CHAPTER 3

Elastic Moduli

CONTENTS
3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 31
3.2 Definition of stress .............................................................................. 33
3.3 Definition of strain .............................................................................. 36
3.4 Hooke’s law ......................................................................................... 38
3.5 Measurement of Young’s modulus .................................................... 38
3.6 Data for Young’s modulus .................................................................. 39
Worked Example 1 .................................................................................... 43
Worked Example 2 .................................................................................... 44
Examples ................................................................................................... 45
Answers ..................................................................................................... 46

3.1 INTRODUCTION
The next material property we will look at is the elastic modulus. This measures
the resistance of the material to elastic—or “springy”—deformation. Low mod-
ulus materials are floppy, and stretch a lot when they are pulled (squash down a
lot when pushed). High modulus materials are the opposite—they stretch very
little when pulled (squash down very little when pushed). As shown in
Figure 3.1, it is very easy to stretch a rubber band—it would be useless if you
couldn’t—but there is no way you could stretch a strip of steel of this cross-
section using you bare hands. Floppy materials like rubber are ideal for things
like bungee-jumping ropes, but would be catastrophic for something like the
deck hangers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (Figure 3.2)—the deck would
end up in the harbour! And steel—used for the Harbour Bridge precisely
because it is stiff in tension and doesn’t give—would kill any mountaineer
who was stupid enough to use steel wire rope for climbing protection; in a fall,
she/he would literally get cut in half by the shock loading. 31

Engineering Materials 1: An Introduction to Properties, Applications and Design, Fifth Edition. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102051-7.00003-8
© 2019, David R. H. Jones and Michael F. Ashby. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
32 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

FIGURE 3.1
Stretching of a rubber band.

FIGURE 3.2
The deck hangers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Note the scaffolding on the right hand side, ready for carrying the fireworks for the world
famous New Year’s Eve firework display. –35 51 14.40 S 151 12 51.66E
 3.2 Definition of Stress 33

However, before we can look at the modulus of the many and different engi-
neering materials, we need to understand what is meant by stress and strain.

3.2 DEFINITION OF STRESS

Imagine a block of material to which we apply a force F, as in Figure 3.3(a). The
force is transmitted through the block and is balanced by the equal, opposite
force which the base exerts on the block (if this were not so, the block would
move). We can replace the base by the equal and opposite force, F, which acts
on all sections through the block parallel to the original surface; the whole of
the block is said to be in a state of stress. The intensity of the stress, σ, is mea-
sured by the force F divided by the area, A, of the block face, giving
F
σ¼ (3.1)
A

This particular stress is caused by a force pulling at right angles to the face; we
call it the tensile stress.
Suppose now that the force acted not normal to the face but at an angle to it, as
shown in Figure 3.3(b). We can resolve the force into two components—one,
Ft, normal to the face and the other, Fs, parallel to it. The normal component
creates a tensile stress in the block. Its magnitude, as before, is Ft/A.

Ft F

Fs

Area A

F
Fs

F
F
Ft
F
Shear stress  = s
F A
F Ft
Tensile stress  = Tensile stress  =
A A
(a) (b)
FIGURE 3.3
Definitions of (a) tensile stress σ and (b) shear stress τ. (Note: balancing shear not shown.)
34 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

The other component, Fs, also loads the block, but it does so in shear. The shear
stress, τ, in the block parallel to the direction of Fs is given by
Fs
τ¼ (3.2)
A

The important point is that the magnitude of a stress is always equal to the mag-
nitude of a force divided by the area of the face on which it acts.

Ways of writing stress (SI metric system)

Forces are measured in newtons, so stresses are measured in units of newtons
per meter squared (N m–2). This has also been turned into a relatively new SI
unit—the pascal—written as Pa. So a stress might be written as 10 N m–2 (ten
newtons per square meter) or 10 Pa (ten pascals). Stresses in materials are usu-
ally sufficiently large that these basic SI units are too small, so the multiple of
mega (106) usually goes in front—for example 10 MN m–2 (ten mega-newtons
per square meter) or 10 MPa (ten mega-pascals).
Finally, a mega-newton per square meter is the same as a newton per square mil-
limeter—for example 10 N mm–2 is the same as 10 MN m–2. You can do this in
your head—a square meter has an area that is larger than that of a square mil-
limeter by (103)2 ¼ 106.

