Editing Solid mechanics (section)

{{Short description|Branch of mechanics concerned with solid materials and their behaviors}}
{{more footnotes|date=December 2014}}

{{Continuum mechanics|cTopic=solid}}
'''Solid mechanics''' (also known as '''mechanics of solids''') is the branch of [[continuum mechanics]] that studies the behavior of [[solid]] materials, especially their motion and [[deformation (mechanics)|deformation]] under the action of [[force]]s, [[temperature]] changes, [[phase (chemistry)|phase]] changes, and other external or internal agents.

Solid mechanics is fundamental for [[civil engineering|civil]], [[Aerospace engineering|aerospace]], [[nuclear engineering|nuclear]], [[Biomedical engineering|biomedical]] and [[mechanical engineering]], for [[geology]], and for many branches of [[physics]] and [[chemistry]] such as [[materials science]].<ref name="applied_mechanics"/> It has specific applications in many other areas, such as understanding the [[anatomy]] of living beings, and the design of [[dental prosthesis|dental prostheses]] and [[surgical implant]]s. One of the most common practical applications of solid mechanics is the [[Euler–Bernoulli beam theory|Euler–Bernoulli beam equation]]. Solid mechanics extensively uses [[tensor]]s to describe stresses, strains, and the relationship between them.

Solid mechanics is a vast subject because of the wide range of solid materials available, such as steel, wood, concrete, biological materials, textiles, geological materials, and plastics.