SIMPLE STRESS AND STRAIN

Introduction
One of the basic problems of the engineer is to select the proper material and correctly use and proportion it so
as to enable a structure or machine to do most efficiently what it is designed to do. In any engineering structure or
mechanism, the individual components will be subjected to external forces arising from the service conditions or
environment in which the component works. If the component or member is in equilibrium, the resultant of the external
forces will be zero but, nevertheless, they together place a load on the member which tends to deform that member and
which must be reacted by internal forces which are set up within the material.

Simple Stress
Simple stresses are expressed as the ratio of the applied force divided by the resisting area

Simple stress can be classified as normal stress, shear stress, and bearing stress. Normal stress develops when a
force is applied perpendicular to the cross-sectional area of the material. If the force is going to pull the material, the
stress is said to be tensile stress and compressive stress develops when the material is being compressed by two
opposing forces. Shear stress is developed if the applied force is parallel to the resisting area. Example is the bolt that
holds the tension rod in its anchor. Another condition of shearing is when we twist a bar along its longitudinal axis. This
type of shearing is called torsion. Another type of simple stress is the bearing stress; it is the contact pressure between
two bodies

Normal Stress - The resisting area is perpendicular to the applied force, thus normal. There are two types of normal
stresses; tensile stress and compressive stress. Tensile stress applied to bar tends the bar to elongate while compressive
stress tends to shorten the bar.

Direct strain (ε) - If a bar is subjected to a direct load, and hence a stress, the bar will change in length. If the bar has an
original length L and changes in length by an amount δL, the strain produced is defined as follows:

Strain is thus a measure of the deformation of the material and is non-dimensional, i.e. it has no units; it is simply a ratio
of two quantities with the sa me unit (Fig. 1.2).
Elastic Materials Hooke's law - A material is said to be elastic if it returns to its original, unloaded dimensions when
load is removed. A particular form of elasticity which applies to a large range of engineering materials, at least over part
of their load range, produces deformations which are proportional to the loads producing them. Since loads are
proportional to the stresses they produce and deformations are proportional to the strains, this also implies that, whilst
materials are elastic, stress is proportional to strain. Hooke's law, in its simplest form*, therefore states that:

Modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus) - Within the elastic limits of materials, i.e. within the limits in which Hooke's
law applies, it has been shown that:

This constant is given the symbol E and termed the modulus of elasticity or Young's modulus.
Thus:

Tensile Test - In order to compare the strengths of various materials it is necessary to carry out some standard
form of test to establish their relative properties. One such test is the standard tensile test in which a circular
bar of uniform cross-section is subjected to a gradually increasing tensile load until failure occurs. This shows
a typical result for a test on a mild (low carbon) steel bar; other materials will exhibit different graphs but of a
similar general form.

For the first part of the test it will be observed that Hooke's law is obeyed, i.e. the material behaves elastically
and stress is proportional to strain, giving the straight-line graph indicated. Some point A is eventually
reached, however, when the linear nature of the graph ceases and this point is termed the limit of
proportionality.
Shear stress - Consider a block or portion of material as shown in Fig. 1.12a subjected to a set of equal and opposite
forces Q. (Such a system could be realized in a bicycle brake block when contacted with the wheel.) There is then a
tendency for one layer of the material to slide over another to produce the form of failure shown in Fig. 1.12b. If this
failure is restricted, then a shear stress t is set up, defined as follows:

This shear stress will always be tangential to the area on which it acts; direct stresses, however, are always normal to the
area on which they act.

Shear strain - If one again considers the block of Fig. 1.12a to be a bicycle brake block it is clear that the
rectangular shape of the block will not be retained as the brake is applied and the shear forces introduced. The
block will in fact change shape or "strain" into the form shown in Fig. 1.13. The angle of deformation y is then
termed the shear strain. Shear strain is measured in radians and hence is non-dimensional, i.e. it has no units.

Modulus of rigidity – For materials within the elastic range the shear strain is proportional to the shear stress producing
it,

The constant G is termed the modulus of rigidity or shear modulus and is directly comparable to the modulus of
elasticity used in the direct stress application. The term modulus thus implies a ratio of stress to strain in each case.
Double shear - Consider the simple riveted lap joint shown in Fig. 1.14a. When load is applied to the plates the rivet is
subjected to shear forces tending to shear it on one plane as indicated. In the butt joint with two cover plates of Fig.
1.14b, however, each rivet is subjected to possible shearing on two faces, i.e. double shear. In such cases twice the area
of metal is resisting the applied forces so that the shear stress set up is given by
Problem 01
A hollow steel tube with an inside diameter of 100 mm must carry a tensile load of 400 kN. Determine the outside
diameter of the tube if the stress is limited to 120 MN/m².
solution:

Problem 02
An aluminum rod is rigidly attached between a steel rod and a bronze rod as shown in Fig. P-108. Axial loads are
applied at the positions indicated. Find the maximum value of P that will not exceed a stress in steel of 140 MPa, in
aluminum of 90 MPa, or in bronze of 100 MPa.
Solution:

Problem 03
What force is required to punc h a 20-mm-diameter hole in a plate that is 25 mm thick? The shear strength is 350
MN/m².