Common states of stress

There are four commonly occurring states of stress, shown in Figure 3.4. The
simplest is that of simple tension or compression (as in a tension member loaded
by pin joints at its ends or in a pillar supporting a structure in compression).
The stress is, of course, the force divided by the section area of the member
or pillar. The second common state of stress is that of biaxial tension. If a spher-
ical shell (e.g. a balloon) contains an internal pressure, then the skin of the shell
is loaded in two directions not one, as shown in Figure 3.4. This state of stress is
called biaxial tension (unequal biaxial tension is obviously the state in which
the two tensile stresses are unequal). The third common state of stress is that of
hydrostatic pressure. This occurs deep in the Earth’s crust, or deep in the ocean,
when a solid is subjected to equal compression on all sides.
There is a convention that stresses are positive when they pull, as we have drawn
them in earlier figures. Pressure, however, is positive when it pushes, so that the
magnitude of the pressure differs from the magnitude of the other stresses in its
sign. Otherwise it is defined in exactly the same way as before: the force divided
by the area on which it acts. The final common state of stress is that of pure shear.
If you try to twist a tube, then elements of it are subjected to pure shear, as
shown. This shear stress is simply the shearing force divided by the area of
the face on which it acts.
 3.2 Definition of Stress 35



Area A Area A

 

F
F
F
Simple tension,  =
F Simple compression,  =
A A

 

p
p
p
p
p
p
F
Biaxial tension,  = Hydrostatic pressure, p = – F
A A

Fs
Pure shear,  =
A
FIGURE 3.4
Common states of stress: tension, compression, hydrostatic pressure, and shear.
36 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

3.3 DEFINITION OF STRAIN

Materials respond to stress by straining. Under a given stress, a stiff material
(e.g., aluminum) strains only slightly; a floppy or compliant material (e.g.,
polyethylene) strains much more. The modulus of the material describes this
property, but before we can measure it, or even define it, we must define strain
properly.
The kind of stress that we called a tensile stress induces a tensile strain. If the
stressed cube of side L shown in Figure 3.5(a) extends by an amount u parallel
to the tensile stress, the nominal tensile strain is
u
εn ¼ (3.3)
L

When it strains in this way, the cube usually gets thinner. The amount by which
it shrinks inwards is described by Poisson’s ratio, υ, which is the negative of the
ratio of the inward strain to the original tensile strain:
lateral strain
υ¼
tensile strain

(Figure 3.1 shows the rubber band getting narrower when it is stretched—this is
a good illustration of the Poisson’s ratio effect. In fact, we know that the rubber
band has been stretched because it has got narrower! What you can’t of course
see from Figure 3.1 is that the rubber band has also got thinner.)
A shear stress induces a shear strain. If a cube shears sideways by an amount w
then the shear strain is defined by
w
γ¼ ¼ tanθ (3.4)
L

where θ is the angle of shear and L is the edge-length of the cube (Figure 3.5(b)).
Since the elastic strains are almost always very small, we may write, to a good
approximation,
γ¼θ

Finally, hydrostatic pressure induces a volume change called dilatation, as

shown in Figure 3.5(c). If the volume change is ΔV and the cube volume is
V, we define the dilatation by
ΔV
Δ¼ (3.5)
V

Since strains are the ratios of two lengths or of two volumes, they are
dimensionless.
 3.3 Definition of Strain 37

u
u
2 Nominal tensile strain, en =
L

L
v
Nominal lateral strain, en =
u L
2

lateral strain
Poisson’s ratio,  = –
v v tensile strain
2  2
(a)

w  w Engineering shear strain,

w
 = = tan
L
≈ q for small strains
 L


(b)

p
Dilatation (volume strain)
ΔV
ΔV D=
V

p V –ΔV p

p
(c)
FIGURE 3.5
Definitions of tensile strain, εn, shear strain, γ, and dilatation, Δ.
38 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

