STRENGTH OF M ATERIALS

1. INTRODUCTION
 Three main area of engineering: Statics, Dynamics and Strength of Materials
 Statics & Dynamics is “Study of external forces.”
 Bodies are assumed rigid
 Deflection can be ignored
 Strength of Materials is “Relation between externally applied loads and their internal
effects.”
 Bodies are no longer rigid
 Deflection no matter how small are of major interest
2. FORCE & MASS
 Mass = “Amount of matter” (kg)
 Force = Mass x Acceleration, F=ma. (Kg m/s2, N, lbs)
 Weight = Mass x Acceleration (due to gravity), F=mg, (g= 9.806 m/s2)
3. TYPES OF FORCES
 Tension (T)
 Compression (C)
 Shear Force (V)
 Torsion
4. STRESS
 This is a measure of the internal resistance in a material to an externally applied load.
 FA
 “Force per unit area” (N/m2, Pa, 1MPa = 1N/mm2)
5. TYPES OF STRESSES
 Tensile stress (+ve) is a loading that tends to produce stretching of a material by the
application of axially directed pulling forces. Any material which falls into the "elastic"
category can generally tolerate mild tensile stresses while materials such as ceramics and
brittle alloys are very susceptible to failure under the same conditions.
 Compressive stress (-ve) (or compression) is the stress state when the material (compression
member) tends to compact. A simple case of compression is the uniaxial compression
induced by the action of opposite, pushing forces.
 Shear stress (τ) is caused when a force is applied to produce a sliding failure of a material
along a plane that is parallel to the direction of the applied force. An example is cutting paper
with scissors.
 Shearing stresses are produced whenever the applied loads cause one section of the body to
slide past the adjacent section
 Flexural Stress is the stress that is produced by the bending of a member
6. TYPES OF SHEAR STRESS
6.1 Direct Shear Stress
 Stresses induced due to the forces acting along or parallel to the area being sheared
6.2 Types of Direct Shear Stress
 Single Shear Stress: Stress induced due to a force causing single area of cross-section being
sheared

(Resisting Area a-a)

P a a
P

D 2 V P 4P
Area a - a  ,    ,  
4 A  D 2  D 2
 
 4 
 

 Double Shear: Stress induced due to a force double area of cross section to be sheared

(Resisting Area
b-b & c-c)
P/2 b b
P
c c
P/2

D 2 V P 2P
Area b - b or c - c   2,    ,  
4 A  D 2  D 2
 
 2 
 

 Punching Shear: Stresses induced in a body when one part tries to punch into the other
P
Area of Shear   Dt ,
P
 
 Dt

t
6.3 Induced Shear Stresses
 Shear Stresses induced due to a force which is acting at an angle to the cross-sectional area
being sheared
F

7. FACTOR OF SAFETY
 Ultimate Strength is the stress measured at failure. For design purposes we have to make this
a safe stress in order to ensure safety of the structure
Ultimate Stress
Factor of Safety  FOS 
Safe Stress
Ultimate Stress
 Safe Stress 
FOS

8. DEFORMATION
 Deformation is a change in the shape or size of an object due to an applied force. This can be
a result of tensile (pulling) forces, compressive (pushing) forces, shear, bending or torsion
(twisting).
 As deformation occurs, internal inter-molecular forces arise which oppose the applied force.
If the applied force is not too large these forces may be sufficient to completely resist the
applied force, allowing the object to assume a new equilibrium state and to return to its
original state when the load is removed. A larger applied force may lead to a permanent
deformation of the object or even to its structural failure.
9. STRAIN
 It is defined as the ratio of the change in length to the original length expressed as a
percentage.

Change in length
%  100
Original length
L
 %  100
L

 An axially loaded bar undergoes a change in length, becoming longer when in tension and
shorter when in compression. In engineering this is not a measure of force but is a measure of
the deformation produced by the influence of stress. Because normal strain ε is the ratio of
two lengths, it is a dimensionless quantity; that is, it has no units
10 TYPES OF DEFORMATION
 Depending on the type of material, size and geometry of the object, and the forces applied,
various types of deformation may result.
10.1 Hooke's law
 Hooke's law of elasticity is an approximation that states that “the extension of a spring is in
direct proportion with the load added to it as long as this load does not exceed the elastic
limit.”
  E

 Where σ is the applied stress, E is a material constant called Young's modulus, and ε is the
resulting strain.
Stress σ (MPa)

Failure

Elastic Limit





Elastic range Plastic range Strain ε (%)

 This relationship only applies in the elastic range and indicates that the slope of the stress vs.
strain curve can be used to find Young's modulus. The elastic range ends when the material
reaches its yield strength. At this point plastic deformation begins.
10.2 Elastic deformation
 This type of deformation is reversible. Once the forces are no longer applied, the object
returns to its original shape. Soft thermoplastics and metals have moderate elastic
deformation ranges while ceramics, crystals, and hard thermosetting plastics undergo almost
no elastic deformation. Elastic deformation is governed by Hooke's law
10.3 Plastic Deformation
 This type of deformation is not reversible. However, an object in the plastic deformation
range will first have undergone elastic deformation, which is reversible, so the object will
return part way to its original shape