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MachineDesignarticleonstiffnessvsstrength

Don'tfocusonstresswhenstiffnessistheproblem
STEVENKIMBALL
Laucadia,Calif.

July,1999
MachineDesignMagazine
Ithasbeenmyexperiencethatoneshouldnotbestressedoutoverstresses,butinstead
shouldbemoremindfulofdisplacementsanddeformations.Icametothisconclusion
aftervisitingover100designfirmsasanapplicationengineerforacompanythatsold
FEAsoftware.(ERAnote:FiniteElementAnalysisisacomputermethod
ofcalculatingstress).
Mysalarywasproportionaltotheamountofsoftwaresold,andIdidnotreceive
bonusesforhelpingcustomerssolveproblemsusingmethodsotherthanFEA.
Consequently,IdidnotdissuadecustomersfromusingFEAwhenothermethods
wouldhaveworkedbetterorbeenlesscostly.
OnoneoccasionIwasatacustomer'ssitepitchingmyFEAprogramtothedesignstaff
whenthemanagershowedupanddeclared,"Ifthisprogramcantellmewhichofthese
newdeckdesignswillhavetheleastdeflection,IIIbuyyoursoftware."Iacceptedthe
challengeandusedFEAtomodelfourdeckconfigurations.Theanalysistookthe
betterpartofaweek,andthepresentationlasted30min.Themanagersaidour
programcorrectlypredictedthebestconfigurationandboughtacopyofthesoftware.
Keepingmysalaryinmind,IneglectedtotellhimthatFEAwasunnecessaryforthis
job,orthathisCADpackagewouldhavegiventhesameanswerinabout30see.All
heneededwasgoodengineeringdisciplineandalistofthemomentsofinertiaforeach
deck.
Theproblemthemanagerwassolvingwasastiffnessproblem,notastressproblem.
Myexperienceinstructureshasproventhistobetrueformostproblemsfacing
engineers.Designsarerarelypushedtothelimitofamaterial'sultimatestrength.(This
iswhereaerospaceengineersdisagree.)Instead,thedrivingrequirementisthatdesigns
arestiffenoughtopreventexcessiveflexingunderload.
Forstructuresanalysts,thetwomostimportantpropertiesrelatingtostiffnessare
Young'smodulusandmomentofinertia,alsoknownasmaterialstiffnessand
geometricstiffness,respectively.Materialstiffnessmeasuresthedeflectionofasample
byagivenloadperunitarea.Forexample,becausesteelisstifferthanrubber,arubber
objectdeflectsmorethansimilarlyshapedsteelobjectssupportingthesameload.
Althoughonecoulddesignarubberstaircasewithoutexceedingtherubber'sultimate
strength,walkingonthestaircasewouldbelikerunningthroughafunhouse.The
designwouldbeacceptablefromastressandfatiguestandpointbutunacceptablefrom
astiffnessperspective.
Geometricstiffnesscomesintoplaybecausedifferentgeometriesdeflectdifferently
undersimilarloads.Ahollowcylindricalsteelpipedeflectssignificantlylessthana
roundsolidsteelpipeofthesameareacarryingthesameload.Thisisbecausethe
momentofinertia,orgeometricstiffness,ishigherforahollowcylinderthanfora
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MachineDesignarticleonstiffnessvsstrength

solidcylinderofthesamearea.Recallthebasicbendingequationfromstrengthof
materials.Themaximumstressonacantileverbeamiscalculatedwiththefollowing
equation:

whereM=moment,lbin.c=distancefromtheneutralaxistotheextremefiber,in.
andI=momentofinertia,in.'
Theradiusofcurvatureinbendingthesamebeamis

whereE=Young'smodulus.Thesetwoequationscanbecombined:

TimoshenkoreferstotheproductofIEasflexuralrigidity.Theconceptofflexural
rigidityallowsustoexamineastructure'srigidityandseethatitdependsonboth
materialandgeometricstiffnesses.ThesevaluescanbeobtainedwithoutFEAor
without"imposing"anyloadwhatsoever.Flexuralrigidityisastaticproperty.
Thesolutiontothemanager'squestionaboutthestiffestdesigncouldbeansweredby
lookingatthegeometricstiffnessofeachdesign.Most3DCADpackageshavea
utilitytocalculatethisvalue.Basically,thestifferthesection,thelowerthedeflection.
Istillencounterproblemsinwhichflexuralrigidityshouldbeexamined,butdesigners
arepreoccupiedbystresses.Andthereisastoryinthisregardfrequentlytold.Itmayor
maynotbetrue,butthelessonisvalidnevertheless.Itconcernsamotorcyclecompany
thatwontwoconsecutiveworldchampionshipraces.Itthenspentuntoldamountsof
moneytobuildacuttingedgetitaniumframeandshootforitsthirdstraight
championship.Ahighstrengthtoweightratiowasthemantraofthedesigners,andthe
framewastobecapableofhandlingamuchhigherhorsepowertoweightratio.
Engineersperformedstresscalculationsateachjoint,butwhenthemotorcyclewas
builtandraced,thebikecouldnotcompleteonelapunderfullpower.Designershad
builttheframetothesamedimensionsastheprevioussteelframe,butnobodylooked
atthedifferencesinthematerialmodulus.TitaniumhasaYoung'smodulusabouthalf
thatofsteel.Thetitaniumframewassignificantlylighter,andtheultimatestrengthwas
ashighasthatofthesteelframe,sotherewasnoconcernaboutfailureunderload.The
problemwasthatthemotorcyclefeltspringy,like"tryingtorideanddriveanoodle."
Thedesignersshouldhaveincreasedthediameteroftheframetubingtoincreasethe
momentsofinertiaandcompensateforthelowermaterialstiffness.Ifyoustopbya
bikeshop,you'llnoticethataluminumframebikeshavelargerdiametertubingthan
steelframebikes.ThiscompensatesforthelowerYoung'smodulusofthealuminum.
http.//www.machinedesign.com
Pleaseuseyourbrowsers<Backtoreturn
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