3.4 HOOKE’S LAW

We can now define the elastic moduli. They are defined through Hooke’s law,
which is a description of the experimental observation that—when strains are
small—the strain is proportional to the stress; the behavior of the solid is linear
elastic. The nominal tensile strain, for example, is proportional to the tensile
stress; for simple tension
σ ¼ Eεn (3.6)

where E is called Young’s modulus. The same relationship also holds for stresses
and strains in simple compression.
In the same way, the shear strain is proportional to the shear stress, with
τ ¼ Gγ (3.7)

where G is the shear modulus. Finally, the negative of the dilatation is propor-
tional to the pressure (because positive pressure causes a shrinkage of volume)
so that
p ¼ KΔ (3.8)

where K is called the bulk modulus. Because strain is dimensionless, the moduli
have the same dimensions as those of stress.
This linear relationship between stress and strain is a very useful one when cal-
culating the response of a solid to stress, but it must be remembered that many
solids are elastic only to very small strains: up to about 0.002. Beyond that some
break and some become plastic—and this we will discuss in later chapters. A
few solids, such as rubber, are elastic up to very much larger strains of order
4 or 5, but they cease to be linearly elastic (that is the stress is no longer propor-
tional to the strain) after a strain of about 0.01.
We defined Poisson’s ratio as the ratio of the lateral shrinkage strain to the ten-
sile strain. This quantity is also an elastic constant, so altogether we have four
elastic constants: E, G, K and υ. In a moment when we give data for the elastic
constants we list data only for E. But for many materials it is useful to know that
3
K  E, G  E and υ  0:33 (3.9)
8

(although for some the relationship can be more complicated).

3.5 MEASUREMENT OF YOUNG’S MODULUS

How is Young’s modulus measured? This requires both stress and strain to be
measured with enough accuracy. In the case of metals, because they are stiff,
 3.6 Data for Young’s Modulus 39

either the strain needs to be measured very accurately, or there needs to be some
way of magnifying it. So we could load a bar of material in tension or compres-
sion, having first glued strain gauges to its surface, and use the amplified
electrical signal from them to measure the strain.
Floppy materials, like the lower modulus thermoplastics, rubbers and foamed
polymers can be tested in tension or compression, reading the strain directly
from the movement of the testing machine. However, care needs to be taken
that any deflection of the machine itself is allowed for, and also that there is
no other source of non-elastic strain like creep. For such materials, the rate at
which the specimen is strained will often have a significant effect on the mod-
ulus values calculated from the test.
Finally, we can measure the velocity of sound in the material. The velocity of
longitudinal waves is given by
 1=2
Eð1  υÞ
VL ¼
ρð1 + υÞð1  2υÞ

where ρ is the material density. The velocity of shear (transverse) waves is given
by
 1=2
G
VT ¼
ρ

The equation

1  2ðVT =VL Þ2
υ¼
2  2ðVT =VL Þ2

gives the value of Poisson’s ratio. An electronic pulser-receiver is placed in con-

tact with one end face of a short solid cylinder of the material. The times of
travel of longitudinal and shear waves over the known distance are measured
electronically, and used to determine VL and VT.

