Lecture 9: force and stress
websites from which images are drawn:
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/learnstructure/index.htm
for dynamic analysis,
…we need to learn some fundamental principles of mechanics
mechanics: action of forces on bodies and their effects;
…essentially the science of motion…
…governed by concentration of stress and material strength…
classical, or Newtonian, mechanics describes action
on rigid bodies: colliding pool balls; planetary motions
material is treated as continuous (no discontinuities)
…rocks consist of grains and their boundaries…
so this is not strictly true, but works on scale of rock
at grain scale, at rock scale,
discontinuities exist homogeneous
continuum mechanics allows for simpler mathematical description
mass and weight
mass, m: amount of material a body contains
…units of kilograms, grams, slugs (English)
calculated from volume, V--space occupied by mass
and density, ρ--mass per unit volume
…density units: grams/cm3 or kgs/m3
m=ρV
mass causes body to have weight in gravitational field
weight of body is magnitude of force of gravity acting on mass
…varies according to location…
dynamic analysis: interpret stresses that cause deformation
?
infer what happened
and original shape observe deformed object
remember that to determine origin of structures we need
observation: geometries
kinematic analysis: motions
dynamic analysis: stresses
• earthquakes
• oil well blowouts
WHY STUDY THIS? • plate motions
• landslides
• fracture formation
fundamental concept: force
force changes velocity, v, of object
Newton’s First Law of Motion: Law of Inertia:
“in the absence of a force a body moves at constant velocity
or is at rest”
acceleration, a, is change in velocity
a = v/t (units are m / s2)
Newton’s Second Law of Motion:
“force is equal to mass times the acceleration”
F = ma (units are kg m / s2) (newton)
F=m1a1=m2a2 if a force accelerates 1kg object by 3 m/s2
it accelerates 2 kg object by 1.5 m/s2
units of force
newton, N, is basic unit in International System
…force required to impart an acceleration of
1 m/s2 to a body of 1 kilogram mass
dyne is basic unit in cgs system
…force required to impart an acceleration of
1 cm/s2 to a body of 1 gram mass
1 newton = 105 dynes
what does a newton feel like? example of bowling
• ball mass is 16 lbs
• time for release from backswing is 0.5 s
• velocity at release is about 14 mph
…determine acceleration--first convert to metric
v = 14 mi/hr x 1 km/0.62 mi x hr/3600s x 1000m/km = 6.27 m/s
then a = v/t = 6.27 m/s/ 0.5 s = 12.54 m/s2
…convert mass to metric:
m = 16 lbs x 16 oz/lb x 28.35 g/oz x kg/1000g = 7.26 kg
F= ma =7.26 kg x 12.54 m/s2 = 91.1 kg x m/s2 = 91.1 N
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 forces are vectors: magnitude and direction
length of arrow is magnitude; arrow points in direction
can use principles of vector algebra to determine force balances
“tug of war” time 1: left team pulling harder (240 N vs. 225 N)
advantage:
team on left
“tug of war” time 2: some lose footing on left team and lose force
advantage:
team on right
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996
forces in subsurface
…slow-moving
…bodies fundamentally at rest in static equilibrium or
in slow-motion state of dynamic equilibrium
…net forces trigger accelerations of 2 kinds:
• extremely slow acceleration of larger geologic unit
…e.g. tectonic plate that experiences increase
from 6 cm/yr to 7 cm/yr over thousands of years
• fast, short-lived accelerations of tiny parts of body
…e.g. rock adjacent to fault that shifts 1 meter
during a major earthquake of nannoseconds
in structural geology: forces commonly build slowly until
strength of either parts or entire body is overcome
triggers: translation, rotation, distortion, or dilation
…some motions may be recoverable; some nonrecoverable
forces may change velocity of body as a whole or of
pieces of the body (distortion)
affect whole body affect only part of the body
although force is critical concept, it cannot be used to distinguish
its effects on bodies of equal mass but different shapes
think about:
• hitting rock with pointed or flat hammer with same force
• standing on a water bed in sneakers or high heels
same force applied to different
size boxes will not have same effect
(force more “concentrated” on little box)
we must think in terms of stress (…not the kind this class produces)
A: perfectly balanced forces B: rotation: torques not balanced
(no torques) …torque: rotation about an axis
C: forces/torques balanced D: translation: torques balanced
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996 …forces are not
two fundamental classes of forces:
body forces: act equally on all parts of body gravity
(note jumping out of an airplane)
gravitational force: attraction of masses
…..ultimately responsible for many geologic actions
electromagnetic force: interaction between charged particles
…..must be overcome to produce deformation
surface (contact) forces: act on specific surface of body;
magnitude of surface forces is proportional to area of surface
e.g. hitting a cuestick; smashing a car; sliding on a fault plane
…..arises from loads…loads that yield deformation:
• gravitational loading (weight of overburden)
• thermal loading (if rock cannot expand/contract)
• displacement loading (mechanical disturbance)
surface (contact) forces are very important for structural geology
stress, σ, will deform a body if strength is exceeded
simple definition: force per unit area
σ=F/A
it is a measure of how concentrated the force is
high heeled shoe has greater impact than flat sneaker
…stress concentrated at tip of heel of high-heel;
…spread out over entire sole of sneaker
example: 170 lb skater falls into pond and is rescued by 170 lb person
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996
• stress on ice across blade (area only 2in2) = 6 kg/cm2
• stress on ice of rescuer on plank (area is 2160 in2 ) = 0.006 kg/cm2
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stress is reasonably complicated example calculation:
• depends on reference frame (coordinate system) large block of granite resting on marble column
• properties of a tensor (in 3D) (scalar, vector, tensor)

units are: km / m s2 ( N / m2 ) (pascal)

pascal = force of 1 newton acting on area of 1 square meter
1 bar = 105 Pa = 1 atmosphere
1 kbar = 1000 bar = 108 Pa = 100 Mpa

sign convention:
geology: compression (+); tension (-)

compression more common in the earth (high confining pressure)

