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Exercise 20
Stress Concentration
20-1 Introduction
In Exercise 15, forces are uniformly applied on a block of regular shape, and the resulting stresses are uniformly distributed among the block (15-6[17-21]). In many other cases, stresses are not uniformly distributed: some locations have higher stress than others. As an example, in the C-Bar example, the stress is higher at an inner corner [1]. This phenomenon is called stress concentration. After performing a stress analysis, you should pay attention on locations of stress concentration, and make sure the material doesn't fail, according to the failure criteria discussed in 19-1. Besides an inner corner, stress concentration may occurs in many other situations. For example, when a force is applied on a very small area, it would produce a high stress on the area. In this exercise, however, we'll focus on the stress concentration on an inner corner. In this exercise, we'll show that, given an external loading, the magnitude of concentrated stress depends on the radius of the llet of an inner corner. The smaller the radius, the larger the stress. Fillets should be designed in a structure so that the stresses are well below the safety margin. In the next exercise (Exercise 21), we'll show that, as the radius of a llet approaches zero, the stress concentration will approach a theoretical value of innity. A stress of innite value is called a singular stress. In computer simulations, to reduce computing time, we often simplify the geometry by neglecting detailed features such as llets, and model the llets as sharp inner corners. The results usually remain quite satisfactory in a global sense. Locally, however, singular stresses occur at these sharp inner corners. Singular stresses may not exist in the real-world, since zero-radius llets are not common in the realworld, but they exist everywhere in a simulation model. What we want to emphasize is that when you see a large stress value, check again to see if it is caused by a unrealistic simplication of geometry. If it is, then you should neglect it.
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Problem Description
Stress concentration occurs most commonly on concave corners. In this exercise, we'll use a lleted plate [2-4] to show that the degree of stress concentration depends on the radius of the llets. The smaller the radius, the larger the degree of stress concentration. The stress concentration factor K, which will be dened later, is commonly used to describe the degree of stress concentration. We'll complete a chart that shows how the stress concentration factor increases as the radius of the llets decrease.
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100
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10 kN
10 kN
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[2] Apply a force on this face. For details, see next step.
[5] Apply a force on this face. For details, see next step.
[1] With <Solution> highlighted, select <Stress/Normal> to insert a <Normal Stress>. Leave all settings in the <Details> as their defaults.
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[1] Don't close DesignModeler. In <Mechanical>, select <File/ Refresh All Data>.
[1] Don't close DesignModeler. In <Mechanical>, select <File/ Refresh All Data>.
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20-12 Discussion
According to foregoing stress analyses, we may plot a curve to show a relationship between the radius of the llets and the stress concentration factor [1]. We conclude that, as the radius becomes smaller, the degree of stress concentration becomes larger.
2.2 Stress Concentration Factor (K) Radius (mm) 15 10 5 Stress concentration factor (K) 1.68 1.89 2.19 2.1 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6
[1] The curve shows, as the radius becomes smaller, the degree of stress concentration becomes larger.
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[2] In an area where the stress changes abruptly, it usually requires a ner mesh.
[3] In an area where the stress distribution is smooth, the mesh can be coarser.
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2.3
2.1
1.8
1.6
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Wrap Up
Close both DesignModeler and <Mechanical>, save the project, and exit Workbench.