Petroleum and Mining Department

Second Grade- Spring Semester

Mechanics of Materials
(Lecture 10) Torsion

Lecturer: Ms. Jwan Khaleel1 M.

 ➢Lecture content:
• Torsion in circular shaft.
• Power transmission
• Angle of twist

Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M. 2

➢Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

• Introduce the concept of torsion in structural members and machine parts.

• Define shearing stresses and strains in a circular shaft subject to torsion.

• Define angle of twist in terms of the applied torque, geometry of the shaft, and material.

• Use torsional deformations to solve indeterminate problems.

• Design shafts for power transmission.

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
➢What is Torsion
• Where the stresses and strains in members of circular cross section are subjected to twisting couples or torques “T”.

• These couples have a common magnitude T, and opposite senses. They are vector quantities and can be represented

either by curved arrows (Fig. a) or by couple vectors (Fig. b).

• Members in torsion are encountered in many engineering applications. The most common application is provided by

transmission shafts, which are used to transmit power from one point to another. These shafts can be either solid, or

hollow.

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 ➢What is Torsion
• Torque is a moment that tends to twist a member about its
longitudinal axis. Its effect is a primary concern in the design
of axles or drive shafts used in vehicles and machinery.
• We can illustrate physically what happens when a torque is
applied to a circular shaft by considering the shaft to be made
of a highly deformable material such as rubber, Fig.a. When
the torque is applied, the circles and longitudinal grid lines
originally marked on the shaft tend to distort into the pattern
shown in Fig. b.

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 • Turbine exerts torque T on the shaft
• Shaft transmits the torque to the generator
• Generator creates an equal and opposite torque T’
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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
What is Torsion? Click here.

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➢Torsion in a circular shaft:
Note that twisting causes the circles to remain circles, and each longitudinal
grid line deforms into a helix that intersects the circles at equal angles. the
cross sections from the ends along the shaft will remain flat that is, they do
not warp or bulge in or out and radial lines remain straight during the
deformation, Fig. b. From these observations we can assume that if the angle
of twist is small, the length of the shaft and its radius will remain unchanged.
If the shaft is fixed at one end and a torque is applied to its other end, the
shaft will distort into a skewed form as shown. Here a radial line located on
the cross section at a distance 𝒙 from the fixed end of the shaft will rotate
through an angle ∅. The angle ∅ so defined, is called the angle of twist. It
depends on the position and will vary along the shaft as shown.

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
➢Stress and strain a circular shaft in rotation:
• From observation, the angle of twist of the shaft is proportional to the applied torque and to
the shaft length. ∅ ∝ 𝑇 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∅ ∝ 𝐿
• When subjected to torsion, every cross-section of a circular shaft remains plane and
undistorted.
• Cross-sections for hollow and solid circular shafts remain plain and undistorted because a
circular shaft is axisymmetric.
• Fig. (c) shows that, for small values of γ, the arc length AA′ is expressed as AA′ = 𝐿𝛾. But
since AA′ = 𝜌𝜙, it follows that 𝐿𝛾 = 𝜌𝜙, where γ and ϕ are in radians.
𝜌∅
𝛾=
𝐿
• This equation shows that the shearing strain γ at a given point of a shaft in torsion is proportional to the
angle of twist ϕ. It also shows that γ is proportional to the distance ρ from the axis of the shaft to that
point. Thus, the shearing strain in a circular shaft is zero at the axis of the shaft, and it then varies linearly
with the distance from the axis of the shaft. From Eq. above the shearing strain is maximum on the surface
of the shaft, where 𝜌 = 𝑐.
𝑐∅
𝛾𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝐿
• Eliminating ϕ from Eqs., the shearing strain γ at a distance ρ from the axis of the shaft is
Figure: Shearing strain deformation. (a) The angle of
twist ϕ. (b) Undeformed portion of shaft of radius ρ. (c) 𝜌
𝛾= 𝛾
Deformed portion of shaft; angle of twist ϕ and shearing
strain γ share the same arc length AA′.
𝑐 𝑚𝑎𝑥
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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
➢Stress and strain a circular shaft in rotation:
When the torque T is such Multiplying the previous equation by the shear modulus,

