MECH 3502 – Stress Analysis and Design: Definitions

Stress (σ): An engineering measure of how forces are transmitted through an object;
force per unit area

Shear Stress (τ): An engineering measure of how forces are transmitted through an
object parallel to the axial load; force per unit area

Normal Strain (ε): The deformation per unit length a material undergoes when a load is
applied

Shearing Strain (γ): An engineering measure of relative deformation of an object caused

by a shearing strain, the change in angle of a plane perpendicular to the shearing load,
small angle approximation is used

Young’s Modulus (E): The modulus of elasticity, a material property that linearly relates
stress to strain, also called material stiffness or slope of stress versus strain response

Shear Modulus (G): The modulus of rigidity, a material property that linearly relates
shear stress to shear strain, a materials ability to resist shearing stress

Poisson’s Ratio (υ): For a uniaxial loaded member it is ratio of negative the lateral strain
to axial strain, used since when a stress is applied along one axis it is transferred to
stresses along perpendicular axis’s; can be used for multiaxially loaded members as well

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (α): A quantity per unit temperature, used to

determine the change of size of a material when the temperature is changed.

Angle of Twist (ɸ): When a torque is applied to a circular shaft that is fixed at one end,
the free end will rotate through the angle of twist. It is a linear function of position along
the length of a shaft.

Bending Moment (M): Exists in a structural element when a moment is applied so that
the element bends, it is measured in force multiplied by distance

Torque (T): Is a measure of force that is applied about an axis of rotation, has equivalent
units as bending moment

Shear Force (V): An internal force in any material usually caused by any external force
acting perpendicular to the material

Static Moment of Area (Q): A property of a shape that is used to predict the resistance
to shear stress.
Second Moment of Inertia (I): It is the property of a cross section that can be used to
predict the resistance to bending and deflection about an axis that lies in the cross-
sectional plane, is dependent on the geometry only i.e. the material properties have no
bearing on it

Polar Moment of Inertia (J): An engineering measure of how spread out the area of a
material is from an axis, a quantity used to predict an object’s ability to resist torsion

Bearing Stress: A stress caused by the planar projection of a geometry inset in another
material, for a screw this would be the total transferred force divided by the area; the
diameter multiplied by height

Pure Bending: A condition of stress where a bending moment is applied to a beam

without the simultaneous presence of axial, shear, or torsional forces; in reality pure
bending does not actually exist as it requires a weightless member

Classical Beam Theory: Planes perpendicular to the neutral axis remain plane and
perpendicular after deformation

Linear Elastic: Range in which loads do not permanently deform material; before yield
strength or rupture, where stress is proportional to strain

Elastic Deformation: The linear part of the stress-strain curve up to the materials yield
point where a material behaves elastically, when an applied load is removed, the strain
returns to zero

Perfectly Plastic: Under deformation the material’s yield surface remains unchanged

Isotropic: Material properties are uniform along any direction within material

Anisotropic: Material properties are dependent upon the direction within material,
usually a crystal structure or a material that has undergone cold working

Homogeneous: When the properties are consistent throughout the whole material

Non-homogeneous: A material that does not have the same properties throughout the
specimen may be different materials bonded together or include different features

Principle of Superposition: The effect of a given combined loading on a structure can be

obtained by determining separately the effects of the various loads and combining the
results obtained; the material must undergo small deformation and be linearly elastic
Statically Determinate vs. Indeterminate: Statically determinate problems can be
solved on the basis of force balancing alone whereas statically indeterminate problems
require the deformations of the structure to be considered as well

Small Deformation/Angle Approximation: An approach to the description of the

deformation of a solid body in which the displacements of the material are assumed to
be much smaller than any relevant dimension of the body; so that its geometry and the
properties of the material such as density or stiffness can be assumed to be unchanged
by the deformation

Shear Flow: The gradient of a shear stress forces through the material

Mohr’s Circle: A graphical method used for rotating the coordinate system to find the
stresses at that angle, makes the maximum shear and normal stresses easy to find

Traction Free: A surface that has no shear stress or normal stress acting on the surface,
namely three stress components are zero which coincide with the normal vector
defining the surface

Stress Transformations: Where the stresses are dependent upon the coordinate system
and different stresses under equivalent loading can be determined by rotating the
coordinate system

Principle Stresses: The stresses that do not depend on the coordinate system, they are a
generalized state of stress in the structure where the shear stresses are equal to zero

Principle Direction: A set of axes where the normal stresses are maximized

Max Shear Stress: The peak shear stress can be determined by rotating the coordinate
system at 45° from a uniaxial applied load; if loading is more complex Mohr’s circle can
be used to determine this shear stress where it would be at the highest and lowest
points of the circle

Yield Criteria: Predicts the onset of plastic (permanent) deformation for a multi-axial
state of stress.

Tresca: A commonly used yield criteria that determines the maximum shear stress of a
isotropic material

Von Mises: A commonly used yield criteria that determines the maximal shear stress of
a material, transforms multiple shear and tensile stresses to one equivalent tensile
stress
Effective Stress: A measure of the state of stress expressed as a scalar value, also called
Von Mises stress

St. Venant’s Principle: If the load were replaced with something energetically
equivalent the stresses far enough away from the load will be unaffected

Plastic Moment: For an elasto-plastic material it is an engineering measure of the

moment at which the entire cross section has reached its yield stress

Plastic Torque: For an elasto-plastic material it is an engineering measure of the torque

at which the entire cross section has yielded

Plastic Hinge: When the material can absorb no more internal stress it requires no
moment to bend it further

Yield Strength: The maximum stress a material can withstand while being stretched or
pulled prior to plastically deforming

Ultimate Strength: The maximum stress a material can withstand while being stretched
or pulled before necking

Stress Concentration Factor: A location in an object where stress is concentrated, often

due to sharp corners or propagating cracks

Factor of Safety: A term describing the structural capacity of a system beyond the
expected loads or actual loads, a factor of how much stronger the system is than the
intended load

Neutral Axis: An axis in the cross section of a beam under which there are no
longitudinal stresses or strains due to bending

Parallel Axis Theorem: States that the moment of inertia of a body about any given axis
is the moment of inertia about a parallel axis through the center of mass plus the
moment of inertia that the body would have about the given axis if all the mass of the
body were located at the center of mass; defined mathematically as: I = Σ (I+A·d2)

Hydrostatic/Volumetric Stress: A stress that is equal along all axis’s; most commonly
due to have a material submerged in a fluid where the height of the material is not
sufficient enough to affect the stress gradient

Residual Stress: Stresses that remain in a material after the original cause of the
stresses has been removed
Stress Redistribution: The stress redistributes itself because it can not go past the yield
stress.

Radius of Curvature: Is the radius of a circle in which the beam under bending could be
placed on having all points of the beam fit directly on this circle

Anticlastic Curvature: The curvature that is perpendicular to the length of the beam
caused by the compression and tension of the top and bottom of the beam that is
caused by bending

Shear Centre: The point through which the loads must act if there is to be no twisting,
or torsion; it is always located on the axis of symmetry, if member has two axes of
symmetry, the shear centre will be the intersection of the two axes