STRESS

The force per unit area, or intensity of the forces distributed over a given section, is called the stress on
that section The stress in a member of cross-sectional area “A” subjected to an axial load P (as shown in
fig) is therefore obtained by dividing the magnitude P of the load by the area A:

Where A is the area of the X – section

Units: Basic units of stress in S.I units i.e. (International system) are N/m2 (or Pa)
 MPa = 106 Pa
 GPa = 109 Pa
 KPa = 103 Pa
Sometimes N / mm2 units are also used, because this is an equivalent to MPa. US customary unit is pound
per square inch (psi).

TYPES OF STRESSES:
Only two basic stresses exist:
1. Normal stress and
2. Shear stress

Normal stresses: We have defined stress as force per unit area. If the stresses are normal to the areas
concerned, then these are termed as normal stresses. The normal stresses are generally denoted by a
Greek letter σ (sigma).

Tensile or compressive stresses:

The normal stresses can be either tensile or compressive whether the stresses act out of the area or into
the area.

A positive sign will be used to indicate a tensile stress (member in tension) and a negative sign to indicate
a compressive stress (member in compression).
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Shear stress:
Let us consider now the situation, where the cross – sectional area of a block of material is subject to a
distribution of forces which are parallel, to the area concerned. Such forces are associated with a shearing
of the material, and are referred to as shear forces.

The resulting force intensity (i.e. stress) is known as shear stress

and is given by:

Where P is the total force and A the area over which it acts. Shear stress is denoted by symbol τ (tau).

STRAIN
If a bar is subjected to a direct load, then the stress in bar will change the length of bar. If the bar has an
original length L and changes by an amount ΔL, the strain produced is defined as follows:

Strain is thus, a measure of the deformation of the material and is a non- dimensional quantity i.e. it has
no units. It is simply a ratio of two quantities with the same unit.
The strain defined above is known as linear strain or normal strain or the longitudinal strain.
Normal strain: It can further divided into two types:
1-Tensile Strain and
2-Compressive Strain
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Tensile Strain: Strain measure under tensile loading is known as tensile strain. It tends to decrease the
cross section and increase the length of the body.

Compressive strain:
Strain measure under compressive loading is known as compressive strain. It tends to increase the cross
section area and decrease the length of the body.

Tensile strains are positive whereas compressive strains are negative.

Lateral Strain
Lateral strain is defined as the ratio of the change in diameter to original diameter of a circular bar (i.e. in
the perpendicular direction of the loading), due to deformation in the longitudinal or linear direction.

ἑ
If the bar has an original diameter D and changing diameter is by an amount ΔD, the lateral strain
produced, due to linear strain is defined as follows:
Δ𝐷
𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 = −
D
Linear strain is a strain that occurs along the direction of the force and lateral strain is a strain that occurs
perpendicular to linear strain.

Volumetric strain: Volumetric strain of a deformed body is defined as the ratio of the change in volume of the body
to the deformation to its original volume, under normal loading condition. If V is the original volum and ΔV the
change in volume occurred due to the deformation, then volumetric strain εv induced is given by: εv=ΔV/V.

Shear Strain
As the shear stresses act along the surface. The action of the stresses is to produce the deformation in the
body. Consider the distortion produced by shear stress on an element of rectangular block.

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