 Strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied

stress without failure. The field of strength of materials deals

with loads, deformations and the forces acting on a material.

A load applied to a mechanical member will induce internal

forces within the member called stresses.

 The stresses acting on the material cause deformation of the

material. Deformation of the material is called strain, while
the intensity of the internal forces is called stress.
The applied stress may be:

1. Tensile
2. Compressive
3. Shear
 is the stress state caused by an applied load that
tends to elongate the material in the axis of the
applied load, in other words the stress caused by
pulling the material. The strength of structures of
equal cross sectional area loaded in tension is
independent of shape of the cross section. Materials
loaded in tension are susceptible to stress
concentrations such as material defects or abrupt
changes in geometry. However, materials exhibiting
ductile behavior (most metals for example) can
tolerate some defects while brittle materials (such
as ceramics) can fail well below their ultimate
material strength.
 - is the stress state caused by an applied load that
acts to reduce the length of the material
(compression member) in the axis of the applied load,
in other words stress state caused by squeezing the
material. A simple case of compression is the uniaxial
compression induced by the action of opposite,
pushing forces. Compressive strength for materials is
generally higher than their tensile strength.
 - is the stress state caused by a pair of
the built energy by opposing forces acting
along parallel lines of action through the
material, in other words the stress caused
by faces of the material sliding relative to
one another.

An example is cutting paper with

scissors or stresses due to torsional
loading.
1. Ultimate stress – stress that would cause failure.

2. Yield stress – maximum stress without causing deformation

(within elastic limit).

3. Allowable stress design (safe stress/permissible stress design) –

stresses developed in a structure due to service loads do not
exceed the elastic limit. This limit is usually determined by
ensuring that stresses remain within the limits through the use
of factors of safety.

Factor of Safety - structural capacity of a system beyond the expected loads or actual
loads. Essentially, how much stronger the system is than it usually needs to be for
an intended load.
4. Design Stress – stress used in determining the size of a
member.

5. Working Stress – stress actually occurring under operating

conditions.

6. Residual Stress – internal, inherent, trapped, locked-up body

stress that exists within a material as a result of things other
than external loading such as heat treatment processes.

7. Axial stress - stress that tends to change the length of a body.

8. Radial stress - stress towards or away from the central axis of

a curved member. Such as hoop stress(circumferential stress).
 The strength of any material relies on three different types of
analytical method:

1. strength,
2. stiffness and
3. Stability

Strength - refers to the load carrying capacity

Stiffness - refers to the deformation or elongation

Stability - refers to the ability to maintain its initial

configuration
Yield strength - refers to the point on the engineering stress-
strain curve (as opposed to true stress-strain curve) beyond
which the material experiences deformations that will not be
completely reversed upon removal of the loading.

Ultimate strength - refers to the point on the engineering stress-

strain curve corresponding to the stress that produces fracture.
1. Transverse
2. Axial
3. Torsional
 Forcesapplied perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of a
member. Transverse loading causes the member to bend and
deflect from its original position, with internal tensile and
compressive strains accompanying the change in curvature of the
member. Transverse loading also induces shear forces that cause
shear deformation of the material and increase the transverse
deflection of the member.
 Theapplied forces are collinear with the longitudinal axis of the
member. The forces cause the member to either stretch or
shorten.
 Twistingaction caused by a pair of externally applied equal and
oppositely directed force couples acting on parallel planes or by a
single external couple applied to a member that has one end
fixed against rotation.
 Yield strength
 Compressive strength
 Tensile strength
 Fatigue strength
 Impact strength
 stress at which a material begins to deform plastically. Prior to
the yield point the material will deform elastically and will
return to its original shape when the applied stress is removed.
Once the yield point is passed, some fraction of the deformation
will be permanent and non-reversible.

Elacticity - is the ability of a material to return to its previous shape after stress is
released.

Placticity - plastic deformation is the opposite of elastic deformation and is defined as

unrecoverable strain. Plastic deformation is retained after the release of the applied stress.
 isa limit state of compressive stress that leads to failure in the
manner of ductile failure or brittle failure (rupture as the result
of crack propagation, or sliding along a weak plane.
 ultimate tensile strength is a limit state of tensile stress that
leads to tensile failure in the manner of ductile failure (yield
as the first stage of that failure, some hardening in the
second stage and breakage after a possible "neck" formation)
or brittle failure (sudden breaking in two or more pieces at a
low stress state). Tensile strength can be quoted as either
true stress or engineering stress.
 isa measure of the strength of a material or a component
under cyclic loading, and is usually more difficult to assess
than the static strength measures. Fatigue strength is
quoted as stress amplitude or stress range
( ), usually at zero mean stress, along with the
number of cycles to failure under that condition of stress.
 isthe capability of the material to withstand a suddenly applied
load and is expressed in terms of energy.
 Deformation of the material is the change in geometry
created when stress is applied (in the form of force loading,
gravitational field, acceleration, thermal expansion, etc.).
Deformation is expressed by the displacement field of the
material.

 Strain
or reduced deformation is a mathematical term that
expresses the trend of the deformation change among the
material field. Strain is the deformation per unit length.

 Deflection is a term to describe the magnitude to which a

structural element bends under a load.
1. Proportional limit – point in the stress-strain curve in which
stress is equal to strain.

2. Elastic limit - beyond the elastic limit, permanent deformation

will occur. The lowest stress at which permanent deformation
can be measured.

3. Endurance limit / Fatigue limit – maximum stress that will not

cause failure when the force is reversed indefinitely.
1. Modulus of Elasticity – also called (Young’s Modulus of
Elasticity) is a measure of the stiffness of an elastic material
and is a quantity used to characterize materials. It is defined
as the ratio of the uniaxial stress over the uniaxial strain in the
range of stress in which Hooke's Law holds. Named after
Thomas Young, the 19th century British scientist.

Hooke’s law of elasticity is an approximation that states that the

extension of a spring is in direct proportion with the load applied
to it. Stress is directly proportional to strain. Named after 17th
century British physicist Robert Hooke.
2. Modulus of Elasticity in Shear (Modulus of Rigidity) - ratio of
shear stress to the shear strain. Describes the material's
response to shearing strains.

3. Poisson’s Ratio – ratio of lateral strain to the longitudinal

strain for a given material subjected to uniform longitudinal
stresses within the proportional limit. Named after Siméon
Denis Poisson, a French mathematician, geometer, and
physicist.