Reading Material

Bearing Stress

Pictures and schematic demonstrations used in this presentation are gathered from several online sources and printed materials.
These pictures are intended for academic illustration purposes only and are not meant to be copied and used otherwise.
CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
 BEARING STRESS

Consider the bolted connection shown in Fig. This connection

consists of a flat bar A, a clevis C, and a bolt B that passes
through holes in the bar and clevis. Under the action of the
tensile loads P, the bar and clevis will press against the bolt in
bearing, and contact stresses, called bearing stresses, will be
developed. In addition, the bar and clevis tend to shear the bolt,
that is, cut through it, and this tendency is resisted by shear
stresses in the bolt.

As an example, consider the bracing for an elevated pedestrian

walkway.

*Images are taken for academic illustration purpose only

CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 BEARING STRESS
To show more clearly the actions of the bearing
and shear stresses, let us look at this type of
connection in a schematic side view (Fig. b). With
this view in mind, we draw a free-body diagram
of the bolt (Fig. c). The bearing stresses exerted by
the clevis against the bolt appear on the left-hand
side of the free-body diagram and are labeled 1
and 3. The stresses from the bar appear on the
right-hand side and are labeled 2.

The actual distribution of the bearing stresses is

difficult to determine, so it is customary to assume
that the stresses are uniformly distributed. Based
upon the assumption of uniform distribution, we
can calculate an average bearing stress σb by
dividing the total bearing force Fb by the bearing
area Ab.
*Images are taken for academic illustration purpose only

CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 BEARING STRESS

*Images are taken for academic illustration purpose only

CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 SHEAR STRESS – DOUBLE SHEAR

*Images are taken for academic illustration purpose only

CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 BEARING STRESS - EXAMPLE

*Images are taken for academic illustration purpose only

CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 SHEAR STRESS – DOUBLE SHEAR

*Images are taken for academic illustration purpose only

CE F211 BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus