter 4 devoted to the integral formulation of the field equations
Seven new appendices appear at the end of the relevant chapters to help make each chapter more self-contained
Expanded and improved problem sets providing both intellectual challenges and engineering applications
This new edition offers expanded coverage of the subject matter both in terms of details and contents, providing greater flexibility for either a one or two-semester course in either continuum mechanics or elasticity. Although this current edition has expanded the coverage of the subject matter, it nevertheless uses the same approach as that in the earlier editions - that one can cover advanced topics in an elementary way that go from simple to complex, using a wealth of illustrative examples and problems. It is, and will remain, one of the most accessible textbooks on this challenging engineering subject.
Significantly expanded coverage of elasticity in Chapter 5, including solutions of some 3-D problems based on the fundamental potential functions approach.
New section at the end of Chapter 4 devoted to the integral formulation of the field equations
Seven new appendices appear at the end of the relevant chapters to help make each chapter more self-contained
Expanded and improved problem sets providing both intellectual challenges and engineering applications
- GenresPhysics
536 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2009
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
W. Michael Lai
7 books13 followersW. Michael Lai is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Orthpaedic Bioengineering at Columbia University. He received his Ph.D in Engineering Mechanics in 1962 from the University of Michigan. Between 1962 and 1986, he was a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He joined the Columbia faculty in 1987 with a joint appointment between the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He served as Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 1996 to 2002 and became Professor Emeritus in 2004. His research field has been in Orthopaedic Bioengineering with a special interest in soft tissue mechanics.
Many of his publications have been in the constitutive modeling of articular cartilage for which he received the ASME Melville Medal in 1982 and the ASME Lissner Medal in 2001. The triphasic model considers the tissue as consisting of three phases: a solid phase, a fluid phase and an ionic phase with two ionic species. The model has been used to study the mechanical and the electromechanical behavior of the tissue including the signal transduction problems in chondrocytes . He is a Fellow of ASME and a founding Fellow of the American Institute for Biomedical and Biological Engineering (1995). At Columbia, he has received a Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award from the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association (2000).
Books
1. Introduction to Continuum Mechanics, third edition, W. M. Lai, D. Rubin and E. Krempl, Heinnemann/Elsevier, 1994. Fourth edition, to be published in 2009.
2. Fundamentals of Surface Mechanics, with applications F. F. Ling, W. M. Lai and D. Lucca, Springer, 2002
Journal Articles (1990-2004)
1 Kwan MK, Lai WM, Mow VC: A finite deformation theory for cartilage and other soft hydrated connective tissues: I. Equilibrium results. J Biomechanics 23:145-155, 1990.
2 Mow VC, Lai WM, Hou JS: A triphasic theory for the swelling properties of hydrated charged soft biological tissues. Appl Mech Rev 43(part 2):134-141, 1990.
3 Lai WM, Hou JS, Mow VC: Triphasic theory for the swelling properties of hydrated charfe soft biological tissues. In: Biomechanics of Diarthrodial Joints, I, ed by VC Mow, A Ratcliffe, SL-Y Woo, New York, New York, Springer-Verlag, pp 283-312, 1990.
4 Hou JS, Lai WM, Holmes MH, Mow VC: Squeeze film lubrication for articular cartilage with synovial fluid. In: Biomechanics of Diarthrodial Joints, II, ed by VC Mow, A Ratcliffe, SL-Y Woo, New York, New York, Springer-Verlag, pp 347-368, 1990.
5 Zhu WB, Lai WM, Mow VC: The density and strength of proteoglycan-proteoglycan interaction sites in concentrated solutions. J Biomechanics 24:1007-1018, 1991.
6 Lai WM, Hou JS, Mow VC: A triphasic theory for the swelling and deformational behaviors of articular cartilage. J Biomech Engng, ASME, 113:245-258, 1991.
7 Hou JS, Mow VC, Lai WM, Holmes MH: An analysis of the squeeze film lubrication mechanism for articular cartilage. J Biomechanics 25:247-259, 1992.
8 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: Analysis of fluid and ion transport through a porous charged-hydrated biological tissue during a permeation experiment, Proc Symp Comp Mech Porous Material, ed by NJ Salamon and RM Sullivan, AMD-Vol 136, ASME, pp 29-42, 1992.
9 Gu WY, Lai WM, Mow VC: Transport of fluid and ions through a porous-permeable charged-hydrated tissue, and streaming potential data on normal bovine articular cartilage, J Biomechanics 26:709-723, 1993.
10 Lai WM, Mow VC, Zhu WB: Constitutive modelling of articular cartilage and biomacromolecular solutions. J Biomech Engng, ASME, 115:474-480, 1993.
11 Ateshian GA, Lai WM, Zhu WB, Mow VC: An asymptotic solution for two contacting biphasic cartilage layers. J Biomechanics, 27:1347-1360, 1994.
12 Lai WM, Gu W, Mow VC: Flows of electrolytes through charged hydrated biologic tissue. Appl Mech Rev 47(part 2):277-281, 1994.
13 Setton
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