Editing Solid mechanics (section)

==Fundamental aspects==
A ''solid'' is a material that can support a substantial amount of [[Shear force|shearing force]] over a given time scale during a natural or industrial process or action. This is what distinguishes solids from [[fluid]]s, because fluids also support ''normal forces'' which are those forces that are directed perpendicular to the material plane across from which they act and ''normal stress'' is the [[normal force]] per unit area of that material plane. ''Shearing forces'' in contrast with ''normal forces'', act parallel rather than perpendicular to the material plane and the shearing force per unit area is called ''shear stress''.

Therefore, solid mechanics examines the shear stress, deformation and the failure of solid materials and structures.

The most common topics covered in solid mechanics include:
# '''stability of structures''' - examining whether structures can return to a given equilibrium after disturbance or partial/complete failure, ''see [[Structure mechanics]]''
# '''dynamical systems and chaos''' - dealing with mechanical systems highly sensitive to their given initial position
# '''thermomechanics''' - analyzing materials with models derived from principles of [[thermodynamics]]
# '''[[biomechanics]]''' - solid mechanics applied to biological materials e.g. bones, heart tissue
# '''geomechanics''' - solid mechanics applied to geological materials e.g. ice, soil, rock
# '''vibrations of solids and structures''' - examining vibration and wave propagation from vibrating particles and structures i.e. vital in mechanical, civil, mining, aeronautical, maritime/marine, aerospace engineering
# '''fracture and damage mechanics''' - dealing with crack-growth mechanics in solid materials
# '''composite materials''' - solid mechanics applied to materials made up of more than one compound e.g. [[Fibre-reinforced plastic|reinforced plastics]], [[reinforced concrete]], [[fiber glass]]
# '''variational formulations and computational mechanics''' - numerical solutions to mathematical equations arising from various branches of solid mechanics e.g. [[Finite element method|finite element method (FEM)]]
# '''experimental mechanics''' - design and analysis of experimental methods to examine the behavior of solid materials and structures