Chapter 1

1.1 Introduction
As an engineer, one tries to answer the following questions:
 Is the material/structure strong enough? — a concern of strength
If it is not strong enough, it will fail, break!
 Is the material/structure stiff enough? — a concern of stiffness
If it is not stiff enough, it will run into to service problems
Example: large deflection on flat floor
 Is the design effective?

Objectives: to determine the stresses, strains and displacements in structures due to loads
acting on them

Structures/loads:
Axially loaded members: axial loads (tensile and compressive forces)
Shafts: torsion
Beams: concentrated loads, distributed loads, couples (bending moments)
Pressure vessels: internal and external pressures
Column: axial loads (compressive forces)

Units:
SI: N, m, mm
USCS: lb, ft, in
1.3 Normal Stresses and Strain
Prismatic bar: a straight member having the same cross section throughout its length
Shapes of cross sections don’t matter
Stress : (sigma)
A

m
P P
n
L+
(Assume P to act along the centroidal axis.)
Assume: the stresses acting on cross section mn are uniformly distributed over the area
Free Body Diagram (FBD)

P 

F x 0 P  A


P
   F
2
, e.g.
lb
2
 psi ;
N
 Pa
A L in m2
Other units: ksi = 1000 psi; MPa = 106 Pa
(Stress is essentially the internal action at one piece to the other.)
Sign convention:   0 : tensile stress (stretching)
  0 : compressive stress (squeezing)
P
Limitation:   does not hold to the point of application of the load
A

Strain : (epsilon) 
L
(If L = 1,  = : strain is the elongation per unit length.)
in m
Dimensional-less: or
in m
Sign convention:  > 0 : tensile strain (elongation)
 < 0 : compressive strain (shortening)
 For metals,  is ~ O 10 1 ,10 6 
Note: A and L are original dimensions

Example:
A short post constructed from a hollow circular tube of aluminum supports a tensile load
of P. The inner and outer diameters of the tube are d1 and d2, respectively, and its original
height is L. The elongation of the post due to load is .
Determine the tensile stress and strain in the post. (Disregard the weight of the post itself.)

L
d1 d2

P P 4P
  

A  4 d 2  d1
2 2
 
 d 22  d12 


L
1.4 Mechanical Properties of Materials
How does the stress relate to the strain? (is there any relationship?)


P P

L+


Conduct an experiment in the lab.
Prepare a specimen, measure A, L. (prismatic, any cross-sectional shape)
Note that A and L are original dimensions.
Stretch the material under the machine (e.g. MTS, Instron), record P, . Calculate and
plot - diagram.

A typical stress-strain diagram for a structural steel (not in scale)


E’
D
Ultimate stress
E

Yield stress B C Fracture

Proportional limit A

O 

Linear region Perfect plasticity Strain Necking

or yielding hardening
 Modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus): the slope
 Proportional limit: last point of linearity
 Yield stress: beyond this, there will be permanent deformation
 Ultimate stress (ultimate strength): maximum (engineering) stress
 Necking: structural behavior rather than material behavior
 Note that elastic and linear are different concepts

Stress-strain diagram for other materials

 Structural steel (yield strain ~0.002)

D

E
 C



 Aluminum alloy


0.002 offset



 Rubber 

Hard rubber

Soft rubber

An elastic material


0.1 or 10%
  Brittle materials (e.g., pencil lead, cast iron, concrete, glass)

 fracture stress

proportional limit



Stress-strain curves in compression

 Generally speaking, different from those in tension
 For ductile materials, such as steel, aluminum, cooper: proportional limits are
very close to those in tension, initial (linear) regions of their compressive and
compressive stress-strain diagrams are about the same
 After yielding begins, the behavior is quite different
 Necking does not happen in compression, instead, the specimen bulges (even
buckles)
1.5 Elasticity and plasticity
Loading and unloading



E
A
Loading
Final strain = 0  elastic behavior
Unloading

O 

Elastic Plastic


B
E
A
Loading
Unloading

Final strain  0  permanent deformation

O  (plastic behavior)
Residual Elastic
strain recovery
Reloading
 Response starts with linear part CB
 Proportional limit is now at B, note that stress at B > stress at E
 After B, the response merges with the original response


B
E
A
Loading Reloading

O 
C
Example:
A bar of length 2.0 m is made of a structural steel having the stress-strain diagram shown
in the figure. The yield stress of the steel is 250 MPa and the slope of the initial linear
part of the stress-strain curve (modulus of elasticity) is 200 GPa. The bar is loaded axially
until it elongates 6.5 mm, and then the load is removed. How is the final length of the bar?

