Mechanics of Materials

Chapter 2
Strain

Instructor: Twana A. Hussein

twana.ahmad@tiu.edu.iq
Fall Semester 2019-2020
Civil Engineering Dept.
Tishk International University
Deformation

 Whenever a force is applied to a body, it will tend to change

the body’s shape and size.
 These changes are referred to as deformation, and they may be
either highly visible or practically unnoticeable.
 For example, a rubber band will undergo a very large
deformation when stretched
 whereas only slight deformations of structural members occur
when a building is occupied by people walking about.
 Deformation

 Note the before and after positions of three

different line segments on this rubber
membrane which is subjected to tension.
 The vertical line is lengthened, the
horizontal line is shortened,
 the inclined line changes its length and
rotates.
 Strain

 When a single force or a system force acts on a body, it

undergoes some deformation.
 This deformation per unit length is known as strain.
 Mathematically strain may be defined as deformation per unit
length.
 So, Strain=Elongation/Original length
 Normal strain is a dimensionless quantity since it is a ratio of
two lengths.
 Horizontal ground
displacements caused by
an earthquake produced
excessive strains in these
bridge piers until they
fractured. The material
properties of the concrete
and steel reinforcement
must be known so that
engineers can properly
design this structure and
thereby avoid such
failures.
 Normal Strain
Engineering strain is useful because it is a measure of
deformation that is independent of the length of the
material.
Notice that strain is a unit less quantity, and we
occasionally refer to strain using percentages. (Don’t
forget the suitable conversion from percent to decimal
value, i.e. 0.1% = 0.001.)
 Normal Strain

 Average normal strain is defined as

 Δs'≈ (1+ε )Δs

 +ε: line elongate
 -ε : line contracts
Normal Strain
 Consider a sample of material of length L subjected to a force.
The force causes the material to deform such that it elongates
to a length L + u as shown in the figure below.

 The engineering strain for the material is given as

 Example 2.1:

 A 10cm piece of steel is subjected to a steadily increasing load

until it breaks. Just before it breaks, it is measured to have a
length 10.01cm. What was the strain of the material when it
broke?

 Solution
 Shear Strain.
 Deformations not only cause line segments to elongate or contract, but they
also cause them to change direction.
 If we select two line segments that are originally perpendicular to one
another, then the change in angle that occurs between these two line
segments is referred to as shear strain
 This angle is denoted by Ύ(gamma)
and is always measured in radians (rad),
which are dimensionless.
• The rubber bearing support
under this concrete bridge
girder is subjected to both
normal and shear strain.
• The normal strain is caused
by the weight and bridge
loads on the girder, and the
shear strain is caused by the
horizontal movement of the
girder due to temperature
changes.
 Example 2.2
• The rigid beam is supported by a pin at A and wires BD and
CE. If the load P on the beam causes the end C to be displaced
10 mm downward, determine the normal strain developed in
wires CE and BD.
• Solution:
Example 2.3

 The rigid beam is supported by a pin at A and wires BD and

CE. If the distributed load causes the end C to be displaced 10
mm downward, determine the normal strain developed in wires
CE and BD.
Example 2.3

 The plate is deformed into the dashed

shape. If, in this deformed shape, horizontal
lines on the plate remain horizontal and do
not change their length, determine (a) the
average normal strain along the side AB,
and (b) the average shear strain in the plate
relative to the x and y axes.
 Example 2.4

 Solution Part (a)

Line AB, coincident with the y axis, becomes line after
deformation, thus the length of this line is

The average normal strain for AB is therefore

The negative sign indicates the strain causes a

contraction of AB.
 Example 2.4

 Solution Part (b)

 As noted, the once 90° angle BAC between the sides of the
plate, referenced from the x, y axes, changes to θ’ due to the
displacement of B to B’.
 Stress and Strain
 Let us suppose that we want to measure the properties of a
material. We consider a bar with length L and cross sectional
area A.
 We subject it to a force and increase the load gradually until it
breaks.
 We measure that the beam elongated by a total distance of u
before it broke, and that the force required to break it was f .
 Stress and Strain

 But suppose someone comes along and tries to repeat the

experiment with a bar of the same material that has the same
length but a greater cross-sectional area. What happens?
 Stress and Strain

 The experimenter concludes that the force f does not break the bar, in fact,
it does not even produce the same elongation.
 Suppose that yet another experimenter attempts to repeat the experiment
with a bar of the same material and cross section, but different length.
What happens?
Thank you