STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Stress-Strain Diagram

Suppose that a metal specimen be placed in tension-compression-testing

machine. As the axial load is gradually increased in increments, the
total elongation over the gauge length is measured at each increment
of the load and this is continued until failure of the specimen takes
place. Knowing the original cross-sectional area and length of the
specimen, the normal stress and the strain can be obtained. The
graph of these quantities with the stress along the y-axis and the
strain along the x-axis is called the stress-strain diagram.
The stress-strain diagram differs in form for various materials. The
diagram shown below is that for a medium-carbon structural steel.

Metallic engineering materials are classified as

either ductile or brittle materials. A ductile material is one having
relatively large tensile strains up to the point of rupture like
structural steel and aluminum, whereas brittle materials has a
relatively small strain up to the point of rupture like cast iron and
concrete. An arbitrary strain of 0.05 mm/mm is frequently taken as the
dividing line between these two classes.

Stress-strain diagram of a medium-carbon structural steel

 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENA & PNA

Elastic Neutral Axis(ENA)

The following discussion presents the elastic neutral axis (ENA) for
steel beams as taught in a strength of materials course and again
later in a structural steel course. While this discussion herein is
limited to steel beams, the concept can be extended to other types of
beam materials such as reinforced concrete beams. The ENA of
reinforced concrete beams following this concept will be presented in
a future paper.

For a prismatic, simply supported beam with only vertical loads as

show in Figure 1, the ENA corresponds to the y component of the
centroid of the beams cross sectional area. Along the ENA, there is
zero axial strain. Therefore, no bending stresses are present along
this axis. Above the ENA, the beam compresses reaching a maximum
compression flexural stress along the top of the beam. Similarly
below the ENA, the beam stretches in tension reaching a maximum
tensile flexural stress along the bottom of the beam.

Using calculus, the location, y, from the bottom of the cross section
to the ENA for a prismatic beam may be found from the following
equation.

(1)

Once the location of the ENA is determined, the corresponding bending

moment at the top or bottom of the beam may be found from the
following equation,

(2)

where f is the flexural stress at the top or bottom of the beam and Sx
is the elastic section modulus with respect to the x axis as shown in
Figure 2. The flexural stress, f, may be found based on the modulus
of elasticity of the beam and the strain. When the top or bottom of
the beam reaches yielding, the bending moment of equation (2) becomes,

(3)

wherefy is the yield strength of the steel beam. The elastic section
modulus, Sx, may be found from the following equation,
 (4)

where c is the distance from the ENA to the top or bottom of the beam
as shown in Figure 1.

Plastic Neutral Axis (PNA)

Plastic behavior is important in the analysis and design of any civil

engineering structure. Whether teaching civil engineering students
about the nominal moment capacity of reinforced concrete beams or the
capacity of beams made of structural steel, a fundamental
understanding of yielding and plastic behavior is paramount. When
calculating the moment capacity of reinforced concrete beams, the
steel rebar is assumed to be yielding, meaning it is exhibiting
plastic behavior prior to the concrete in compression crushing. In
steel beams, the nominal moment capacity is ideally based on the
entire cross section to be yielding. This is the fully plastic
condition. Certain conditions in terms of beam stability must be met,
but this will permit the steel beam to reach the maximum moment
carrying capacity.

The following discussion presents the plastic neutral axis (PNA) for
steel beams as taught in a structural steel course. While this
discussion herein is limited to steel beams, the concept can be
extended to other types of beam materials such as reinforced concrete
beams. The PNA of reinforced concrete beams following this concept
will be presented in a future paper.
For doubly symmetric cross sectional shaped beams, the location of the
PNA is the same as the ENA. This is also true of beams that are
symmetric about a single horizontal cross sectional axis such as a C
channel as well as some nonsymmetrical cross sectional beams such as a
Z purlin. For all other beams, the PNA is different than the ENA.
The ENA is the axis corresponding to the center of area where as the
PNA correspond to an axis such that half of the area is above the axis
and half is below. In the fully plastic state, the entire cross
sectional area is yielding. And for the beam to be in a state of
equilibrium at this point, the PNA must correspond to this location
since the force caused by yielding of the area in compression above
the PNA must equal the forced caused by yielding of the area in
tension below the PNA.

Using calculus, the location, p y , from the bottom of the cross

section to the PNA for a prismatic beam may be found from the
following equation. See Figure 3.

(5)

The plastic moment for a steel beam may be found from the following
equation,

(6)

wherefy is the yield strength of the steel beam and Zx is the plastic
section modulus with respect to the x axis as shown in Figure 4. The
plastic section modulus, Zx, may be found from the following equation,

(7)

where a is the distance between the centroidal areas of the top and
bottom half areas as shown in Figure 3.

