Fundamental Concepts in

Elasticity

Lecture 2

Dereje Engida Woldemichael (PhD, CEng MIMechE)

Lesson Outcomes

n At the end of this lesson you should be able to:

q Determine the stress values on arbitrary plane.

q Perform stress transformation on cartesian coordinate

q Evaluate the principal stress of subjected to 3D stress

Components of stress and stress tensor

 x  xy  xz 
 
 ij   xy  y  yz 
 xz  yz  z 
 
Stresses Acting on Arbitrary Planes

σx’ = σx i + τxy j + τxz k

stress vector acting on a plane perpendicular to the x-axis
Stresses Acting on Arbitrary Planes
n The stress vectors σx’, σy’, and σz’ on planes that are
perpendicular, respectively, to the x, y, and z axes are

σx’ = σx i + τxy j + τxz k

(a)
σy’ = τxy i + σy j + τyz k
σz’ = τxz i+ τzy j + σz k
Stresses Acting on Arbitrary Planes

n Consider the stress

vector up on an arbitrary
oblique plane P that cuts
the volume element into a
tetrahedron.

Stresses vector on arbitrary plane having a

normal N
Stresses Acting on Arbitrary Planes
n The unit normal vector to plane P is (direction
cosines)
N = l i+m j+n k

n Vector summation of forces acting on the

tetrahedral element OABC yields
σp = σx’ l+ σy’ m + σz’ n (b)
n Projections (σpx, σpy , σpz ) of the stress vector up
along axes (x, y, z)
σp = σpx i + σpy j+ σpz k (c)
.

Stresses Acting on Arbitrary Planes

n Substituting Eqs. (a) in Eqn (b) and comparing

with Eqns (c) yields:
σpx = σx l + τxy m + τxz n
σpy = τxy l + σy m + τyz n (d)
σpz = τxz l + τyz m + σz n

n The normal stress σPN on the plane P is the

projection of the vector up in the direction of N;
that is,    N
PN P
Normal and Shear stresses on Oblique Plane

n The normal stress is given by

n The shear stress is given by

 Stress Transformation

Direction Cosines
  x y z
Stress component on a plane perpendicular X l1 m1 n1
to a transformed X-axis
Y l2 m2 n2
Z l3 m3 n3
Stress Transformation
n S ince t he axes (x, y , z) a n d a xe s (X, Y , Z ) are
orthogonal, the direction cosines must satisfy the
following relations:
q For row element
li2  mi2  ni2  1, i  1,2,3
l1l2  m1m2  n1n2  0
l2l3  m2 m3  n2 n3  0
l1l3  m1m3  n1n3  0
q For column element
l12  l22  l32  1, l1m1  l2 m2  l3m3  0
m12  m22  m32  1, l1n1  l2 n2  l3n3  0
n12  n22  n32  1, n1m1  n2 m2  n3m3  0
Stress Transformation
n The stress components σX, XY, XZ,.. are defined with
reference to the (X, Y, Z) axes in the same manner as σx ,
xy, xz. . . are defined relative to the axes (x, y, z).
n Using the direction cosines, the normal stress are:

 X   xl12   y m12   z n12  2 xyl1m1   yz m1n1   xzl1n1 

 Y   xl22   y m22   z n22  2 xyl2m2   yz m2n2   xzl2n2 
 Z   xl32   y m32   z n32  2 xyl3m3   yz m3n3   xzl3n3 
 Stress Transformation
n Shear stress XY can be evaluated by forming the scalar
product of the vector σX with a unit vector parallel to the Y
axis

n Similarly,
n

n Hence, the shear stress are given by

n The normal and shear stress equations show how the stress components
transform under a rotation of rectangular axes.
Principal Stress

n Recap
q Principal stress, features
q Why we need to know?
n Principal Values and Directions
Principal Values and Directions
n Shear stresses vanish on principal planes,
n The stress vector on principal planes is given by
σP = σN,
where σ is the magnitude of the stress vector σP and
N is the unit normal to a principal plane.
n Let N = l i + m j + n k relative to rectangular axes (x, y, z)
with associated unit vectors i, j, k.
n (l, m, n) are the direction cosines of the unit normal N.
Principal Values and Directions
n Projections of σP along (x, y, z) axes are
σPx = σ l
σPy = σ m
σPz = σ n

n Recall

n Equating the above equations (   )l   m   n  0

x xy xz

 xy l  ( y   )m   yz n  0
 xz l   yz m  ( z   )n  0
 Principal Values and Directions
n The non-trivial solution is

 x   xy  xz
 xy  y   yz  0
 xz  yz  z 

n Expanding the above equation leads to

 3  I1 2  I 2  I 3  0
Where I1   x   y   z
 x  xy  xz
 x  xy  x  xz  y  yz
I2    I 3   xy  y  yz
 xy  y  xz  zy  yz  z
 xz  yz  z
  x y   x z   y z   xy2   xz2   yz2

n The three roots (σ1, σ2, σ3) of the above equation are the
three principal stresses at point Q.
Principal Values and Directions

n The principal stress are the characteristic values or

eigenvalues of the stress tensor ij.
n Due to symmetry of the tensor whose elements are real, the
tensor has real eigenvalues.
n The direction cosines are the eigenvectors of ij.
n If two of the principal stress are equal, the associated
principal directions are not unique.
n If all principal stress are equal, then all planes passing
through Q are principal planes. This state is known by
hydrostatic stress.
Mohr‘s Circles in Three Dimensions
Triaxial state of stress
References:

n Boresi, A. P., & Schmidt, R. J. (2002). Advanced

Mechanics of Materials (6th ed.): John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
n Ugural, A. C., & Fenster, S. K. Advanced Strength
and Applied Elasticity (6th ed): Pearson (2019).