Triaxial Stress State


(+ve sense shown)
3D Principal – Triaxial Stress

 max   int   min

 3   2  1
 3D Stress – Principal Stresses
The three principal stresses are obtained as the
three real roots of the following equation:

 3  I1 2  I 2  I 3  0
where

I1   x   y   z
I 2   x y   x z   y z   xy2   xz2   yz2
I 3   x y z  2 xy xz yz         
2
x yz
2
y xz
2
z xy

I1, I2, and I3 are known as stress invariants as

they do not change in value when the axes are
rotated to new positions.
Stress Invariants for Principal Stress
I1   1   2   3
I 2   1 2   2 3   1 3
I 3   1 2 3
Zero shear stress on
principal planes
I1   x   y   z
I 2   x y   x z   y z   xy2   xz2   yz2
I 3   x y z  2 xy xz yz         
2
x yz
2
y xz
2
z xy
 Mohr’s Circle?
• There is no Mohr’s circle solution for
problems of triaxial stress state
• Solution for maximum principal stresses
and maximum shear stress is analytical
• Either closed form solution or numerical
solution (or computer program) are used to
solve the eigenvalue problem.
 Maximum Shear Stresses
Absolute max shear stress is the numerically larger of:
1   2 1   3 2 3
 max,3    max,2    max,1  
2 2 2
y’z’, absmax

x’y’
y’z’
1 2 3

Normal
Stress, 
 3D Mohr’s Circle – Plane Stress
A Case Study – The two principal stresses are of the same sign

1 2 3



 3D Mohr’s Circle – Plane Stress
A Case Study – The two principal stresses are of opposite sign

1 2 3



Example:

For the following state of stress, find the principal and critical values.

y 80 MPa
 120 50 0
 
 ij   50 80 0 MPa 50 MPa
 
 0 0 0

Tensor shows that: 120 MPa

z = 0 and  xz =  yz = 0

x
 The other 2 faces:

y 80 MPa x 120 MPa

0 MPa 0 MPa

0 MPa 0 MPa

z
z
 3-D Mohr’s Circles
max = 77 MPa
80

60 H
40
Shear Stress, MPa

20
0

-20
-40
V
-60
-80
-25 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175
Normal Stress (MPa)
Example: triaxial stress state, not
plane stress
• Determine the maximum principal stresses
and the maximum shear stress for the
following triaxial stress state. (+ve values as
defined in slide 1)

 20 40  30
  40 30 25  MPa
 
 30 25  10 
Solution
 x  xy  zx   20 40  30
  
 xy  y  zy    40 30 25 
  MPa
 zx  yz  z   30 25  10 
 

  I1  I 2  I 3  0
3 2

I1   x   y   z = 20 + 30 –10 = 40 MPa
I 2   x y   x z   y z   xy2   xz2   yz2 = -3025 MPa
I 3   x y z  2 xy xz yz         
2
x yz
2
y xz
2
z xy

= 89500 MPa
Solve
 Solution to Exam ple
600000

400000
26.5 MPa
-51.8 MPa
200000
Sigm a (MPa)

0
-1 0 0 -8 0 -6 0 -4 0 -2 0 0 20 40 60 80 100

-200000
65.3 MPa

-400000

-600000

-800000
Stress (MPa)

Open the Exel Spreadsheet “triaxial stress.xls” for a template to

solve the cubic eqn.
 Results

 3  65.3MPa
 2  26.5MPa
 1  51.8MPa
 max  1 / 2(65.3  51.8)
 58.5MPa
 Mohr’s circles
Shear (MPa)
y’z’, absmax=58.5

2=26.5

1= -51.8 3=63.5

Normal
Stress, MPa
 Safety Factor?
If the stress state was determined on a steel crankshaft, made of forged
SAE1045 steel with a yield strength of 300 MPa, what is the factor of
safety against yield?

1. Tresca Criterion: max= 58.5 MPa

Sy 300
FS    2.6
2 max 2(58.5)

2. Max Principal Stress Criterion: max= 63.5 MPa

Sy 300
FS    4.6
2 max 65.3
  3  65.3MPa
3. Von Mises Criterion:  2  26.5MPa
 1  51.8MPa

e 
1
 
( 1   2 )  ( 2   3 )  ( 3   1 )
2 2 2 1/ 2

2
e 
1

(51.8  26.5)  (26.5  65.3)  (65.3  (51.8))
2 2

2 1/ 2

2
=103.31 MPa

Sy 300
FS    2.9
 e 103.3