…engineers worry more about tensions
magnitude of stress is found by dividing load by area of column top
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996

force of granite block: now calculate stress underground:

mass (m) x acceleration due to gravity (g) stress created by crust (composed of granite) at 1000 m depth
…1000 m depth is overlain by granite cube 1000 m on each side…
mass = volume x density
volume = 2 m x 2 m x 2 m = 8 m3
density = 2.7 g/cm3 = 2700 kg/m3
mass = 8 m3 x 2700 kg/m3 = 21600 kg

acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s2

force = mass x acceleration
= 21600 kg x 9.8 m/s2
= 211680 kg m/s2 = 211680 N
stress, σ = force/area
area = πr2 = 3.14 x (0.5 m)2 = 0.79 m2
stress = 211680 N/0.79 m2 = 267949 N/m2
= 267949 Pa = 268 kPa
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996
volume of granite cube
density acceleration due to gravity
F = 1000 m x 1000 m x 1000 m x 2700 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2
Stress = F/A = 1000 m x 1000 m x 1000 m x 2700 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2
1000 m x 1000 m
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996 = 1000 m x 2700 kg/m 3 x 9.8 m/s2 = 26,460,000 Pa = 26.5 MPa

this value is lithostatic stress gradient at depth (result of rock)…
…increases 26.5 MPa/km…
…for every 3.8 km depth, lithostatic stress increases 100 MPa
can also calculate stress at depth by
stress, σ = density x gravity x depth = ρgh
= 2700 kg/m3 x 9.8 m/s2 x 1000 m = 26.5 MPa
value of 26.5 MPa is close to what is observed
stress may not be perpendicular to plane…
…resolvable into normal and shear stress
normal stress, σn or σ, is component perpendicular to plane
shear stress, σs or τ, is component parallel to plane
stress acting on plane (2 dimensions)
σn
τ
plane
arbitrary stress acting on plane (3 dimensions)
X3 (z)

in mine in Norway…. normal stress = σn σ=total stress on plane

23 MPa at 815 m which is about 28 MPa at 1000 m X2 (y)
τ
τ = shear stress parallel to X2 (y)
X1 (x) τ=shear stress parallel to X1 (x)

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we will use the unit circle to examine complete state of stress… to apply this to forces and stress:
y the point on the circle has coordinates xo and yo what are normal and shear forces on plane CB?
….we can make a right triangle using
yo xo and yo F
θ x one of the angles of the triangle
xo is the angle, θ, that the line joining A B
Fn θ
the point to the origin makes
θ yo
xo with respect to the x-axis Fs
Fn C
if you remember back to trigonometry (review in laboratory): F θ F
y = sin θ and x = cos θ rotate triangle for θ Fs
better visualization
referring to the triangle to the right: Fs Fn
sin θ = opposite/hypoteneuse
cos θ = adjacent/hypoteneuse sin θ = Fs /F F sin θ = Fs
(for unit circle, hypoteneuse is 1) cos θ = Fn /F F cos θ = Fn
to remember this, use SOH-CAH-TOA (TOA is tangent)
tan θ = sin θ/cos θ

force on plane stress on plane area of EF

we can extend the idea of arbitrary stress on a plane to examine
F σ AB
stress at a single point…
A B A B θ
EF
Fn
θ
F
θ
σn F
we will require that the point is at rest (i.e. not moving)
Fs τ EF θ
σ = F/AB
E
θ θ
E AB Newton’s Third Law of Motion:
cos θ = AB/EF in a body at rest (in equilibrium), a force is balanced by an
C D C D AB = EF cos θ
opposing force of equal magnitude but opposite sign
F σ
(AB = area of plane) and (AB = EF cos θ)
force perpendicular to plane: Fn = F cos θ analogy: kicking a ball that rests against a wall…
the wall pushes back
force parallel to plane: Fs = F sin θ
substitute expression with σ for F above (F = σ x area):
Fn = F cos θ = σ AB cos θ = σ EF cos2 θ foot kicking wall pushing back
Fs = F sin θ = σ AB sin θ = σ EF sin θ cos θ = σ EF (1/2) sin 2θ
corresponding stresses are:
σn = Fn /EF = σ cos2 θ expressions for force and stress
τ = F s /EF = σ (1/2) sin 2θ are different!

point defines the intersection of an infinite number of planes… here is an example of 3 planes (black lines) cutting through slide…
…stress at a point describes stress acting on all planes in a body
two dimensions colored arrows are stresses acting on one plane
…remember point is at rest
…equal and opposite forces

planes intersecting at point stresses acting on these planes

stress varies with orientation… pattern of stresses (orientations and magnitudes) yields an ellipse
magnitude (vector length) of stress for each plane is different

use expressions derived earlier to determine stresses on various planes

magnitude of stress for each possible plane
σn = Fn /EF = σ cos2 θ is represented by point on edge of ellipse
τ = F s /EF = σ (1/2) sin 2θ
stress ellipse
…change value of θ to change orientation of planes
to yield different stresses…

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if the same thing is done in three-dimensions…

two dimensions three dimensions

…one gets the stress ellipsoid

…which fully describes state of stress at a point

the axes of the ellipsoid are the principal stresses
(more on that later…)

can think of target as a point

with arrows corresponding
to all possible stresses
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996