COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad

Department of Civil Engineering

Subject: Mechanics of Solids Instructor: Engr. Syed Farasat Ali Shah

Important Definitions
Stress:
Stress is the resistance of body to applied loading. It can be defined as internal resistive force per unit area.

Stress = Force / Area

It is measured in psi (English unit) or in MPa (SI unit). Another unit of stress which is not commonly used is the
dynes (cgs unit).

Axial Stress:
Axial Stress is caused by the force acting perpendicular to cross section area of the material. It is also Known as
normal stress. Mathematically it can be written as:

δ=P/A

Where P is the applied normal load in Newton and A is the cross section area in mm2. The maximum stress in
tension or compression occurs over a section normal to the load.

There are two types of normal stresses; tensile stress and compressive stress. Tensile stress applied to bar
tends the bar to elongate while compressive stress tend to shorten the bar.

Shear Stress
Forces parallel to the area resisting the force cause shearing stress. It differs to tensile and compressive
stresses, which are caused by forces perpendicular to the area on which they act. Shearing stress is also known
as tangential stress.

Ʈ=V/A
Where V is the resultant shearing force which passes which passes through the centroid of the area A being
sheared.

Bearing Stress
Bearing stress is the contact pressure between the separate bodies. It differs from compressive stress, as it is
an internal stress caused by compressive forces. Mathematically it can be written as:

δb = Pb / Ab

Strain
Also known as unit deformation, strain is the ratio of the change in length caused by the applied force, to the
original length.
 ε=∆/L

Where ∆ is the deformation and L is the original length, thus ε is dimensionless.

Modulus of Resilience
Modulus of resilience is the work done on a unit volume of material as the force is gradually increased from O
to P, in Nm/m3. This may be calculated as the area under the stress-strain curve from the origin O to up to the
elastic limit E (the shaded area in the figure). The resilience of the material is its ability to absorb energy
without creating a permanent distortion.

Modulus of Toughness
Modulus of toughness is the work done on a unit volume of material as the force is gradually increased from O
to R, in Nm/m3. This may be calculated as the area under the entire stress-strain curve (from O to R). The
toughness of a material is its ability to absorb energy without causing it to break.

Modulus of Elasticity
The ratio of the axial stress δ and the shear strain ε is called the modulus of elasticity and is denoted as E, in
MPa.

E=δ/ε
Modulus of Rigidity
The ratio of the shear stress τ and the shear strain γ is called the modulus of elasticity in shear or modulus of
rigidity and is denoted as G, in MPa.

G=Ƭ/γ

Bulk Modulus, K
The bulk modulus of elasticity K is a measure of a resistance of a material to change in volume without change
in shape or form. It is given as

Moment of Inertia
It is section property which determines resistance to bending. Moment of inertia is also called the second
moment of area and it is the product of area and the square of its moment arm about a reference axis.

Moment of inertia about the x-axis:

Ix = ∫y2dA

Where I = second moment of area and A = area of material in the cross section

Ductility
Ductility measures the amount of plastic deformation that a material goes through by the time it breaks. An
overly simplistic way of viewing ductility is the degree to which a material is “forgiving” of local deformation
without the occurrence of fracture. Highly Ductile metals can exhibit significant strain before fracturing, whereas
brittle materials frequently display very little strain.

Hardness
Hardness is a measure of the material’s resistance to localized plastic deformation (e.g. dent or scratch). It is the
measurement of how much a material resists to penetration from a semi-static force.

Stiffness
It is the tendency of a material to react with a small deformation when the material is stressed. This property
depends directly on the bond type between the atoms. The stronger the bond, the higher the modulus (or the
stiffness). Stiffness is the ratio of the steady force acting on an elastic body to the resulting displacement. It
has the unit of N/mm.

k=P/δ

Shearing Deformation
Shearing forces cause shearing deformation. An element subject to shear does not change in length but
undergoes a change in shape.
The change in angle at the corner of an original rectangular element is called the shear strain and is expressed
as

γ = δs / L

Poisson's Ratio
When a bar is subjected to a tensile loading there is an increase in length of the bar in the direction of the
applied load, but there is also a decrease in a lateral dimension perpendicular to the load. The ratio of the
sidewise deformation (or strain) to the longitudinal deformation (or strain) is called the Poisson's ratio and is
denoted by ν. For most steel, it lies in the range of 0.25 to 0.3, and 0.20 for concrete.

Shear Force in Beams

The shear force at a section of a beam is the force that shears off the section and is obtained as the algebraic
sum of all forces including the reactions acting normal to the axis of the beam either to the left or right of the
beam.

Bending Moment in Beams

Bending moment refers to the internal moment that causes something to bend. The algebraic sum of all the
bending moments acting either to the left or right of the section.

Beam
It is horizontal flexure member subjected to transverse loading.

OR
A beam is a structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting against bending. The
bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and
external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment. Beams are characterized by their profile (shape of
cross-section), their length, and their material. In engineering, beams are of several types:

Simply supported - a beam supported on the ends which are free to rotate and have no moment resistance.
Fixed - a beam supported on both ends and restrained from rotation.
Over hanging - a simple beam extending beyond its support on one end.
Double overhanging - a simple beam with both ends extending beyond its supports on both ends.
Continuous - a beam extending over more than two supports.
Cantilever - a projecting beam fixed only at one end.
Column
It is vertical compression member subjected mainly to axial loading.

OR

A column is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to
other structural elements below.

Buckling
Buckling is characterized by a sudden sideways failure of a structural member subjected to high compressive
stress, where the compressive stress at the point of failure is less than the ultimate compressive stress that the
material is capable of withstanding. Mathematical analysis of buckling often makes use of an "artificial" axial
load eccentricity that introduces a secondary bending moment that is not a part of the primary applied forces
being studied. As an applied load is increased on a member, such as a column, it will ultimately become large
enough to cause the member to become unstable and is said to have buckled. Further load will cause significant
and somewhat unpredictable deformations, possibly leading to complete loss of the member's load-carrying
capacity. If the deformations that follow buckling are not catastrophic the member will continue to carry the
load that caused it to buckle. If the buckled member is part of a larger assemblage of components such as a
building, any load applied to the structure beyond that which caused the member to buckle will be redistributed
within the structure.

Critical Load
The critical load is the maximum load which a column can bear while staying straight. It is given by the
formula:

π 2 EI
Pcr=
K L2
Where

Pcr = Euler's critical load (longitudinal compression load on column),

E = modulus of elasticity of column material,
I = minimum area moment of inertia of the cross section of the column,
L = unsupported length of column,
K = column effective length factor
Radius of Gyration
Radius of gyration is defined as the distance from the axis of rotation to a point where the total mass of the
body is supposed to be concentrated, so that the moment of inertia about the axis may remain the same.
Simply, gyration is the distribution of the components of an object. It is denoted by K. In terms of radius of
gyration, the moment of inertia of the body of mass M is given as,

Strain Energy
Strain energy is as the energy which is stored within a material when work has been done on the material. Here
it is assumed that the material remains elastic whilst work is done on it so that all the energy is recoverable and
no permanent deformation occurs due to yielding of the material,

Strain energy U = work done

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