F26_MECH420

Fall 2026 MECH420 Course Website

Week	Date	Lecture Topics	Textbook Reading	Handouts	HW
1	M 08/31	No Class
1	W 09/02	Mechanics Review: Video: Balance laws for a rigid body, Average Normal Stress, Average Shear Stress, Torsion of Circular Shaft	3.1-3.4, 3.8-3.9,3.12	Exercise Sheet - Mechanics Review 1, Area Moments of Inertia
2	M 09/07	Mechanica Review: Bending of Straight Member, Shear Stress in Straight Members	3.10-3.11	Stress Concentration Table
2	W 09/09	Maximum-Shear Stress Theory for Ductile Material	4.1-4.4	Exercise Sheet - Failuer of Ductile Materials	HW1 due on September 19
2	M 09/09	MAKEUP SESSION. Mechanics Review: Video: Stress Transformation and Mohr Circle, Video: 3D Mohr Circle, Stress Concentration, Combined Loading	3.5-3.7, 3.13, Ch3 Problems	Exercise Sheet - Mechanics Review 2
3	M 09/12	Distortion Energy Theory for Ductile Material, Coulomb-Mohr Theory for Ductile Material, Failure for Ductile Material Summary	5.5-5.7
3	W 09/16	5.8 Maximum-Normal-Stress Theory for Brittle Material, 5.9 Modifications of the Mohr Theory for Brittle Material, 5.10 Failure of Brittle Materials Summary, 5.11 Selectio of Failure Criteria	5.8-5.11
4	M 09/21	No Lecture, 50 minutes quiz in Bechtel 202
4	W 09/23	No Lecture, 50 minutes quiz in Bechtel 202
5	M 09/28	5.12 Introduction to Fracture Mechanics, 5.13 Important Design Equations	5.12-5.13
5	W 09/30	TBD

Chapter	Formula Sheet	Minimum Practice Problems (from Shigly 10th Edition)
3	Mechanics Review Formulas	3-7, 3-8, 3-15(a-d), 3-34(b-c), 3-36, 3-37, 3-39(a), 3-44, 3-45, , 3-69, 3-70, 3-71, 3-73, 3-80
4	Static Failure Theories Formulas	5-1(d-e), 5-2(a-e), 5-3(c-d), 5-4(c-d), 5-8, 5-17, 5-19(c-e), 5-23, 5-28, 5-33, 5-36, 5-37, 5-50, 5-56, 5-58, 5-60, 5-63, + more TBD

What does a Mechanical Design Engineer do?
Building a Mechanical Engineering Portfolio: A guide from the MIT Communication Lab, including advice and example portfolios.