THEORIES OF

FAILURE
Yield Criteria for Ductile Materials Under Plane Stress
Fracture Criteria for Brittle Materials Under Plane Stress
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OBJECTIVES
To discuss the FOUR THEORIES that are
often used in engineering practice to
predict the failure of a material
subjected to a multiaxial state of stress.

HOW DO MATERIALS FAIL?

Ductile materials yielding
Brittle materials fracture

HOW DO MATERIALS FAIL?

These modes of
failure are
readily defined
if the member
is subjected to a
uniaxial state
of stress
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DUCTILE
MATERIALS
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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-SHEAR-STRESS THEORY
The most common type of yielding
of a ductile material such as steel is
caused by slipping, which occurs
along the contact planes of
randomly ordered crystals that
make up the material.
The edges of the planes of slipping
as they appear on the surface of the
strip are referred to as Lders
lines. These lines clearly indicate
the slip planes in the strip, which
occur at approximately 45 with
the axis of the strip.

DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-SHEAR-STRESS THEORY
The slipping that occurs is
caused by shear stress.
To illustrate:

DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-SHEAR-STRESS THEORY
The maximum shear stress is given by:

This shear stress acts on

planes that are 45 from the
planes of principal stress, and
these planes coincide with the
direction of the Lder lines
shown on the specimen,
indicating that indeed failure
occurs by shear.

DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-SHEAR-STRESS THEORY
Henri Tresca proposed the maximum-shear-stress theory
or Tresca yield criterion using the idea that ductile
materials fail in shear.

Yielding of the material begins when the absolute

maximum shear stress in the material reaches the
shear stress that causes the same material to yield
when it is subjected only to axial tension.

It requires that

max

y
2

DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-SHEAR-STRESS THEORY
Consider the two cases:

Two in-plane stresses have the same sign

abs max

max
2

Two in-plane stresses have opposite signs

abs max

max min
2

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-SHEAR-STRESS THEORY
Using the equations stated earlier, the limits for the
maximum-shear-stress theory are:

1 y
2 y
1 2 y

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-DISTORTION-ENERGY THEORY
This is based on the concept of strain-energy density (The
energy per unit volume).
An external loading will deform a material, causing it to
store energy internally throughout its volume.
Recall:
(for uniaxial stress)

The strain-energy density can be considered as the sum of:

energy needed to cause a volume change (no change in shape)
energy needed to distort the element

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-DISTORTION-ENERGY THEORY

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-DISTORTION-ENERGY THEORY
Experimental evidence has shown that materials do not
yield when subjected to a uniform stress, avg.
Therefore, M. Huber proposed MDET
This was also redefined independently by R. von Mises and
H. Hencky.

Yielding in a ductile material occurs when the

distortion energy per unit volume of the material
equals or exceeds the distortion energy per unit
volume of the same material when it is subjected to
yielding in a simple tension test

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-DISTORTION-ENERGY THEORY
Distortion energy per unit volume

1
2
2
2
1 2 2 3 3 1
ud
6E
For plane stress

1 2
2
ud
1 1 2 2
3E

For uniaxial tension test

ud Y

1 2

Y
3E

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-DISTORTION-ENERGY THEORY
Since the maximum-distortionenergy theory requires that

we have:

1 2 2 Y
2
1

2
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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

COMPARISON BETWEEN MSST and MDET

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DUCTILE MATERIALS:

COMPARISON BETWEEN MSST and MDET

Same results when 1= 2 = y
or when one of the principal
stresses is zero and the other is
y
Greatest discrepancy in pure
shear.
Actual torsion tests used to
develop a condition of pure
shear in a ductile specimen
show that MDET gives more
accurate results
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BRITTLE
MATERIALS
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BRITTLE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-NORMAL-STRESS THEORY
Tension Test: Fracture occurs when normal
stresses reaches ultimate stress,
Torsion Test:
Brittle Fracture
occurs due to the
maximum tensile
stress since the
plane of fracture
for an element is at
45 to the shear
direction.
Tensile stress to fracture during a
torsion test Tensile stress to
fracture in a tension test

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BRITTLE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-NORMAL-STRESS THEORY
A brittle material will fail when the maximum
principal stress 1 reaches the ultimate normal stress
when subjected to simple tension test. - W. Rankine
If the material is subjected
to plane stress, we require that

1 ult
2 ult

2
ult
ult

-ult

1
-ult

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BRITTLE MATERIALS:

MAXIMUM-NORMAL-STRESS THEORY
Experimentally, it has been found to be in close
agreement with the behavior of brittle materials that
have stressstrain diagrams that are similar in both
tension and compression.

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BRITTLE MATERIALS:

MOHRS FAILURE CRITERION

When materials have different tension and compression
properties
Developed by Otto Mohr

To apply it: 3 tests are performed:

1. Uniaxial tensile test (ult)t
2. Uniaxial compressive (ult)c
3. Torsion test (ult)

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BRITTLE MATERIALS:

MOHRS FAILURE CRITERION

From these tests, we can draw
three Mohrs Circle:

These three circles are

contained in a failure
envelope drawn tangent to all
three circles.

We may also represent this

criterion on a graph of
principal stresses.
Failure occurs outside if one
of the principal stresses
exceeds (ult)t, or (ult)c

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