B A

 6.5
Strain at A:  A    0.00325
L 2000
Y 250  10 6
Strain a t B:  B   r   A  elastic recovery   A   0.00325   0.002
E 200  10 9
Final length: LF  L   r  L   r L  L 1   r   2.004 (m)

Creep:
When loaded for long periods of time, some materials develop additional strains and are
said to be creep.

Elongation

o

Time
to
Relaxation:
Consider a wire that is stretched between two fixed supports so that it has an initial stress
o. With the elapse of time, stress in wire gradually diminishes, eventually reaching a
constant value, even though the supports at two ends do not move. This process is called
relaxation.
Stress

o

Time
to
1.6 Linear Elasticity, Hooke’s Law and Poisson’s Ratio
In this class, we try to avoid the material (structure) from yield and use the linearly elastic
part of the - response.
Hooke’s Law   E (uniaxial version)
, E: stress units
: dimensionless
Poisson’s Ratio

L d1

L1
d

 L1  L
Longitudinal strain:   
L L
d d1  d
Lateral strain:    
d d

Poisson’s ratio:    (typical values~0.25-0.35, is it possible to be negative?)

1.7 Shear Stresses and Bearing Stresses
A bolt is used in order to connect the flat bar A and the clevis C as shown below

A C

FBD of bolt

P/2 P/2
P
P/2 P/2
P
  tear the plate (bearing failure)
2 possible scenarios: 
 break the bolt (shearing failure)
1. Bearing failure (of the plate)

Bearing stress  b
Fb
t b 
Ab
Ab  D  t
D

2. Shearing failure (of the bolt)

P
FBD 1

V
V

FBD 2

V
P
V

Average shear stress

V V 4V
s   
Ashear Abolt  d 2
Example:
Five plates are joined by two bolts and loaded as indicated. Each bolt has diameter d and
each plate has thickness t. Find the maximum (average) shear stress in each bolt and the
maximum (average) bearing stress between the plates and the bolts. Assume all the plates
have the thickness t.

2P
P
6P
P
2P

Solution:
Now shear forces at different positions of the bolt (due to symmetry, only have to analyze
half of the structure)
FBD1

2P
V1
F x
 0 : V1  2 P

FBD2
2P
P
V2
F x
 0 : V 2  3 P

We find that maximum shear force takes place in the cut of FBD2. The corresponding
maximum shear stress is (note that there are two bolts connection plates)
Vmax 3P 3P 6P
 max    
Ashear 2 Abolt 2  d 4  d 2
2

Pmax 6P 3P
b   
Abearing 2 (d  t ) d  t
1.8 Allowable stresses
(The actual strength of a structure must exceed the required strength.)
To avoid failure: Actual strength  Required strength
Factor of safety (or Safety Factor, S.F.)
Actual strength
n
Required strength
Good design: good factor of safety
If S.F. is too low: too risky (less than 1, not safe)
If S.F. is too high: not effective (too heavy, too expensive, see example)

Allowable stress
Actual strength  Y
 allow   (if yielding is considered failure)
n n
Pallow   allow A



Y
 allow

Example:

P = 360 kips, a = 5”, b = 4”,  Y = 60 ksi, what is factor of safety n?
If the designer wants the factor of safety to be 2, what is the allowable load can be
applied on the same structure?
b
P

L
a

 Y  Y  Y A 60 10   5  4   1.5
3 2 2

n   
 P A P 360  103

Y A 60  103   52  42 
Pallow   allow A    270 103 lb  270 k
n 2
Example:
A bar AB is supported by a hinge at point A and connected to a cable at point B as shown
below. A force P is applied at point B that is 4a away from point A (see figure). Given
that the cross sectional area for the bar AB is 20A and that of the cable is A. Please (a)
determine the stress in the cable, and (b) if the change of length in the cable is , find the
strain of the cable.
C

3a

A D B

4a
P
FBD
Ay
P BC

Ax

Equilibrium P

3 5
M A
0 
5
T  4a  P  4a  0 T  P
3
5P 3 5P
(a)  C  
A 3A

 
(b)  C  
LC 5a
Example:
In the previous example, the cable BC is made of steel and has cross-sectional area A.
The bar AB is made of aluminum and has cross-sectional 5A. Assume the yielding
stresses for aluminum and steel are  Y and 3  Y , respectively. (a) which member will
yield first? (b) consider a factor of safety with respect to yielding n = 2, what is allowable
force
(a)
FBD
PAC

PAB

EQM P

Internal force in the bar AB

4 4 4
F z 0  
5
PAC  PAB  0 PAB   PAC   P
5 3
PAB 4P 15
Stress in AB  AB    Y  P1  Y A
AAB 15 A 4

PBC 5 3 P 9
Stress in BC  BC    3 Y  P2   Y A (cable yields first)
ABC A 5

PBC 5 3 P 3 Y 9
(b)  BC     Pallow  Y A
ABC A 2 10