Bending shape factors have been computed for a wide variety of beam
cross sectional shapes. Table 1 shows various beam shapes with their
corresponding bending shape factor. Note, the bending shape factor is
the ratio of the plastic section modulus, Zx, over the elastic section
modulus, Sx. This may also be thought of as the ratio of the plastic
moment, Mp, over the moment at first yielding, My. For most
commercially available beams, the bending shape factors range from
1.15 for W shaped beams to 1.2 for channel sections. For circular and
rectangular tubes, the bending shapes factors increase slightly but
only by about 4%. For solid cross sectional shaped beams, the bending
shape factor can increase significantly to as high as about 2.3 or so.
This corresponds to an increase of about 108% over commercially
available W shaped beams. Beam sections that have more material area
in the region near the centroid have higher bending shape factors
since the bending strength in this area is not exhausted until the

total cross section has fully reached the plastic state.

For all the figures shown in Table 1, the ENA and PNA are at the same
location except for triangles. If the triangle has a height, h, then
the distance from the top of the shape to the ENA is 32 h (or 0.667 h)
whereas the distance from the top to the PNA is 2 2 h (or 0.707 h) as
shown in Figure 5.

PLASTIC HINGE AND PLASTIC MOMENT

Plastic Hinge

In the structural engineering beam theory term, plastic hinge, is used

to describe the deformation of a section of a beam where plastic
bending occurs. [1] In earthquake engineering plastic hinge is also a
type of energy damping device allowing plastic rotation [deformation]
of an otherwise rigid column connection.

Plastic behavior - In plastic limit analysis of structural members

subjected to bending, it is assumed that an abrupt transition from
elastic to ideally plastic behaviour occurs at a certain value of
moment, known as plastic moment (Mp). Member behaviour between Myp and
Mp is considered to be elastic. When Mp is reached, a plastic hinge is
formed in the member. In contrast to a frictionless hinge permitting
free rotation, it is postulated that the plastic hinge allows large
rotations to occur at constant plastic moment Mp.

Diagram of a structure featuring plastic hinges

Plastic hinges extend along short lengths of beams. Actual values of

these lengths depend on cross-sections and load distributions. But
detailed analyses have shown that it is sufficiently accurate to
consider beams rigid-plastic, with plasticity confined to plastic
hinges at points. While this assumption is sufficient for limit state
analysis, finite element formulations are available to account for the
spread of plasticity along plastic hinge lengths.

By inserting a plastic hinge at a plastic limit load into a statically

determinate beam, a kinematic mechanism permitting an unbounded
displacement of the system can be formed. It is known as the collapse
mechanism. For each degree of static indeterminacy of the beam, an
additional plastic hinge must be added to form a collapse mechanism

Sufficient number of plastic hinges (N) required to make a collapse

mechanism (unstable structure):

N=Degree of static indeterminacy + 1

Plastic Moment

In structural engineering, the plastic moment (Mp) is a property of a

structural section. It is defined as the moment at which the entire
cross section has reached its yield stress. This is theoretically the
maximum bending moment that the section can resist - when this point
is reached a plastic hinge is formed and any load beyond this point
will result in theoretically infinite plastic deformation. In practice
most materials work harden resulting in increased stiffness and moment
resistance until the material fails. This is of little significance in
structural mechanics as the deflection prior to this occurring is
considered to be an earlier failure point in the member.

Mp for a rectangular section can be calculated with the following

formula: Mp = (bd2/4) y

For other sections it is normal to calculate Zp then substitute it

into the formula as follows: Mp = Zp

The plastic moment for a given section will always be larger than the
yield moment (the bending moment at which the first part of the
sections reaches the yield stress)
 HOW DOES IT FORM?

In deciding the manner in which a beam may fail it is

desirable to understand the concept of how plastic hinges form where
the beam is fully plastic. At the plastic hinge an infinitely large
rotation can occur under a constant moment equal to the plastic moment
of the section. Plastic hinge is defined as a yielded zone due to
bending in a structural member at which an infinite rotation can take
place at a constant plastic moment Mp of the section. The number of
hinges necessary for failure does not vary for a particular structure
subject to a given loading condition, although a part of a structure
may fail independently by the formation of a smaller number of hinges.
The member or structure behaves in the manner of a hinged mechanism
and in doing so adjacent hinges rotate in opposite directions.
Theoretically, the plastic hinges are assumed to form at points at
which plastic rotations occur. Thus the length of a plastic hinge is
considered as zero. The values of moment, at the adjacent section of
the yield zone are more than the yield moment upto a certain length L,
of the structural member. This length L, is known as the hinged
length. The hinged length depends upon the type of loading and the
geometry of the cross-section of the structural member. The region of
hinged length is known as region of yield or plasticity. 5.1 Hinged
Length of a Simply Supported Beam with Central Concentrated Load

