BCT 225 – Strength of Materials

Assignment – Stress/Strain, Poisson’s Ratio, Thermal Properties

1. The figure below shows a pad footing supporting a column. Using the information in the
figure, ignoring the weight of each element, find the stress under each of the following:
a. The square base plate
b. The square pedestal
c. The square footing (in kN/m2)

60 kN

Column

Base plate – 300mm x 300mm

Pedestal – 600 mm x 600 mm

2. A concrete cylinder 150 mm in diameter and of original height 300 mm was tested in
compression and found to be shortened by 0.074 mm. The load at the time was 89 kN.
Find the modulus of elasticity.
3. A 50 mm diameter steel rod is originally 3 m long. Under an applied load, the rod elongates
by 12 mm.
a. Compute the axial (longitudinal) strain in the bar.
b. If the transverse deformation of the rod is 0.06 mm, compute Poisson’s ratio for
the material.
4. A weight of 6700 N is to be suspended by a steel wire 7.5 m in length. The tensile stress
of the wire must not exceed 138 MPa. Find the diameter of the wire that can support this
load. (E = 207, 000 MPa).
5. A steel surveyors’ tape is 30m long at 26 ºC. Find:
a. the change in length (elongation) expected at 30 ºC.
b. what error is made in measuring a distance of 300 m?
α for steel = 15 x 10-6 ºC-1