Linear elasticity, Hooke’s Law and poisons ratio

Linear elasticity
When a material behaves elastically and also exhibits a linear relationship between stress and
strain, it is said to be linearly elastic. This type of behavior is important in engineering because
by designing structures and machines to function in this region, permanent deformations due to
yielding can be avoided.
Hooke’s law
The linear relationship between stress and strain for a bar in simple tension or compression is
expressed by the equation:

in which σ is the axial stress, ε is the axial strain, and E is a constant of proportionality known as
the modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus) for the material. The equation is known as Hooke’s
equation.
Poisons ration
When a prismatic bar is loaded in tension, the axial elongation is accompanied by lateral
contraction (that is, contraction normal to the direction of the applied load). This change in shape
is shown in figure below, where part (a) shows the bar before loading and part (b) shows it after
loading. In part (b), the dashed lines represent the shape of the bar prior to loading.

The lateral strain ε’ at any point in a bar is proportional to the axial strain ε at that same point if
the material is linearly elastic. The ratio of these strains is a property of the material known as
Poisson’s ratio expressed as:

The minus sign is inserted in the equation to compensate for the fact that the lateral and axial
strains normally have opposite signs. If axial strain is tensile (+), lateral strain is compressive (-).
If axial strain is compressive (-), lateral strain is tensile (+). So Poisson’s ratio is a positive
number. For most metals and many other materials, ν ranges from 0.25 – 0.35. The theoretical
upper limit is 0.5 (rubber comes close to this). Poisson’s ratio holds for the linearly elastic range in
both tension and compression. When behaviour is non-linear, Poisson’s ratio is not constant.
Generalized Hooks Law-(Elastic stress –strain relations)
When a point of a body is acted upon by stresses and in mutually perpendicular directions,
the strains are found by superposing the strains due to and acting separately. The
rectangular element of material in fig (i) is subjected to a tensile stress in the -direction is
/E
and the compressive strain in the y-direction is
/E
In which E is the young modulus and is the poisons ratio. If the element is subjected to a tensile
stress in they-direction as in fig (ii), the compressive strain in the x-direction is;
/E
and the tensile strain in the y-direction is

1
 /E
These elastic strains are small, and the state of strain due to both stresses and acting
simultaneously as in fig (iii) is found by superposing the strains of fig (i) and fig (ii), taking the
tensile strain as negative; the strains in the x-and y-directions are given, respectively by
/E /E
/E /E
On multiplying each equation by E, we have
E=
E=

Volume Change
Since the dimensions of a bar in tension or compression are changed when the load is applied,
the volume of the bar changes too. Dilatation, e, is used to calculate the increase in volume of a
bar and is given by:

2
3
Composite bars in tension and compression
A composite bar is one made of two materials, such as steel rod embedded in concrete. The
construction of the bar is such that constituent components extend or contract equally under load.
To illustrate the behavior of such bars consider a rod made of two materials, 1 and 2 with cross-
sectional area A1 and A2, young modulus E1 and E2 respectively.

We imagine the bars to be rigidly connected together at the ends; then for longitudinal strains to be
the same when the composite bar is stretched we must have
/E1= /E2……………(1)

Where and are the stresses in the two bars. But the total tensile load is

P=A1 + A2 …………(2)

Equation 1 and 2 give

4
Members with variable cross-section
Basic load-deformation Equation (simple bar)

Discrete, or Stepwise Load-Deformation Equation is:

Example
The round bar shown in Figure below is subjected to a tensile load of 150 kN. What must be the diameter
2
of the middle portion if the stress there is to be 215 MN/m ? What must be the length of the middle
portion if the total extension of the bar under the given load is to be,0.2 mm?' Take E = 206 GN/m2.