3.6 DATA FOR YOUNG’S MODULUS

Now for some real numbers. Table 3.1 is a ranked list of Young’s modulus of
materials—we will use it later in solving problems and in selecting materials for
particular applications. Modulus values are often large, so we typically use a
multiple of 109 (giga) on stress when we list values. For example, E for steel
is 200 GN m–2 (200 giga-newtons per square meter), or 200 GPa (200 giga-
pascals). In Table 3.1, diamond is at the top, with a modulus of 1000 GPa; soft
rubbers and foamed polymers are at the bottom with moduli as low as
0.001 GPa.
40 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

Table 3.1 Data for Young’s Modulus, E

Material E (GN m–2)

Diamond 1000
Tungsten carbide, WC 450–650
Osmium 551
Cobalt/tungsten carbide cermets 400–530
Borides of Ti, Zr, Hf 450–500
Silicon carbide, SiC 430–445
Boron 441
Tungsten and alloys 380–411
Alumina, Al2O3 385–392
Beryllia, BeO 375–385
Titanium carbide, TiC 370–380
Tantalum carbide, TaC 360–375
Molybdenum and alloys 320–365
Niobium carbide, NbC 320–340
Silicon nitride, Si3N4 280–310
Beryllium and alloys 290–318
Chromium 285–290
Magnesia, MgO 240–275
Cobalt and alloys 200–248
Zirconia, ZrO2 160–241
Nickel 214
Nickel alloys 130–234
CFRP 70–200
Iron 196
Iron-based super-alloys 193–214
Ferritic steels, low-alloy steels 196–207
Stainless austenitic steels 190–200
Mild steel 200
Cast irons 170–190
Tantalum and alloys 150–186
Platinum 172
Uranium 172
Boron/epoxy composites 80–160
Copper 124
Copper alloys 120–150
Mullite 145
Vanadium 130
Titanium 116
Titanium alloys 80–130
Palladium 124
Brasses and bronzes 103–124
 3.6 Data for Young’s Modulus 41

Table 3.1 Data for Young’s Modulus, E—Cont’d

Material E (GN m–2)

Niobium and alloys 80–110

Silicon 107
Zirconium and alloys 96
Silica glass, SiO2 (quartz) 94
Zinc and alloys 43–96
Gold 82
Calcite (marble, limestone) 70–82
Aluminum 69
Aluminum alloys 69–79
Silver 76
Soda glass 69
Alkali halides (NaCl, LiF, etc.) 15–68
Granite (Westerly granite) 62
Tin and alloys 41–53
Concrete, cement 30–50
Fiberglass (glass-fiber/epoxy) 35–45
Magnesium and alloys 41–45
GFRP 7–45
Calcite (marble, limestone) 31
Graphite 27
Shale (oil shale) 18
Common woods, k to grain 9–16
Lead and alloys 16–18
Alkyds 14–17
Ice, H2O 9.1
Melamines 6–7
Polyimides 3–5
Polyesters 1.8–3.5
Acrylics 1.6–3.4
Nylon 2–4
PMMA 3.4
Polystyrene 3–3.4
Epoxies 2.6–3
Polycarbonate 2.6
Common woods, ? to grain 0.6–1.0
Polypropylene 0.9
PVC 0.2–0.8
Polyethylene, high density 0.7
Polyethylene, low density 0.2
Rubbers 0.01–0.1
Cork 0.01–0.03
Foamed polymers 0.001–0.01
42 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

You can, of course, make special materials with lower moduli—jelly, for
instance, has a modulus of about 10–6 GPa. Practical engineering materials
lie in the range 10–3 to 103 GPa—a range of 106. This is the range you have
to choose from when selecting a material for a given application.
A good perspective of the spread of moduli is given by the bar chart shown in
Figure 3.6 (see page 41). Ceramics and metals—even the floppiest of them, like
lead—lie near the top of this range. Polymers and elastomers are more compli-
ant, the common ones (polyethylene, PVC and polypropylene) lying several
orders of magnitude lower. Composites span the range between polymers
and ceramics.

