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StrengthofMaterialsBasicsandEquations|MechanicsofMaterials|EngineersEdge

Strength of Materials Basics and Equations | Mechanics of Materials Equations

Strength / Mechanics of Material Menu
Strength of materials, also called mechanics of materials, is a subject which deals with the behavior of solid objects subject to stresses
and strains .
In materials science, the strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied load without failure. A load applied to a mechanical
member will induce internal forces within the member called stresses when those forces are expressed on a unit basis. The stresses
acting on the material cause deformation of the material in various manner. Deformation of the material is called strain when those
deformations too are placed on a unit basis. The applied loads may be axial tensile or compressive, or shear . The stresses and strains
that develop within a mechanical member must be calculated in order to assess the load capacity of that member. This requires a
complete description of the geometry of the member, its constraints, the loads applied to the member and the properties of the
material of which the member is composed. With a complete description of the loading and the geometry of the member, the state of
stress and of state of strain at any point within the member can be calculated. Once the state of stress and strain within the member is
known, the strength load carrying capacity of that member, its deformations stiffness qualities, and its stability ability to maintain its
original configuration can be calculated. The calculated stresses may then be compared to some measure of the strength of the
member such as its material yield or ultimate strength. The calculated deflection of the member may be compared to a deflection
criteria that is based on the member's use. The calculated buckling load of the member may be compared to the applied load. The
calculated stiffness and mass distribution of the member may be used to calculate the member's dynamic response and then compared
to the acoustic environment in which it will be used.
Material strength refers to the point on the engineering stressstrain curve yield stress beyond which the material experiences
deformations that will not be completely reversed upon removal of the loading and as a result the member will have a permanent
deflection. The ultimate strength refers to the point on the engineering stressstrain curve corresponding to the stress that produces
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fracture.
The following are basic definitions and equations used to calculate the strength of materials.

Stress (normal)
Stress is the ratio of applied load to the crosssectional area of an element in tension and isexpressed in pounds per square inch psi or
kg/mm2.
Load

Stress, =
Area

=
A

Strain(normal)
Ameasureofthedeformationofthematerialthatisdimensionless.
changeinlength
Strain, =

L
=

originallength

Modulusofelasticity
Metaldeformationisproportionaltotheimposedloadsoverarangeofloads.
Sincestressisproportionaltoloadandstrainisproportionaltodeformation,thisimpliesthatstressisproportionaltostrain.Hooke'sLawisthe
statementofthatproportionality.
Stress
= =E
Strain
Theconstant,E,isthemodulusofelasticity,Young'smodulusorthetensilemodulusandisthematerial'sstiffness.Young'smodulusisintermsof
106psior103kg/mm2.IfamaterialobeysHooke'sLawitiselastic.Themodulusisinsensitivetoamaterial'stemper.Normalforceisdirectly
dependentupontheelasticmodulus.

Proportionallimit
Thegreateststressatwhichamaterialiscapableofsustainingtheappliedloadwithoutdeviatingfromtheproportionalityofstresstostrain.
Expressedinpsi(kg/mm2).

Ultimatestrength(tensile)
Themaximumstressamaterialwithstandswhensubjectedtoanappliedload.Dividingtheloadatfailurebytheoriginalcrosssectionalarea
determinesthevalue.

Elasticlimit
Thepointonthestressstraincurvebeyondwhichthematerialpermanentlydeformsafterremovingtheload.

Yieldstrength
Pointatwhichmaterialexceedstheelasticlimitandwillnotreturntoitsoriginshapeorlengthifthestressisremoved.Thisvalueisdeterminedby
evaluatingastressstraindiagramproducedduringatensiletest.

Poisson'sratio
TheratioofthelateraltolongitudinalstrainisPoisson'sratio.
lateralstrain
V=
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longitudinalstrain
Poisson'sratioisadimensionlessconstantusedforstressanddeflectionanalysisofstructuressuchasbeams,plates,shellsandrotatingdiscs.

Bendingstress
Whenbendingapieceofmetal,onesurfaceofthematerialstretchesintensionwhiletheoppositesurfacecompresses.Itfollowsthatthereisalineor
regionofzerostressbetweenthetwosurfaces,calledtheneutralaxis.Makethefollowingassumptionsinsimplebendingtheory:
1. Thebeamisinitiallystraight,unstressedandsymmetric
2. Thematerialofthebeamislinearlyelastic,homogeneousandisotropic.
3. Theproportionallimitisnotexceeded.
4. Young'smodulusforthematerialisthesameintensionandcompression
5. Alldeflectionsaresmall,sothatplanarcrosssectionsremainplanarbeforeandafterbending.
Usingclassicalbeamformulasandsectionproperties,thefollowingrelationshipcanbederived:
3PL
Bendingstress, b =
2wt2
PL3
Bendingorflexuralmodulus,Eb =
4wt3y
Where: P = normalforce
l = beamlength
w = beamwidth
t = beamthickness
y = deflectionatloadpoint
Thereportedflexuralmodulusisusuallytheinitialmodulusfromthestressstraincurveintension.
Themaximumstressoccursatthesurfaceofthebeamfarthestfromtheneutralsurface(axis)andis:
Mc M
Maxsurfacestress, max =

=
I

Where:

= bendingmoment

= distancefromneutralaxistooutersurfacewheremaxstressoccurs

= momentofinertia

= I/c=sectionmodulus

Forarectangularcantileverbeamwithaconcentratedloadatoneend,themaximumsurfacestressisgivenby:
3dEt
max =

2l2
themethodstoreducemaximumstressistokeepthestrainenergyinthebeamconstantwhilechangingthebeamprofile.Additionalbeamprofiles
aretrapezoidal,taperedandtorsion.
Where: d = deflectionofthebeamattheload
E = ModulusofElasticity
t = beamthickness
l = beamlength

Yielding
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Yieldingoccurswhenthedesignstressexceedsthematerialyieldstrength.Designstressistypicallymaximumsurfacestress(simpleloading)orVon
Misesstress(complexloadingconditions).TheVonMisesyieldcriterionstatesthatyieldingoccurswhentheVonMisesstress, exceedstheyield
strengthintension.Often,FiniteElementAnalysisstressresultsuseVonMisesstresses.VonMisesstressis:
( 1 2)2+( 2 3)2+( 1 3)2
=
2
where 1, 2, 3areprincipalstresses.
Safetyfactorisafunctionofdesignstressandyieldstrength.Thefollowingequationdenotessafetyfactor,fs.
YS
fs =
DS
WhereYSistheYieldStrengthandDSistheDesignStress
SeeourMaterialTermsandLinkspageforadditionalinformation.
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