Strain Energy:

This unit introduces you to the concept of strain energy, how it is related to stress and strain and the method of estimating this energy in different modes of application of forces or loads on the body. It also describes to you how to obtain the stresses in the case of sudden and impact loads using the strain energy concept. Further, it deals with Castigliano's theorem which can be employed to estimate the defections of deformable bodies under loads.

Objectives

After studying this unit, you must be able to

• conceptualise the potential energy,
• estimate the strain energy under different kind of loads,
• attain the stresses in a body while subjected to suddenly applied or impact loads, and
• Calculate the deflections of beams through the application of Castigliano's theorem.