that all shearing stresses in G = G max
the shaft remain below the c 
yield strength 𝜏𝑌 , the stresses From Hooke’s Law,  = G , so =  max
c
in the shaft will remain below The shearing stress varies linearly with the radial position in the
both the proportional limit section. Recall that the sum of the moments from the internal
and the elastic limit. Thus, J = 12  c 4
stress distribution is equal to the torque on the shaft at the
Hooke’s law will apply, and section,
 
there will be no permanent T =   dA = max   2 dA = max J
c c
deformation.
The results are known as the elastic torsion formulas,
The polar moment of Tc T
inertia is a measure of an  max = and  =
J J
object’s capacity to
oppose or resist torsion
when some amount of (
J = 12  c24 − c14 )
torque is applied to it on a
specified axis.
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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 ➢Angle of Twist in Elastic Range
Recall that the angle of twist and maximum shearing strain
are related, c
 max =
L
In the elastic range, the shearing strain and shear are related
by Hooke’s Law,  Tc
 max = max =
G JG
Equating the expressions for shearing strain and solving for
the angle of twist, TL
=
JG
If the torsional loading or shaft cross-section changes along the
length, the angle of rotation is found as the sum of segment
rotations
Ti Li
 =
i J i Gi
Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
➢Power transmission:
Shafts and tubes having circular cross sections are often used to transmit power developed by a machine. When

used for this purpose, they are subjected to a torque that depends on the power generated by the machine and

the angular speed of the shaft. Power is defined as the work performed per unit of time. Also, the work

transmitted by a rotating shaft equals the torque applied times the angle of rotation. Therefore, if during an

instant of time dt an applied torque T causes the shaft to rotate then the instantaneous power is

Since the shaft’s angular velocity is

we can express the power as

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 Example 1:

The solid shaft has a diameter of 40

mm. Determine the absolute
maximum shear stress in the shaft

and sketch the shear-stress

distribution along a radial line of the
shaft where the shear stress is
maximum.

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 Solution:

A
B
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C

10 D
40
E

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 Example 2:
The preliminary design of a motor-to-generator connection calls
for the use of a large hollow shaft with inner and outer diameters
of 4 in. and 6 in., respectively. Knowing that the allowable
shearing stress is 12 ksi, determine the maximum torque that can
be transmitted by the shaft as designed,

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 Example 3:

Shaft BC is hollow with inner and outer

diameters of 90 mm and 120 mm,
respectively. Shafts AB and CD are
solid and of diameter d. For the loading
shown, determine (a) the maximum and
minimum shearing stress in shaft BC,
(b) the required diameter d of shafts AB
and CD if the allowable shearing stress
in these shafts is 65 MPa.
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 Example 4:

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 Extra Example 1:

The shaft shown in Fig. a is supported

by two bearings and is subjected to
three torques. Determine the shear
stress developed at points A and B,
located at section a–a of the shaft, Fig.
c.

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 Solution:

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 Extra Example 2:

The solid shaft is fixed to the support at

C and subjected to the torsional
loadings shown. Determine the shear
stress at points A and B and sketch the
shear stress on volume elements
located at these points.

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 Solution:

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 Extra Example 3:
A hollow cylindrical steel shaft is 1.5 m long and has
inner and outer diameters respectively equal to 40 and
60 mm (Fig. 3.15). (a) What is the largest torque that
can be applied to the shaft if the shearing stress is not to
exceed 120 MPa? (b) What is the corresponding
minimum value of the shearing stress in the shaft? The
largest torque T that can be applied to the shaft is the
torque for which 𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 120 MPa. Since this is less
than the yield strength for any steel, use Eq. Solving
this equation for T,

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 Solution:

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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
 References:
1. Mechanics of Materials, 8th Edition by R. C. Hibbeler.

2. Mechanics of Materials, 8th Edition by Ferdinand P. Beer, E.

Russell Johnston Jr., John T. DeWolf, David F. Mazurek

3. Mechanics of materials, 3rd Edition by E.J. Hearn

4. Mechanics of Materials, 2nd Edition by Andrew Pytel, Jaan

Kiusalaas (2011)
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Lecturer: Jwan Khaleel M.
The End of the Lecture
Enjoy Your Time

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