INTRODUCTIO

N OF
STRESS

& STRAIN
 Load is defined as the set of external forces
acting on a mechanism or engineering structure
which arise from service conditions in which the
components work
 Common loads in engineering applications are
tension and compression
 Tension:- Direct pull. Eg:Force present in lifting
hoist
 Compression:- Direct push. Eg:- Force acting on
the pillar of a building
 Sign convention followed: Tensile forces are
positive and compressive negative
 There are a number of different ways in which
load can be applied to a member. Typical loading
types are:
 A) Dead/ Static load- Non fluctuating forces
generally caused by gravity
 B) Live load- Load due to dynamic effect. Load
exerted by a lorry on a bridge
 C) Impact load or shock load- Due to sudden
blows
 D) Fatigue or fluctuating or alternating loads:
Magnitude and sign of the forces changing with
time
 When a material is subjected to an external
force, a resisting force is set up within the
component, this internal resistance force per unit
area is called stress. SI unit is N/m²(Pa).
1kPa=1000Pa, 1MPa=10^6 Pa, 1 Gpa=10^9Pa, 1
Terra Pascal=10^12 Pa
 In engineering applications, we use the
the original cross section area of the specimen
and it is known as conventional stress or
Engineering stress
 When a body is subjected to some external
force, there is some change of dimension of the body.
The ratio of change of dimension of the body to its
original dimension is known as strain
 Strain is a dimensionless quantity
 Strain may be:- a) Tensile strain b) Compressive
strain c) Volumetric strain d) Shear strain
 Tensile strain- Ratio of increase in length to original
length of the body when it is subjected to a pull force
 Compressive strain- Ratio of decrease in length to
original length of the body when it is subjected to a
push force
 Volumetric strain- Ratio of change of volume of the
body to the original volume
 Shear strain-Strain due to shear stress
 Direct stress may be normal stress or shear
stress
 Normal stress (σ) is the stress which acts in
direction perpendicular to the area. Normal stress
is further classified into tensile stress
 Tensile stress is the stress induced in a
body, when it is subjected to two equal and
opposite pulls (tensile forces) as a result of which
there is a tendency in increase in length
 It acts normal to the area and pulls on the area
 Consider a bar subjected to a tensile force P at its
ends. Let
A= Cross sectional area of the body
L=Original length of the body
dL= Increase in length of the body due to its pull
P
ς= Stress induced in the body
e= Tensile strain
Consider a section X-X which divides the body into
two halves
 The left part of the section x-x, will be in
equilibrium if P=R (Resisting force). Similarly the
right part of the section x-x will be in equilibrium if
P=R (Resisting force)
 Tensile stress (ς)= Resisting force/ Cross sectional
area= Applied force/Cross sectional area=P/A
 Tensile strain= Increase in length/Original length= dL/L
 Compressive stress:- Stress induced in a body, when
subjected to two equal and opposite pushes as a
result of which there is a tendency of decrease in
length of the body
 It acts normal to the area and it pushes on the area
 In some cases the loading situation is such that the
stress will vary across any given section. In such
cases the stress at any given point is given by
 ς= Lt ΔA 0 ΔP/ ΔA= dP/dA= derivative of force w.r.t
area
 Compressive stress=Resisting force/ cross sectional
area= Applied force/ cross sectional area
 Compressive strain= Decrease in length/ Original length= -
dL/L
 Sign convention for direct stress and strain:- Tensile
stresses and strains are considered positive in sense
producing an increase in length. Compressive stresses
and strains are considered negative in sense producing
decrease in length
 Shear stress :- Stress Induced in a body, when
subjected to two equal and opposite forces which
are acting tangentially across the resisting
section as a result of which the body tends to
shear off across that section
 Consider a rectangular block of height h, length L
and width unity. Let the bottom face AB of the
block be fixed to the surface as shown. Let P be
the tangential force applied along top face CD of
the block. For the equilibrium of the block, the
surface AB will offer a tangential reaction force R
which is equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction to the applied tangential force P
 Consider a section X-X cut parallel to the applied force
which splits rectangle into two parts

 For the upper part to be in equilibrium; Applied force

P=Resisting force R
 For the lower part to be in equilibrium; Applied force
P=Resisting force R
 Hence, shear stress τ= Resisting force/Resisting area=P/L
x 1=P/L
 Shear stress is tangential to the area on which it acts
 As the face AB is fixed, the rectangular section ABCD
will be distorted to ABC1D1, such that new vertical
face AD1 makes an angle φ with the initial face AD

