Scope of strength of materials:

What is the scope of strength of materials?

Sol.: Strength of materials is science that deals with the relations between externally applied loads and internal effects on the bodies.

The bodies are not supposed to be rigid, and the deformation, however small are of main interest.

When an external force act on the body, the body tends to undergo some deformation. Because of cohesion between the molecules, the body initially resists deformation. This resistance by which material of body opposes the deformation is called as strength of material, within certain limit (in elastic stage). The resistance offered by materials is proportional to deformation brought out on the material by external force.

So we can conclude that the subject of strength of materials is basically study of

(i) The behavior of materials under different types of load and moment.

(ii) The action of forces and effects on structural and machine elements such as circular bars, angle iron, and beams etc.

Assumption are made for the analysis problems of strength of the materials like:
(i) The material of the body is isotropic and homogeneous,

(ii) There are no internal stresses which are present in material before application of loads.