Fig. 8 In a simply supported beam with central concentrated load, the

maximum bending moment occurs at the centre of the beam. As the load
is increased gradually, this moment reaches the fully plastic moment
of the section Mp and a plastic hinge is formed at the centre.
 ELASTIC SECTION MODULUS & PLASTIC SECTION MODULUS (SHAPE
FACTOR)

Section modulus
Section modulus is a geometric property for a given cross-section used
in the design of beams or flexural members. Other geometric properties
used in design include area for tension and shear, radius of
gyration for compression, and moment of inertia and polar moment of
inertia for stiffness. Any relationship between these properties is
highly dependent on the shape in question. Equations for the section
moduli of common shapes are given below. There are two types of
section moduli, the elastic section modulus (S) and the plastic
section modulus (Z). The section modulus of different profiles can
also be found as numerical values for common profiles in tables
listing properties of such. S.P

Elastic section modulus

For general design, the elastic section modulus is used, applying up
to the yield point for most metals and other common materials.
The elastic section modulus is defined as S = I / y, where I is
the second moment of area (or moment of inertia) and y is the distance
from the neutral axis to any given fibre. It is often reported using y
= c, where c is the distance from the neutral axis to the most extreme
fibre, as seen in the table below. It is also often used to determine
the yield moment (My) such that My = S y, where y is the yield
strength of the material.

Cross-
sectional Figure Equation Comment
shape

Solid arrow
Rectangle represents neutral
axis

doubly
NA
symmetric I-
, indicates neutral
section (major
axis
axis)
with
doubly
NA
symmetric I-
indicates neutral
section (minor
axis
axis)

Solid arrow
Circle [3]
represents neutral
axis

Solid arrow
Circular
represents neutral
hollow section
axis

NA
Rectangular
indicates neutral
hollow section
axis

NA
Diamond indicates neutral
axis

NA
C-channel indicates neutral
axis

Plastic section modulus[edit]

The plastic section modulus is used for materials where elastic
yielding is acceptable and plastic behavior is assumed to be an
acceptable limit. Designs generally strive to ultimately remain below
the plastic limit to avoid permanent deformations, often comparing the
plastic capacity against amplified forces or stresses.
The plastic section modulus depends on the location of the plastic
neutral axis (PNA). The PNA is defined as the axis that splits the
cross section such that the compression force from the area in
compression equals the tension force from the area in tension. So, for
sections with constant yielding stress, the area above and below the
PNA will be equal, but for composite sections, this is not necessarily
the case.
The plastic section modulus is the sum of the areas of the cross
section on each side of the PNA (which may or may not be equal)
multiplied by the distance from the local centroids of the two areas
to the PNA:

Sp = Acyc + Atyt

the Plastic Section Modulus can also be called the 'First moment of
area'

Description Figure Equation Comment

Rectangular
section [4][5]
,

Rectangular where: b=width,

hollow h=height, t=wall
section thickness

where:

For the two

flanges of =width,
an I-
beam with the =thickness, are
web the distances from
excluded[6] the neutral axis to
the centroids of the
flanges
respectively.

For an I Beam
[7]
including the
web
For an I Beam
(weak axis)
Solid Circle

Circular
hollow
section

The plastic section modulus is used to calculate the plastic moment,

Mp, or full capacity of a cross-section. The two terms are related by
the yield strength of the material in question, Fy, by Mp=Fy*Z. Plastic
section modulus and elastic section modulus are related by a shape
factor which can be denoted by 'k', used for an indication of capacity
beyond elastic limit of material. This could be shown mathematically
with the formula :-
Shape factor for a rectangular section is 1.5.
 3 BASIC THEOREM OF PLASTIC ANALYSIS

Assumptions:

All external loads increase in proportion to one another.

The behavior is elastic-plastic.

The deformations are small.

I. Lower Bound Theorem [P] (Static Theorem)

An external load computed on the basis of an assumed distribution of

internal forces, in which

the forces are bounded by limit values, and

the forces are in equilibrium,

is less than or equal to the true collapse load.

II. Upper Bound Theorem [D] (Kinematic Theorem)

An external load computed on the basis of an assumed mechanism, in

which

the forces are in equilibrium,

is always greater than or equal to the true collapse load.

III. Uniqueness Theorem

An external load computed on the basis of an assumed mechanism, in

which

the forces are bounded by limit values, and

the forces are in equilibrium,

is equal to the true collapse load.