Ceramics Metals Polymers Composites

103
Diamond
Osmium Upper limit
WC, SiC Cermets
Al2O3, Si3N4 Tungsten
MgO Molybdenum
ZrO2 Chromium CFRPs
Mullite Nickel
102 Silica Iron + Steel
Soda glass Copper
Alkali halides Titanium Fiberglass
Cement Aluminum
Concrete Zinc GFRPs
Graphite Tin
Magnesium Alkyds
10 Woods,
Ice Lead
Melamines II grain
Polyimides
PMMA
Polystyrene
E (GN m−2)

Nylon
Epoxy Woods,
1
(High density) ⊥ grain
Polyethylene

(Low density)

10−1 Polypropylene

Rubbers

PVC
10−2
Foamed
polymers

10−3

FIGURE 3.6
Bar chart of data for Young’s modulus, E.
 Worked Example 1 43

To understand the origin of the modulus, why it has the values it does, why
many polymers are much less stiff than metals, and what we can do about
it, we have to examine the structure of materials, and the nature of the forces hold-
ing the atoms together. In the next two chapters we will examine these, and then
return to the modulus, and to our bar chart, with new understanding.

WORKED EXAMPLE 1
As we said in Section 3.2, the basic unit of stress (force divided by area) in the SI
metric system is N m–2 (newtons per square meter), also written as Pa (pascal).
Materials stresses are usually quoted in units of 106  N m–2 or 106  Pa, and
written as MN m–2 (mega-newtons per square meter), or MPa (mega-pascals).
Before SI was adopted, the old metric system of “mks” (meter-kilogram-sec-
ond) gave stresses in units of kg mm–2 (kilograms per square millimeter),
and many older books quote stresses in this unit, or related units such as
kg cm–2. The kilogram is a closely guarded lump of platinum alloy kept in
a vault in Paris, and all kilogram weights are traced back to it. It is not a force
at all, but a mass. The newton is defined as the force, which, when applied to
this lump of platinum (free of any air resistance, or gravitational pulls—in
deep space, if you like), would make it accelerate at the rate of 1 m s–2.
Newton’s equation, F ¼ ma, gives the correct numbers automatically provided
you use the basic SI units of N, kg and m s–2 for F, m and a. (This is partic-
ularly important in any problem involving mechanical vibrations, as we will
see when we come to Chapter 7.)
This takes us to the magic number of 9.807 (m s–2), which is an agreed “stan-
dard” value of the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth’s surface (referred to as
“gS”). Then, if our mass of 1 kg is placed at the Earth’s surface, by Newton’s equa-
tion it will be pulled toward the center of the Earth with a force F ¼ ma, where
F (newtons) ¼ 1 (kg)  9.807 (m s–2) ¼ 9.807 (newtons).
In the mks system, the basic force unit is not the kg (which is a unit of mass), but
the force unit of kgf (kilogram-force), which is the force with which a mass of 1 kg
is pulled toward the Earth’s surface by the “standard” gS of 9.807 m s–2. If you see
stress units quoted in kg mm–2, this always implies that the units are really kgf mm–2,
where 1 kgf ¼ 9.807 N. You may wonder why we are so careful about distin-
guishing between kg and kgf, but actually, if you place a 1-kg mass on top of
a square millimeter at the top of Everest (sea level plus 29,000 feet), you get
a slightly smaller stress than at sea level, because the value of g decreases with
distance from the center of the Earth. And in deep space, placing a 1 kg mass on
top of a square millimeter generates zero stress (assuming that the spacecraft is
traveling at constant velocity and is not rotating).
44 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

