Structural Mechanics: Bridging Theoretical Foundations and Real-World Disasters

Structural Mechanics covers three different aspects of modern engineering: the foundation of structural mechanics, the solution to urgent industrial problems, and the reconstruction of major accidents. This book offers six case studies that teach how to identify the most important phase of the collapse or fracture of a complex system, develop a simple mathematically tractable model, and offer a discussion of the analytical and numerical solutions.

This book originated from the lecture notes of Professor Tomasz Wierzbicki who taught at MIT and Stanford University. The notes were amended and improved many times over the years to provide a link between rigorous theoretical foundations with solutions to important engineering problems. The book discusses complex man-made structures under accidental impact or explosive loads, resulting in the loss of life and/or extensive property, infrastructural, and environmental damage. The book deals with reconstructing the sequence of events of such accidents from the structural point of view. The book is not restricted to the accident reconstruction only - concepts and solutions of the elasticity, advance plasticity and ductile fracture were used throughout the reconstruction of the accidents. The additional 17 lectures provide theoretical foundations for the elastic structures, plastic plates and shells, and ductile fracture.

Not only is this an essential textbook for graduate students studying structural mechanics, it is also relevant to industry professionals, researchers, and academics in the field of engineering.

Professor Tomasz Wierzbicki earned his MS degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology, followed by a PhD from the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research. He then pursued postdoctoral studies at Stanford University, delving into innovative research in crashworthiness. This expertise garnered him an invitation from Volvo, where he contributed to various projects. In 1981, he ascended to the position of Full Professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences before relocating to the United States later that year. Joining MIT in 1983, he directed the Impact and Crashworthiness Lab. His contributions have been widely recognized with over 250 papers published in leading international journals. In 1986, he was honored with the Alexander von Humboldt senior US Scientist Award, marking the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with the BMW R&D Department in Munich, focusing primarily on fracture mechanics. Professor Wierzbicki's legacy is evident in the numerous industry-oriented programs he has spearheaded at MIT, garnering support from over 76 major automotive, steel, aluminum, offshore, shipbuilding, and consumer electronics companies. His research interests span dynamic plasticity, structural failure, crashworthiness, ultralight materials, ductile fracture, and, more recently, a pioneering program on modeling lithium-ion batteries. He has also served as an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Impact Engineering for many years.

Dr. Jiayin Ling serves as a Senior Services Manager at GE HealthCare. Before this role, he held various engineering positions at GE, where he played key roles in developing innovative medical devices such as photon-counting CT scanners and helium-free MRI magnets. Dr. Ling earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his B.S. in Physics from Tsinghua University.