FCE 231: STRENGTH OF MATERIALS IA

2 MEMBERS SUBJECTED TO AXIAL FORCES

2.1 TENSION
During elastic deformation, the dimensional changes in the material are negligible so the
definitions of stress and strain given earlier are adequate. Such stresses and strains are
referred to as engineering, or conventional stress and strain. However, during plastic
deformation, both the reduction in cross– sectional area and elongation of the specimen can
be appreciable. To represent better the behaviour of materials during plastic deformation, it is
now common to use different definitions of stress and strain, which are generally referred to
as “true stress” and “true strain” and which are based on the INSTANTANEOUS dimensions
of the specimen during the course of a test. TRUE STRESS is defined as:

Where is the actual cross–sectional area (taking into account Poisson’s effect)
corresponding to the load P.
The basis of the definition of TRUE STRAIN is that any increment of strain is the
incremental change in length, δl, divided by the instantaneous length , i.e.
(elementary strain)
So that the true strain is the total summation of all such increments, i.e.

Where is the original length and the final length in the loaded member.
Typical curves for “engineering” and “true” σ - ε relationships are shown in figure 2.1.
In a tensile test specimen, once necking has occurred, it is no longer meaningful to consider
the total length of the specimen, since necking is a localized phenomenon. However,
measurement of the minimum area in the necked region of the specimen provides a basis
for determining the true strain, since also

, where is the original cross sectional area.

2.2 COMPRESSION
Compression is a mode of deformation whereby stresses act perpendicular to the cross–
section of a structural member, which tends to shorten the member. In direct compression, the
tresses are . A member in direct compression is referred to as strut, as opposed to a
member in tension (a tie).
Generally, within the elastic range, the curve for compression for an ideal material is simply
an extension of the curve for tension in the reverse (-ve) direction and the values of E and ν
and are the same (see figure 2.2).
However, it is difficult to bring about compressive failure in ductile materials since they
simply tend to deform rather than break. Therefore, ductile materials are better characterized
by tensile behaviour. The compression behaviour is used primarily to characterize brittle
behaviour.

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Ideally, the compression test consists of applying an axial compressive force to the ends of a
specimen, so that a uniform compressive strength, (P/A), is obtained.
The stress–strain curves for brittle materials for tension and compression are usually similar
in form, although the stresses at the limit of proportionality and at fracture may be different
for the two loading conditions. The stress–strain curves for two different types of concrete are
shown in figure 2.3 illustrating that the slopes of curves near the origin are equal.
2.2.1 Mechanism of Compression in Brittle Materials
The axial stress required to cause failure in a brittle material is much greater in compression
than in tension. This is because cracks (or flaws) that initiate failure in tension (due to stress
concentration) tend to close up in compression and no longer act as stress raisers. Therefore,
higher applied loads are needed to cause compression failure. The failure mechanism is often
due to secondary tensile stresses acting perpendicular to the applied compressive stress. For
example, when a cylindrical solid concrete specimen is subjected to a diametrical
compressive stress, indirect tensile stresses are induced. The most common application of
diametrical compressive test is in the TENSION SPLITTING TEST, which is more properly
referred to as “diametrical compression of a solid cylinder (also sometimes known as the
Brazil test)” (see figure 2.4). This test utilizes the secondary tensile stresses which are
developed when a solid cylinder is subjected to diametrical compression load. The maximum
tensile stress, which acts across a substantial part of the loading diameter, is given by

Where P is the diametrical load, D is the specimen diameter, and L is the length of the
cylinder.
About 80 % of the vertical diameter is essentially in pure tension. To avoid stress
concentrations along the line of loading, a narrow, relatively soft pad is used to help
distribute the load. The test is most commonly used for concrete.
2.2.2 Compression Test Parameters
As with all tests of mechanical properties, the measured compression properties of a material
will depend to some degree on how the test is carried out. The four experimental variables
that should be noted are :
(i) Surface imperfections due to improper specimen preparation or handling or corrosion.
These imperfections may cause stress concentrations. The effect is more serious for
brittle materials.
(ii) Rate of loading: In general, the more rapidly the specimen is loaded, the higher the
apparent yield point and maximum stress, and the higher the elastic modulus. The
material will also behave in a more brittle manner. Most test methods specify both a
maximum and a minimum loading rate.
(iii) Temperature: At higher temperatures, the ductility increases; the yield strength, and
modulus of elasticity are decreased.
(iv) Specimen size: The larger the specimen, the more likely it is to contain severe flaws of
one kind or another. Therefore, larger specimens tend to give lower ultimate strengths.