The same arguments hold for the basic “English” unit of mass, the pound (lb),
which is always assumed to be a lbf (pound-force) when it is used in a stress
unit such as pounds per square inch (1 lbf ¼ 4.448 N).
The tables given inside the front and back covers of this book give the conver-
sions between SI, mks, and English units of force, mass, length, and stress/
pressure. We have already seen that 1 kgf ¼ 9.807 N, and 1 lbf ¼ 4.448 N.
The other derived units of force (long tonf ¼ 2240 lbf, and short tonf ¼
2000 lbf) follow straightforwardly. 1" (inch) ¼ 25.4 mm, and the other derived
English units of foot (12"), yard (36") and statute mile (1760 yards) follow
straightforwardly. 1 lbf in–2 ¼ 6.89  10–3 MN m–2, 1 kgf mm–2 ¼ 9.81 MN m–2,
and 1 long tonf in–2 ¼ 15.44 MN m–2. However, if you are exclusively using
English units, you need to be very careful in any problems involving Newton’s
equation F ¼ ma. Remember that g ¼ 32.175 ft s–2 instead of 9.807 m s–2, and be
sure to put acceleration in ft s–2 units.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2
When working with pressures, mega units are usually too large, and a multiplier
of 103 (kilo) is used instead, giving units of kN m–2 (kilo-newtons per square
meter) or kPa (kilo-pascals). These multiples of 103 and 106 are “preferred”
multiples in the SI system (as are any multiples or submultiples of the kind
103n, where n is a positive or negative integer). Other multiples or submultiples
are permitted, but their use is discouraged. A good example of this is the pres-
sure unit “bar,” where 1 bar ¼ 10–1 Pa. The reason for the discouragement is
that the bar does not show the “basic” SI units in the pressure (N and m), which
would be a problem when analyzing accelerating fluid flow.
In many fields of engineering, and also in daily life, nonpreferred metric units,
and English units are still extensively used. For example, the global standard for
sea and air navigation still uses the nautical mile (now defined as 1852 meters,
or 1/60th of one degree of latitude on the Earth’s surface) and also the “knot”
(one nautical mile per hour). And the “standard” railway gauge across most of
the world is still 4’ 81/2" (equivalent to 1435 mm). In the US, engineering still
makes extensive use of tons, pounds, feet, inches, and “thous” (thousandths of
an inch). Whatever one thinks of this multiplicity of units, they will be with us
for a long time yet, so it is important to be aware of them, and know how to
convert between them.
As an example in everyday life, tire pressures in many countries are given in bar,
or sometimes kPa, but in the US and UK they are given in pounds per square
inch (psi). The bar is a nice unit because (by coincidence) it is very nearly the
same as atmospheric pressure at sea level. “Standard” atmospheric pressure ¼
1.013 bar, or 1013 mbar (millibars)—the weather forecast radioed to ships
 Examples 45

might comfortingly say something like “one thousand and fifty millibars and
rising” as an indication of good weather. A typical tire pressure on an automo-
bile might be 2.0 bar, or the equivalent SI pressure of 200 kPa, or 30 psi. People
get used to the units, which they grew up with, but an advantage of using psi is
its “implied accuracy” of  1 psi. This is the same as the typical error in pressure
gauge readings, and also the pressure variation that can be detected in the han-
dling of the vehicle. 2 bar, while easy to remember, needs to be expressed to one
decimal place (e.g., 2.0, 2.1, 2.2) for sufficient accuracy. And 200 kPa has an
implied accuracy (1 kPa) which is 7 times too fine. This question of implied
accuracy (either too fine, or too coarse, or just right) is one that tends to get
overlooked when considering which units are best for a particular application.
A final consideration is that changing units from one system to another is
fraught with risk and expense. One only has to look at this example to see why:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter
This space probe, costing $323M, crashed because of a mix-up between pounds
and newtons!

EXAMPLES
3.1 A steel bolt 12 mm in diameter carries a tensile load of 2 tonne (2 metric tons,
or 2  1,000 kg). What is the stress in the bolt in MPa? (Use the conversion from
kg to N given in the front cover table.)
3.2 A steel bolt 1/2" (0.5 inch) in diameter carries a tensile load of 2 long tons
(2  2240 lb). What is the stress in the bolt in (i) psi, (ii) MPa? (Use the relevant
conversion factors given in the front and back cover tables.)
3.3 (Engineers in the US often find it convenient to express stress in units of “ksi,”
or kilo-pounds per square inch, where 1 ksi ¼ 1,000 psi. In this case, the
answer to Example 3.2(i) would be quoted as 22.8 ksi—rounding down from
22.816 to 22.8 gives sufficient accuracy for engineering purposes.)
A high-tensile steel bolt has a maximum working stress of 60 ksi. What is
this stress in N mm–2? (Use the relevant conversion factors given in the front or
back cover tables.)
3.4 Calculate the hydrostatic pressure (in tonne m–2) at the bottom of a swimming
pool 2 m deep. The density of water is approximately 1 gram per cubic
centimeter (1 g cm–3).
3.5 Referring to the box spanner in Figure 3.4, a torque of 90 lb-ft (pounds  feet) is
applied to the handles. The tubular cross section of the spanner measures 1"
(inch) diameter (¼ 2r) by 1/16" wall thickness (¼ t). Calculate the shear stress τ
in the tube wall in MPa. (Use the relevant conversion factors given in the front
and back cover tables.) Hint: the reacting torque Τ in the tube cross section is
given by Fs  r, where Fs is the shear force in the tube cross section.
46 C HA PT E R 3 : Elastic Moduli

