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The three directions of Tensile Stress are labelled here as sx, sy, and sz. By convention,
tension is a positive number, (and so a negative number means compression). The three
directions of Shear Stress are labelled using the symbol t. Shear does not act in a single
simple direction, it acts within a plane; thats why it takes two indicies to label each shear
stress. txy is the same as tyx. This is also why there seem to be 6 shear stresses labeled,
but there are really only three the Red, Green, and Blue vectors are used to show which
pairs of Shear are really just the symmetric members.

Yield Criteria
We need to be able to look at a complex, 6dimensional state of stress, and somehow compare it to our reported Yield
Strength in a simple, 1dimensional state of stress, and ask: Is this complex case worse yes or no ?
Consider the linkage element pictured below. This part is restrained on the large bore at the bottom, and undergoes a vertical
(+Y) tug on the top face of 4600 lbs. (pink). There is a 450 lb. force acting in the Z direction, (purple) on the front boss face,
and a torque of 1200 inlb. (red) on the two small horizontal arms, about the vertical axis. Finally, an 800 inlb. torque (orange)
acts on the central bore (the one with the keyway) about the X direction.

The FEA must compute all 6 components of stress, at every element. How would it plot all 6 values at once, at every point?
And, even if it could, how would you LOOK at them? Certainly, we can plot each component of stress oneatatime, and try to
locate any weaknesses in our design that way.

Clearly we need some way of combining these 6 stress components into a single number that we can compare to our test of
the Yield strength. That is exactly what the Von Mises stress calculation attempts to do.
You can think of the Von Mises stress as a sort of credit score for each finiteelement in your part. Certainly, your own
financial status has MANY dimensions how much liquid cash in your pocket? How much in your bank accounts? How about
your house Own it? Above Water? Still paying on a car loan? And yet, somehow, with all of the complexity and subtly that
could go into computing your net worth. The credit card companies routinely boil you down to a single number. Less than
500? Misery. Greater than 720? Banks love you. Do you want to know the exact formula the credit card companies use to do
this magic?
Me, neither. But for the purists out there, the formula for computing a single, scalar Von Mises stress, su from your 6
components is: (x=dir 11, y=dir22, z=dir33, and shear on xy plane is dir 12, etc).

OK,gladwegotthatoutoftheway.Whatdoesallthatmean?Simplystated,VonMisessaysthatonlythestresseswhichact
todistorttheshapeofthepart,willmatterwhencheckingforyield.Ifyouweretomoldacube,likeourstresscubepictured2
pagesago,butoutofsolidglass andthenyoudroppeditinthedeepesttrenchintheocean,7milesdown thepressureon
eachfaceoftheglasswouldbeenormous.ButtheVonMisesstresswouldbezero,becausethepressurewouldact
everywhereequally,inalldirections,thecubewouldsimplyshrink,butwouldotherwisenotflex.(Unlessyouhadsome
moldingdefects,likeairbubblesintheglassorvariationsinthedensity,theglassshouldsurviveany depth).
TheVonMisesequationcomputesthenetenergystoredbyelementdistortion,andthenbacksthatvalueoutasanequivalent
stress.Unlikethe6componentsofstressthatfeedintoit,V.Mstresshasnodirection,onlyamagnitude.Wecomparethis
numbertoouruniaxialTensiontest,andthereyouhaveit youryesnocriterion!
Soletsgetbacktothatlinkagearmforwhichwelistedallthestress
components theplotofeachelementsVonMisesstressisshownatright.
Eventhough3othercomponentsofstresswerealllocatedinone(other)
place,themosthighlydistortedelementislocatedinsidetheintersectionof
twoholes,(whichisalsowheretheYaxialstresswasthegreatest).
Interestingly,thepeakYcomponentofstresswasover28,000psi,buttheVon
Misesstressinthesameareaisless,about27,600psi.
Thismustmeanthattheother5componentsofstressinthisimmediatearea
mustbeactingsuchthattheycancelout,toasmalldegree,someoftheYaxis
distortion.

Other Yield Theories

Itshouldbestatedrighthere,thatRichardVonMisesstressisnottheonlykidontheblock.Othertheoriesexistabouthowto
evaluatethetotalstateofstress.Especially,ifyouhaveabrittlemateriallikeglass,orconcrete,thenyoushouldinstead
comparethematerialYieldStrengthtotheMohrCoulombstress,oroftenjustCoulombStress.
Coulombstatedthatmostthingsfailinshear.Onceyoutransposethecoordinatesysteminwhichyouviewthepart,tothat
orientationwhichproducestheplaneofworstcaseshear,youjustassumeTHATshearisthevaluethatisgoingtocausea
cracktoappear.ItturnsoutthatCoulombstheoryismoreconservativethanVonMises,andmostengineerswillusethe
Coulombcriterionforbrittlematerials,andVonMisescriterionforductilematerialslikesteel,aluminum,mostplastics,etc.
Ofcourse,materialpropertiesarenottabulatedfortheestimatedengineeringshear stressatwhichatestspecimenfails,they
aretabulatedonlyfortheengineeringtensilestress.Soifourmaterialisbrittle,weneedtoknowtheequivalenttensilestress
magnitude,correspondingtotheworsecaseshearingplane,asexperiencedbyeachfiniteelement.InSolidworksSimulation
youdothisbychoosingtheplottype:
INT:StressIntensity(P1P3)
Andwhat,youmightask,areP1andP3?Goodquestion!ButnotnearlyasimportantaquestionaswhatisVonMises
stress.Andthemajorityofengineeringmaterialsqualifyasductileforourpurposes,sothatiswhySolidworkscreatesa
NodalplotofVonMisesstress,asthedefaultoutput,foreverylinear,staticstudy.Andthisarticlehasgottentoolong
already,sowellpickupthetopicofotherDirectionalstresscomponents,forthenextinstallmentofKAPsCorner.
PostedinKAP'sCorner |TaggedFAQ,FrequentlyAskedQuestions,KAP'sCorner,Simulation,TechTips,VonMisesStress

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