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Chapter - 3 Equilibrium: Engineering Mechanics

The document discusses equilibrium and free body diagrams in engineering mechanics. It defines equilibrium as when a body is at rest or in uniform motion, meaning the net force and net torque on the body are both zero. It emphasizes that accurately defining the mechanical system and drawing the free body diagram, showing all forces acting on the isolated system, are critical first steps in solving mechanics problems. The free body diagram conceptually isolates the body of interest from others it contacts and shows all applied and reaction forces on that body.

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Sagheer Ahmed
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783 views

Chapter - 3 Equilibrium: Engineering Mechanics

The document discusses equilibrium and free body diagrams in engineering mechanics. It defines equilibrium as when a body is at rest or in uniform motion, meaning the net force and net torque on the body are both zero. It emphasizes that accurately defining the mechanical system and drawing the free body diagram, showing all forces acting on the isolated system, are critical first steps in solving mechanics problems. The free body diagram conceptually isolates the body of interest from others it contacts and shows all applied and reaction forces on that body.

Uploaded by

Sagheer Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Engineering Mechanics

CHAPTER - 3
EQUILIBRIUM

A body is said to be in equilibrium when it is at rest or has uniform motion.


According to Newton’s law of motion, it means the resultant of all the forces
acting on a body in equilibrium is zero. The resultant of coplanar system of
forces acting on a body is zero when—

(a) The algebraic sum of the component of forces along each of the two mutually perpendicular
directions is zero (translatory motion is zero).

(b) The algebraic sum of moment of all the forces about any point in the plane is zero (rotational
moment is zero).

Thus a body is said to be in equilibrium when the resultant force R and the resultant couple M
are both zero, and we have the equilibrium equations

These requirements are both necessary and sufficient conditions for equilibrium.

EQUILIBRIUM IN TWO DIMENSIONS

System Isolation and the Free-Body Diagram

Before applying equations of equilibrium, we must define the particular body or mechanical
system to be analyzed and represent clearly and completely all forces acting on the body.
Omission of a force which acts on the body in question, or inclusion of a force which does not
act on the body, will give erroneous results.
A mechanical system is defined as a body or group of bodies which can be conceptually isolated
from all other bodies. A system may be a single body or a combination of connected bodies. The
bodies may be rigid or non-rigid. The system may also be an identifiable fluid mass, either liquid
or gas, or a combination of fluids and solids. In statics we study primarily forces which act on
rigid bodies at rest, although we also study forces acting on fluids in equilibrium.
Once we decide which body or combination of bodies to analyze, we then treat this body or
combination as a single body isolated from all surrounding bodies. This isolation is
accomplished by means of the free-body diagram, which is a diagrammatic representation of
the isolated system treated as a single body. The diagram shows all forces applied to the system
by mechanical contact with other bodies, which are imagined to be removed. If appreciable body
forces are present, such as gravitational or magnetic attraction, then these forces must also be
shown on the free-body diagram of the isolated system. Because of its critical importance, we
emphasize here that
the free-body diagram is the most important single step in the solution of problems in
mechanics.

FREE BODY DIAGRAM

In many problems, it is essential to isolate the body under consideration from the other bodies in
contact and draw all the forces acting on the body. For this, first the body is drawn and then
applied forces, selfweight and the reactions at the points of contact with other bodies are drawn.
Such a diagram of the body in which the body under consideration is freed from all the contact
surfaces and shows all the forces acting on it (including reactions at contact surfaces), is called a
Free Body Diagram (FBD). Free Body Diagrams (FBD) are shown for few typical cases in
Table 2.2.

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