Introduction to Structural Mechanics

This lecture covers the fundamentals of structural mechanics, focusing on beams, sign conventions, types of beams, and methods to calculate stress resultants (internal loads: forces and moments). The instructor discusses the framework for mechanics of plates, curvature tensor, bending and stretching energy, and equations of equilibrium of plates. Various concepts such as 2D kinematics, curvature, constitutive equations, and total strain energy of a plate are explored. The lecture also delves into the Von Karman equations, buckling of plates, and the simplifications of the Foppl-von Karman plate theory.