New OER announcement! Engineering core course "Strength of Materials"

44 views

Skip to first unread message

Walz, Anita

unread,

Oct 8, 2026, 12:01:26 PMOct 8

to Walz, Anita

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce the release of an open textbook and problem set for the second-year engineering core course, Mechanics of Materials, titled "Strength of Materials".

Strength of Materials offers an introduction to vital foundational engineering concepts such as internal loading, stress, strain, material properties, and more. This book helps engineers understand structures to prevent critical breakage and deformation of the smallest to largest designs. This book explains why this occurs and how engineers can prevent it from happening to their designs.

Mechanics of Materials is an important foundation for students in several disciplines, including mechanical, civil, aerospace, and materials engineering. It is typically completed early in the core engineering curriculum, following Statics, and serves as a prerequisite to more advanced Solid Mechanics courses. Available in multiple formats, the 414-page open textbook (PDF/EPUB, print, and online), accompanying problem set, homework system, and instructor solution manual (on request) are intended for use in a one-semester introductory undergraduate Mechanics of Materials courses.

Please use this form https://bit.ly/interest_strengthofmaterials to express interest, adoption for your course, adaptation, and/or to request email updates regarding this content. Understanding your use of this material helps us to advocate for future funding for development and/or adaptation of open educational resources in this and other fields.

Read about the resources, team, and additional details at:

https://openvt.lib.vt.edu/2026/10/05/announcing_oer_strength_of_materials

Access the resources:

Instructor solution manual (available to instructors on request from jrg...@vt.edu or jkl...@vt.edu)

Project support

This project was funded in part through the VIVA Open & Affordable Grant Program, Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech, and Engineering Education Department at Virginia Tech. The book is published by Virginia Tech Press as part of the Open Education Series.

Error reporting

View known errata | Report an error1

Thanks for your interest. Please share broadly.

Anita

Anita R. Walz

Associate Professor

Assistant Director for Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian
Library Liaison to Economics and Legal Studies

Virginia Tech | University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive, #4015
Blacksburg, VA 24061
arw...@vt.edu | T: 540-231-2204

http://www.lib.vt.edu

Open Educational Resources Guide http://guides.lib.vt.edu/oer

Strengths: Learner | Connectedness | Individualization | Achiever | Responsibility