 Angle φ is called shear strain. As φ is very small,

 φ=tan φ=DD1/AD=dl/h
 Hence shear strain=dl/h
 The property of a body by virtue of which it undergoes
deformation when subjected to an external force and
regains its original configuration (size and shape)
upon the removal of the deforming external force is
called elasticity.
 The stress corresponding to the limiting value of
external force upto and within which the deformation
disappears completely upon the removal of external
force is called elastic limit
 A material is said to be elastic if it returns to its
original, unloaded dimensions when load is removed.
 If the external force is so large that the stress exceeds
the elastic limit, the material loses to some extent its
property of elasticity. If now the force is removed, the
material will not return to its original shape and size
and there will be a residual deformation in the
material
 Hooke’s law states that: “ When a body is loaded
within elastic limit, the stress is proportional to
strain developed” or “Within the elastic limit the
ratio of stress applied to strain developed is a
constant”
 The constant is known as Modulus of elasticity or
Elastic modulus or Young’s modulus
 Mathematically within elastic limit
Stress/Strain=ς/e=E
ς= P/A; e =ΔL/L
E=PL/A Δ L
 Young's modulus (E) is generally assumed to be
the same in tension or compression and for most
of engineering applications has a high numerical
value. Typically, E=210 x 10^9 N/m² (=210 GPa)
for steel
 Modulus of rigidity, G= τ/φ= Shear stress/ shear
strain
 Factor of safety= Ultimate stress/Permissible
stress
 In most engineering applications strains donot
often exceed 0.003 so that the assumption that
deformations are small in relation to orinal
dimensions is generally valid
 Standard tensile test involves subjecting a
circular bar of uniform cross section to a gradually
increasing tensile load until the failure occurs
 Tensile test is carried out to compare the
strengths of various materials
 Change in length of a selected gauge length of
bar is recorded by extensometers
 A graph is plotted with load vs extension or stress
vs strain
 A Limit of proportionality; It is the point where the
linear nature of the stress strain graph ceases
 B Elastic limit; It is the limiting point for the condition
that material behaves elastically, but hooke's law does
not apply . For most practical purposes it can be often
assumed that limit of proportionality and elastic limits
are the same
 Beyond the elastic limits, there will be some
permanent deformation or permanent set when the
load is removed
 C (Upper Yield point), D (Lower yield point) Points
after which strain increases without correspondingly
high increase in load or stress
 E Ultimate or maximum tensile stress; Point where
the necking starts
 F Fracture point
 A) 1-Dimensional case (due to pull or push or shear
force)
ς=Ee
 B) 2-Dimensional case
 Consider a body of length L, width B and height H. Let
the body be subjected to an axial load. Due to this
axial load, there is a deformation along the length of
the body. This strain corresponding to this
deformation is called longitudinal strain.
 Similarly there are deformations along directions
perpendicular to line of application of fore. The strains
corresponding to these deformations are called lateral
strains
 Longitudinal strain is always of opposite sign of
that of lateral strain. Ie if the longitudinal strain is
tensile, lateral strains are compressive and vice
versa
 Every longitudinal strain is accompanied by

lateral strains in orthogonal directions

 Ratio of lateral strain to longitudinal strain is
called Poisson’s ratio (μ); Mathematically,
 μ=-Lateral strain/Longitudinal strain
 Consider a rectangular figure ABCD subjected a
stress in σx direction and in σ y direction
 Strain along x direction due to ςx= ς x/E
Strain along x direction due to ς y=-μ x ςy/E
Total strain in x direction ex= ς x/E - μ x ςy/E
Similarly total strain in y direction, ey= ς y/E - μ x
ςx/E
 In the above equation tensile stresses are
considered as positive and compressive stresses
as negative
 C) 3 Dimensional case:-
Consider a 3 D body subjected to 3 orthogonal
normal stresses in x,y and z directions
respectively
  Strain along x direction due to ςx= ς x/E
Strain along x direction due to ς y=-μ x ςy/E
Strain along x direction due to ς z=-μ x ςz/E
 Total strain in x direction ex= ς x/E - μ x ( ςy/E

+
 ςz/E )
 Similarly total strain in y direction, ey= ς y/E - μ x
 ( ςxE + ςz/E )

 Similarly total strain in z direction, ez= ς z/E - μ x

( ςxE + ςy/E )
 Consider a bar of different lengths and of different
diameters (and hence of different cross sectional
areas) as shown below. Let this bar be subjected to
an axial load P.

