An Introduction to Biomechanics

Abstract

There are five general areas of mechanics: discrete, continuum, statistical, quantum, and relativistic. Each is important, but this text focuses on biome- chanics from a continuum perspective, which we will see embraces many aspects of biomedical engineering at various length and time scales. Introductory textbooks on mechanics sometimes give the wrong impression that the subject is primarily a collection of solutions to individual problems— nothing could be further from the truth. As a branch of classical physics, continuum mechanics is a deductive science founded upon a few basic postu- lates and concepts through which all problems must be formulated and then solved. Mechanics should be recognized, therefore, as a consistent, focused approach to the solution of classes of problems rather than as a collection of special results. Another goal of this textbook is to introduce the student to biosolid and biofluid mechanics such that it is the underlying, consistent

approach that is learned and reinforced throughout. Indeed, the ultimate goal here is to enable the reader to formulate and solve real-life problems, many of which have yet to be identified. In other words, the primary goal of a student should not be to learn how to solve the specific problems (illustrative examples and exercises) in this text; we, as a community, already know their solution. Textbook problems should be used simply as a means to practice the underlying approach of mechanics, to gain confidence in formulating and solving prob- lems, and to develop intuition.