3.6 A metal rod 100 cm long is stretched in tension by 1 mm. What is the nominal
tensile strain?
3.7 In Example 3.6, Poisson’s ratio for the metal is 0.3. The initial diameter of the
rod is 10 mm. Calculate the reduction in diameter when the rod is stretched.
3.8 A cube of polymer foam of side 10 cm is sheared as shown in Figure 3.5(b). The
shear displacement w is 1 mm. Calculate the engineering shear strain.
3.9 A cube of closed-cell (waterproof) polymer foam of side 100 mm is immersed in
water to a given depth. The sides of the cube decrease by 1 mm as a result.
Calculate the dilatation.
3.10 Young’s modulus for steel is 200 GN m–2. Calculate the tensile stress required
to produce a tensile strain of 0.1%.
3.11 Calculate the shear stress required to produce a shear strain of 0.1% in steel.
3.12 With reference to Example 3.9, calculate the pressure (in units of bar) acting on
the cube of foam at the given depth. Assume that Young’s modulus for the foam
is 0.005 GPa. Also estimate the depth of the water. (Use the conversion from
MN m–2 to bar given in the back cover table. Also use other relevant conversion
factors given in the front cover table.) Hint: see Example 3.4.
3.13 A cylindrical test piece of metal 5 mm in diameter is loaded in tension to 600 kg.
Strain gauges glued to the surface of the test piece register a strain of 0.00435
at this load. Calculate Young’s modulus for the metal. Compare your value with
the values for E in Table 3.1, and say what the metal is likely to be.
3.14 A strain gauge is glued on to the surface of an aluminum bridge girder. A heavy
vehicle is then driven across the bridge, causing the strain gauge reading to
increase by 0.0005. Calculate the change in stress caused by the vehicle.
3.15 In order to minimize mistakes when reading or recording small strains, strain
gauge outputs are often given as “microstrain,” or strain  10–6. Rewrite the
strain of 0.0005 as microstrain.
3.16 Explain why the units of strain are dimensionless. Use this to explain why the
units of elastic moduli are stress units. Why are moduli usually given in GPa,
whereas stress units are usually given in MPa?
3.17 Figure 3.1 shows that when you stretch a rubber band, it gets narrower. Why
does this happen? Does the rubber band also get thinner? If so, why?

ANSWERS
3.1 173 MPa.
3.2 (i) 22,816 psi; (ii) 157 MPa.
3.3 414 N mm–2.
3.4 2 tonne m–2.
3.5 76 MPa.
3.6 1  10–3, or 0.1 %.
3.7 0.003 mm, or 3 μm.
 Answers 47

3.8 0.01, or 1%.

3.9 –0.03, or –3%.
3.10 200 MN m–2.
3.11 75 MPa.
3.12 1.5 bar, 15.3 m.
3.13 69 GPa; aluminum (or one of its alloys).
3.14 34.5 MPa.
3.15 500 microstrain.
3.16 Because the elastic limit for many materials occurs at small strain (around
0.002 for most metals).
3.17 Because of Poisson’s ratio—see Figure 3.5(a). Yes. Poisson’s ratio again.