 The total change in length will be obtained by adding

the changes in length of individual sections
 Total stress in section 1: ς1=E1 x ΔL1/L1
ς1 x L1/E1=ΔL1
ς1=P/A1; Hence ΔL1=PL1/A1E1
 Similarly, ΔL2=PL2/A2E2; ΔL3=PL3/A3E3
 Hence total elongation ΔL=Px (L1/A1E1+L2/A2E2 +
L3/A3E3)
 If the Young’s modulus of different sections are the
same, E1=E2=E3=E; Hence ΔL=P/Ex (L1/A1+L2/A2
+ L3/A3)
 When a number of loads are acting on a body, the
resulting strain, according to principle of
superposition, will be the algebraic sum of strains
caused by individual loads
 While using this principle for an elastic body which is
subjected to a number of direct forces (tensile or
compressive) at different sections along the length of
the body, first the free body diagram of individual
section is drawn. Then the deformation of each
section is calculated and the total deformation is
equal to the algebraic sum of deformations of
individual sections
 Consider a bar uniformly tapering from a diameter
D1 at one end to a diameter D2 at the other end
 Let
 P Axial load acting on the bar
 L Length of bar
 E Young’s modulus of the material
 Consider an infinitesimal element of thickness dx, diameter Dx at
a distance x from face with diameter D1.
Deformation of the element d(Δx)= P x dx/ (Ax E)
Ax=π/4 x Dx²; Dx= D1 - (D1 – D2)/L x x
Let (D1-D2)/L=k; Then Dx= D1-kx
d(ΔLx)= 4 x P x dx/(π x (D1-kx)² x E)
Integrating from x=0 to x=L 4PL/(πED1D2)

Let D1-kx=λ; then dx= -(d λ/k)

When x=0, λ=D1; When x=L, λ=D2
 A bar, made up of two or more bars of equal
lengths but of different materials rigidly fixed with
each other and behaving as one unit for
elongation and shortening when subjected to
axial loads is called composite bar.
 Consider a composite bar as show n below
 Let
P Applied load
L Length of bar
A1 Area of cross section of Inner member
A2 Cross sectional area of Outer member
 Strain developed in the outer member= Strain
developed in the inner member
 ς1/E1 = ς2/E2

 Total load (P)= Load in the inner member (P1) +

Load in the outer member (P2)
 ς1 x A1 + ς2 x A2= P
 Solving above two equations, we get the values
of ς1, ς2 & e1 and e2
 Consider a bar of length L, area of cross section A
rigidly fixed at one end. Let ρ be the density of the
material. Consider an infinitesimal element of
thickness dy at a distan ce y from the bottom of the
bar.

 The force acting on the element considered= weight

of the portion below it=ρAgy
 Tensile stress developed= Force acting on the
element/Area of cross section= ρgy.

 From the above equation, it is clear that the

maximum stress at the section where y=L, ie at
the fixed end (ρgL) and minimum stress is at the
free end(=0)
 Elongation due to self weight
 Thermal stresses are the stresses induced in a body due
to change in temperature. Thermal stresses are set up in a
body, when the temperature of the body is raised or
lowered and the body is restricted from expanding or
contracting
 Consider a body which is heated to a certain temperature
Let
L= Original length of the body
Δ T=Rise in temp
E=Young's modulus
α=Coefficient of linear expansion
dL= Extension of rod due to rise of temp
 If the rod is free to expand, Thermal strain developed
et= Δ L/L=α x Δ T
 The extension of the rod, Δ L= L x α x Δ T
 If the body is restricted from expanding
freely, Thermal stress developed is ςt/et=E
 ςt= E x α x ΔT
 Stress and strain when the support yields:-
If the supports yield by an amount equal to
δ, then the actual expansion is given by the
difference between the thermal strain and δ
Actual strain, e= (L x α x Δ T – δ)/L
Actual stress= Actual strain x E= (L x α x Δ T –
δ)/L x E