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2.3 ONE DIMENSIONAL INTERNAL STRESS SYSTEMS

If a bar under an external compression force P is cut at an arbitrary section, the internal
stresses acting on the cut face produce a resultant internal resistance force F, equal and
opposite to P for equilibrium (see figure 2.5). When the force P acts in line with the
centroidal longitudinal axis of the member, it may be assumed that the stress has uniform
intensity at any cross-section normal to the axis. Therefore,

or

Similarly, for a tie bar subjected to tension,

(Note: sign convention is +ve for tension; -ve for compression)

2.3.1 Stress on an inclined plane

Stress is a vector quantity with both direction and magnitude. Any stress can be resolved into
two components in any direction from the axis of loading (figure 2.6).
The stress vector σ may be considered as the resultant of the two components σCosθ1 and
σSinθ1which are mutually at right angles to each other. However, stresses can also be
resolved in any other directions of interest, as illustrated in figure 2.7.
Consider a member subjected to uni-axial tensile load P. All planes perpendicular to the axis
of load application are subjected to a normal stress σx. However, a plane at an inclined angle
to the axis of loading will have additional stresses referred to as shear stresses τ. In figure 2.8,
the load P can be resolved into two components N and V, normal (perpendicular) to the plane
and parallel to the plane, respectively, so that
and
N and V are known as the normal and shear forces, respectively, acting on the inclined plane.
the stresses associated with these forces are given by,
Normal stress

Shear stress

From geometry, or
Therefore,

Normal stress

Shear stress

Where A is the normal cross-section area and Aθ is the area of the inclined plane.
It can be seen that the maximum value of is obtained when and the maximum value
of , when .

2.3.2 Members with Variable Cross-section

Consider a member AB of variable cross-sectional area such that at distance li from A the
cross-section area is Ai (figure 2.9). If the member is rigidly fixed in position at A while an
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axial tensile load P is applied, the elongation of an elemental length δli at distance li is given
by

Where and are the elastic strain and stress at distance li, respectively.
The total elongation for the member of length l is then

Area may be expressed as a function of length. For example, if the member in figure 2.9 is
a rod of circular cross-section diameter at A and reducing linearly so that at
distance li the diameter is , then the area at distance li is

For a prismatic member of constant area A

2.4 STRAIN ENERGY IN ONE DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS

Consider a long steel wire held rigidly at its upper end and supporting a gradually increasing
load P attached to the lower end (figure 2.10).
If vertical movements of the lower end are observed during loading, it will be found that the
wire is stretched by a small, but measurable amount from its original unloaded length lo. For
small loads, the material obeys Hooke’s law. The load performs work in stretching the bar. If
at a given load P the bar is stretched a small additional amount , then the additional work
done on the bar is approximately (figure 2.11). The external load P at the end of the
member is balanced by opposite internal resistance F. The total work done in extending the
bar to the final extension e is then

This is the area under the load–extension curve up to the stretched condition. If the limit of
proportionality is not exceeded, the work done in extending the bar is stored as STRAIN
ENERGY which is directly recoverable on removal of the load. For this case, the strain
energy U is given by

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But in the linear-elastic range of the material,

Where is the initial length of the bar, A is the cross-sectional area and E is Young’s
modulus of elasticity. Thus

In terms of P,

Since the tensile stress in the bar , then

Since is the original volume of the bar, the strain energy per unit volume (strain energy
density) is

(figure 2.12).

2.4.1 Strain Energy beyond the Limit of Proportionality

When the limit of proportionality of a material is exceeded, not all this work is stored as
strain energy; some of the work done is used in producing permanent distortions in the
material, the work reappearing largely in form of heat. The work done during plastic
deformation is very considerable compared with the elastic stage.
The work done per unit volume in producing a plastic strain is approximately

where is yield stress of the material, which is considerably greater than that required to
reach the limit of proportionality. A ductile material, therefore, absorbs a large amount of
energy before fracture.

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