LECTURE 4 Strain

Displacement
Is the total movement of a point with respect to a fixed reference coordinates.
Deformation
Is the relative movement of a point with respect to another point on the body, therefore deformation
can be defined as the body’s changes in shape and size [They may be either highly visible or practically
unnoticeable] due to:
 External force applied to the body. And/or
 The temperature of the body is changed.
Strain
Is a measure of the deformation of the body and is a non-dimensional Quantity i.e. it has no units. It
is simply a ratio of two quantities with the same unit. Strain is actually measured by experiments using
strain gages [which is measured in specified directions], and once the strain is obtained, it will be shown
in the next chapter how it can be related to the stress acting within the body.
 strain is how the object responds?
 Stress is what is done to an object?
Since external load causes internal stresses as normal stress (σ) and /or shear stress (τ) also it
causes Normal Strain (ϵ) and /or Shear Strain (ɣ), respectively. So we have two types of strain i.e.
normal strain & shear strain.
To study deformational changes in a more uniform manner, we will consider line segments that are
very short and located in the neighborhood of a point. Then the deformation of a body is described by
changes in length [elongate or contract] of line segments and the changes in the angles between them.

Normal Strain, ϵ (epsilon).

Is the change in length of a line per unit length. It is a dimensionless
quantity but sometimes stated in terms of a ratio of length units.
 If the SI system is used, then the basic unit for length is the
meter (m). Ordinarily, for most engineering applications will
be very small, so measurements of strain are in
micrometers per meter (μm/m).
 In the Foot-Pound-Second system, strain is often stated in
units of inches per inch (in./in.).
For experimental work, strain is expressed as a percent e.g., 0.001 m/m = 0.1%.
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As an example, a normal strain of 480(10 ) can be reported as 480(10 ) (in./in.), 480 μm/m, or 0.048 %.
Also, one can state this answer as simply 480 μ (480 “micros”).
If we define the average normal strain using the symbol (ϵavg), then
∆𝑆 − ∆𝑆 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝛿𝐿
∈𝑎𝑣𝑔 = = =
∆𝑆 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝐿
ϵ or ϵavg is positive, the initial line will elongate, whereas if is negative, the line contracts.

Shear Strain, ɣ.
Is the change in angle that occurs between two line segments that
are originally perpendicular to one another (π/2) [i.e. the change in
the right angle]. It is always measured in radians (rad), which are
dimensionless.
𝜋 𝜋 𝜋
𝛾𝑛𝑡 = − lim 𝜃= −𝜃 𝐴𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝜃 = − 𝛾𝑛𝑡
2 𝐵→𝐴 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑛 2 2
𝐶→𝐴 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡
As an example, a shear strain of 1000 µ rad is equal to a strain 0.001 rad.
Notice that;
For 2D, if θ is smaller than (π/2) the shear strain ɣ is positive, whereas if θ is larger than (π/2) the
shear strain ɣ is negative. while,
For 3D the shear strain ɣ is positive when the angle between two positive faces (or two negative
faces) is reduced, and ɣ is negative if the angle is increased.
For 2D body-The loads, stresses and deformations are shown graphically below.

(a)- Normal Strain ϵx (b)- Normal Strain ϵy (a)- Shear Strain ɣxy

Note that the normal strains are produced by changes in length of the element in the x and y
directions, while shear strain is produced by the relative rotation of two adjacent sides of the element.

The body is subdivided into small elements. This element is rectangular, has undeformed
dimensions ∆x, ∆y, and ∆z is located in the neighborhood of a point in the body. In order to achieve this
deformed shape, we will first consider how the normal strain changes the lengths of the sides of the
rectangular element, and then how the shear strain changes the angles of each side. For example ∆x
elongates ϵx∆x, so its new length is (∆x + ϵx∆x) Therefore, the approximate lengths of the three sides of
the parallelepiped are:  (1+ ϵx) ∆x, (1+ ϵy) ∆y, (1+ ϵz) ∆z
π π π
And the approximate angles between these sides [i.e. 𝜃 ] are: − γxy , − γyz , − γxz
2 2 2
The cubic element subjected to a shear stress will deform into a rhomboid.  Rhombus, parallelogram
If ∆u is the change in body x dimension where ∆x is the original length, ∆ is the change in body y
dimension where ∆y is the original length and ∆w is the change in body z dimension where ∆z is the
original length, then
state of strain
In summary, the state of strain at a point in a body requires specifying three normal strains, ϵx, ϵy,
ϵz, and three shear strains ɣxy, ɣyz, ɣxz. These strains completely describe the deformation of a
rectangular volume element of material located at the point and oriented so that its sides are originally
parallel to the x, y, z axes. Provided these strains are defined at all points in the body, then the deformed
shape of the body can be determined.
In Matrix form:

or

A special state of strain known as plane strain exists if all strains in or acting on a given plane have a
zero value. You can often assume a state of plane strain in objects with one very long dimension (such
as the length or thickness), such as dams or thick-walled pipes.
In general, then, a plane-strained element is subjected to two components
of normal strain ϵx, ϵy, and one component of shear strain ɣxy, Although plane
strain and plane stress each have three components lying in the same plane,
realize that plane stress does not necessarily cause plane strain or vice-versa.

For example, if you determine that an element has a state of strain defined as normal strains of
εxx = 100μ, εyy = 0μ, and εzz = –200μ and shear strains of γxy = 0μ, γxz = +150μ, and γyz = 0μ, you know this
element is a plane strain element because all strains in the y-direction are all zero— that is, all strains
that contain a y subscript have a zero value.

Plane Stress vs.

Plane Strain

Small Strain Approximation

In particular, the normal strains occurring within the material are very small compared to 1, so that
ϵ ˂˂1. This assumption has wide practical application in engineering, and it is often referred to as a
small strain analysis. It can be used, for example, to approximate sin ɵ = ɵ, cos ɵ = 1, and tan ɵ = ɵ,
provided ɵ is very small. Small strain analysis may be used for strains less than 0.01.