A good foundation in the mechanics of deformable solids is essential for most engineers. To meet this requirement many engineering educational programmes include, after an introductory course on strength of materials, an advanced course on the subject. The conventional method of treating the advanced subject as an extension of the introductory course leaves many things incomplete. At the same time, to treat the advanced subject completely from the continuum mechanics or elasticity theory approach is to make it unnecessarily complicated. A compromise, therefore, is needed between these two approaches. The present book is expected to meet this requirement.

The contents of the book can logically be divided into two parts—the first part dealing with principles and the second part with applications or specific problems. This first two chapters discuss the analysis of stress and the analysis of strain. These two chapters follow the continuum mechanics approach without much mathematical complexity. This approach lays a good foundation to the subject matter. These topics are analysed in the language of ‘strength of materials’ rather than in the language of the ‘elasticity theory’, without losing rigour. The third chapter dealing with stress-strain relations for linearly elastic solids makes use of physical interpretations to arrive at the results rather than depending too heavily on a formal approach. Students have found this approach more appealing than the conventional formal one.

In most textbooks, the theories of failure or yield criteria are discussed towards the end of the book. However, its logical place is immediately after the stress-strain relations since it establishes the condition or conditions when yielding begins. Consequently, Chapter 4 deals with theories of failure or yield criteria. This chapter also contains a brief introduction to ideally plastic solid. Chapter 5 dealing with energy methods is quite exhaustive and covers many important topics like the reciprocal theorem, theorems of Castigliano, the theorem of virtual work, Engesser's theory and Maxwell-Mohr integrals.

The last five chapters deal with applications or specific problems. Bending of beams is discussed in Chapter 6. Asymmetrical bending, shear centre, curved beams and deflections of thick curved bars are treated in this chapter. Torsion of solid cylindrical rods and of thin-walled multiple-cell closed sections are discussed in Chapter 7. Timoshenko's book on the advanced strength of materials had influenced many authors to include a chapter on plates and shells in their books. However, the trend is changing. The theory of plates and shells is taught separately in most institutions and not much justice can be done in including a brief discussion on these two topics. Instead, a chapter dealing with axisymmetric problems and another on thermal stresses are included in this book. Since many engineering problems deal with these, it is believed that their inclusion will be more useful. The last chapter contains three sections. These sections deal respectively with beam columns, treatment of stability problem as an eigenvalue problem, and energy methods to solve buckling problems.

All chapters have worked examples. Problems for solution are given at the end of each chapter. Answers are given to most of the problems. In dealing with numerical examples and problems, quantities are given in MKS as well as SI units. I shall be grateful if my attention is drawn to errors that might have crept in.

Partial financial assistance given by the Curriculum Development cell established at the Institute by the Ministry of Education and Culture is gratefully acknowledged.

L S SRINATH