UNIT 5.

DURAKOVI KEMAL

Stress and strain

The most important concepts dealt with in the science of strenght of materials are :stress and
strain.
Sress is defined as resistance to external forces.It is measured in terms of the force exerted
per unit of area.Stress is usually expressed in pounds per square inch(often abbrevated to
psi)in the English system and in N per aquare millimetre (N/mm2) in the SI system .Stress
,than, is produced in all bodies upon which forces act,since even the slightest force (to some
extent)changes the form of the body upon which it acts.
In practice the word stressis often given two meanings :1.force par unit area ,or intensity of
stress ,generally referred to as unit stress and 2. Total internal force within a single member
,generally called total stress.
Only two basic stresses exist:1. normal stresses which always act nor,al (perpendicular)to the
stressed surface under consideration2.shearing stresses which act parallel to the stressed
surface.Normal stresses may be either tensile od compressive .Other stresses either are similar
to these basic stresses or are a combination of them.For example the stresses actually are a
combination of tensile ,compresive and ahearing stresses.Torsinal stress ,as encountered in the
twisting of a shaft,is a shearing stress.
When the external forces acting on a menmber are parallel to its major axis and the member is
of constant cross section ,or substantially so,the resulting internal stresses are likewise parallel
to that axis.Such forces are called axial forces ,and the stresses are referred to as axial stresses.
Tensile stress.When a pair of axial forces pull on a member ,and thus tend to stretch or
elongate it,they are said to be tensile forces,plane lying perpendicular ,or normal,to its axis.
Compressive stress .When a pair of axial forces push on a member and shorten or compress
it ,they are called compressive forces and they produce axial compressive stresses internally
in the member on a plane perpendicular ,or normal,to its axis.
Shearing stress.This type of stress differs from tensile and compressive stresses in that the
stressed plane lies parallel with the direction of stress rather than perpendicular to it as in the
case of tensile and compressive stresses.
Strain .Strain is a deformation,although the word is often used by laymen to designate the
force which produces deformation in some object.All material bodies which are subjected to
external forces,with internal stresses produces as a consequence ,are necessarily deformed
(strainded.)The deformation per unit of lengt is
Unit
deformation=total
deformation/lenght.
The amount of deformation produces in a given member by a given force will vary with the
stiffness of the material of which the member is made.In some instances a considerable

deformation may not be objectionable,in others ,even small deformations may produce serious
results.