Practice Problems

1. A copper bar is 900 mm long and circular in section. It consist of 200mm long bar of 40 mm diameter, 500
mm long bar of 15 mm diameter and 200 mm long bar of 30 mm diameter. If the bar is subjected to a
tensile load of 60 KN, find the total extension of the bar. Take E= 100 GPa.
2. A stepped bar ABCD consists of three parts AB, BC, and CD such that AB is 300 mm long and 20 mm
diameter, BC is 400 mm long and 30 mm diameter and CD is 200 mm Long and 40 mm diameter. It was
observed that the stepped bar undergoes a deformation of 0.42 mm when subjected to a compressive
load P. Find the value of P, if E= 200 GPa.
3. A prismatic bar ABCD has built-in ends A and D. It is subjected to two point loads P1 and P2 equal to 80kN
and 40 kN at B and C as shown in the Figure below:

4. In an experiment an alloy bar 1 m long and 20mmx20mm is section was tested to increase through
0.1mm, when subjected to an axial tensile load of 6.4 KN. If the value of bulk modulus for bar is 133 GPa,
find the value of Poisson’s ratio.
5. A round bar 40 mm diameter is subjected to an axial load pull of 80kN and reduction in diameter of found
to be 0.00775 mm. Find the Poisson’s ratio and young’s modulus for the material of the bar. Take the
shear modulus as 40 GPa.
6. A piece of material is subjected to three mutually perpendicular tensile stresses and the strains in the
three directions are in the ratio 3: 4: 5. If the value of Poisson’s ratio is 0.2875, find the ratio of the
stresses and their values when the greatest stress is 90 N/mm2.

7. A circular bar 2.5 m long tapers uniformly from 25 mm dia to 12 mm diameter. Determine extension of
the rod under a pull of 30kN. Take E= 200 GPa.
8. A copper rod, circular in cross-section, uniformly tapers from 40 mm to 20 mm in a length of 11 m. Find
the magnitude of force, which will deform it by 0.8 mm. Take E= 100 GPa.
9. A rectangular bar 2 m long and 12.5 mm thick uniformly tapers from 100 mm to one end to 20 mm at the
other. If the bar is subjected to a tensile force of 25 kN, find the deformation. Take E= 200 GPa.
10. The following data refers to a tensile test conducted on a mild steel bar.
a. Diameter of the bar = 30 mm
b. Gauge length = 200 mm
c. Extension at a load of 100 kN = 0.139 mm
d. Load at elastic limit = 230 kN
e. Maximum load = 360 kN
f. Total extension = 56 mm
g. Diameter of rod at a failure = 22.25 mm
Calculate the Young’s modulus of elasticity, Stress at elastic limit, percentage of elongation and
percentage of decrease in area.
11. The following data refer to a mild steel specimen tested in a laboratory:
a. Diameter of the specimen = 25 mm
b. Length of the specimen = 300 mm
c. Extension under the load of 15 kN = 0.045 mm
d. Load at yield point = 127.65 kN
e. Maximum load = 208.60 kN
f. Length of the specimen after failure = 375 mm
g. Neck diameter = 17.75 mm
Determine the Young’s modulus, yield point, ultimate stress, percentage of elongation, percentage of
reduction in area and safe stress adopting factor of safety of 2.
12. A rigid bar AB is supported by three bars in the same vertical plane and is equidistant from each other as
shown in the figure (a). The outer bars are made of steel, 2.5 cm diameter and 50 cm long each. The
central bar is made of brass and is 75 cm long and 2 cm diameter. Calculate the forces in the bars due to
an applied force of 150 kN, assuming that AB remains horizontal after the load is applied. Take E s= 210
GPa and Eb = 105 GPa.

Figure (a) Figure (b)

13. Two vertical wires are suspended at a distance of 30 cm apart as shown in the figure(b). Their upper ends
are firmly secured and their lower ends support a rigid horizontal bar which carries a load of 2500N. The
left hand wire has a diameter of 5 mm and is made of copper. The right hand wire has a diameter of 1.5
cm and is made of steel. Both are 5 cm long initially.
a. Determine where the load of 2500N should be kept so that both the wires will extend by the same
amount.
b. Determine also the load, stresses and extension of each wire due to the load of 2500 N. Neglect the
weight of the horizontal bar.
14. A rigid beam carrying a load of 30 kN is simply supported by three bars as shown below: All the bars are of
the same area A and same length L. Find the load carried by each bar. Neglecting the weight of the beam.
Take Es = 2Eb.