MEC103

Lecture Notes 1

NORMAL STRESS
Severino V. Gervacio, Ph.D.
NORMAL STRESS
Consider two cables each supporting a weight of 1000 Newtons.
Cable 𝐴𝐵 has a diameter of 0.5 cm while cable 𝐶𝐷 has a diameter of
0.6 cm.

𝐴 𝐶

𝐵 𝐷
1 kN 1 kN

Cable 𝐴𝐵 is experiencing a greater stress than cable 𝐶𝐷 as everyone

will expect for obvious reasons. The stress in each cable is called
normal stress.
Normal stress is the intensity of a force acting normal to a surface. It
is therefore force per unit area.

𝑃
Normal stress, 𝜎 = where 𝑃 is the force acting normally on a
,
𝐴
surface with area equal to 𝐴.
Units of stress

If force 𝑃 is in Newtons and the area 𝐴 is in square meters, then the

unit of stress is Newtons per square meter or 𝑁/𝑚2 . Here are some
equivalent names:

𝑁
1 2 = 1 𝑃𝑎
𝑚
𝑁
1 = 1 𝑀𝑃𝑎
𝑚𝑚2
𝑙𝑏
1 2 = 1 𝑝𝑠𝑖
𝑖𝑛
𝑘𝑖𝑝
1 2 = 1 𝑘𝑠𝑖
𝑖𝑛
Exercise

A piece of wood of negligible weight has the shape of a truncated

square pyramid. Each side of the square at the bottom measures 10
cm while each side of the square at the top measures 4 cm. The solid
has a height of 8 cm. If there is a 800 N load at the top of the
pyramid, find the (a) stress at the top, (b) stress at the bottom, and (c)
stress at the midsection of the pyramid.

Answers:
1. 𝜎 = 500,000 Pa
2. 𝜎 = 80,000 Pa
3. 𝜎 = 163,265 Pa
Normal Stress

Two types of normal stress:

1. Tensile stress
2. Compressive stress

Bar under tension

Bar under compression

𝑃
In the formula 𝜎 = the symbol 𝜎 is normal stress, 𝑃 is axial force,
,
𝐴
and 𝐴 is cross-sectional area.
Exercises

1. Two solid cylindrical rods 𝐴𝐵

and 𝐶𝐷 are welded together at
𝐵 and are loaded as shown. If
normal stress must not exceed
175 MPa in rod 𝐴𝐵 and 150
Mpa in rod 𝐵𝐶, determine the
smallest allowable values of the
diameters 𝑑1 and 𝑑2 .
2. Two solid cylindrical rods 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐶𝐷 are welded together at 𝐵
and are loaded as shown. Determine the average normal stress in
rod 𝐴𝐵 and rod 𝐵𝐶.
3. The cross-sectional area of each member of the truss is1.8 𝑖𝑛2 .
Calculate the stresses in members CE, DE, and DF. Indicate tensile
or compressive stress.