Mechanics of materials is a branch of mechanics

that studies the internal effects of stress and strain

in a solid body that is subjected to an external
loading. Stress is associated with the strength of
the material from which the body is made, while
strain is a measure of the deformation of the body.

curved path, and a balance of moments, to

prevent the body from rotating.
Normal force, N. This force acts perpendicular to
the area. It is developed whenever the external
loads tend to push or pull on the two segments of
the body.

External Loads. A body is subjected to only two

Shear force, V. The shear force lies in the plane

types of external loads; namely, surface forces or

body forces.

of the area and it is developed when the external

loads tend to cause the two segments of the body
to slide over one another.

Surface forces are

caused by the direct
contact of one body with
the surface of another.
In all cases these forces
are distributed over the
area of contact between
the bodies. If this area is
small in comparison with
the total surface area of
the body, then the surface force can be idealized
as a single concentrated force, which is applied
to a point on the body. If the surface loading is
applied along a narrow strip of area, the loading
can be idealized as a linear distributed load,
w(s). Here the loading is measured as having an
intensity of force/length along the strip and is
represented graphically by a series of arrows along
the line s. The resultant force of w(s) is
equivalent to the area under the distributed
loading curve, and this resultant acts through
the centroid C or geometric center of this area.

Torsional moment or torque, T. This effect is

developed when the external loads tend to twist
one segment of the body with respect to the other
about an axis perpendicular to the area.

Bending moment, M. The bending moment is

caused by the external loads that tend to bend the
body about an axis lying within the plane of the
area.

A body force is developed when one body exerts

a force on another body without direct physical
contact between the bodies.

Support Reactions. The surface forces that

develop at the supports or points of contact
between bodies are called reactions.

We will consider the material to be continuous,

that is, to consist of a continuum or uniform
distribution of matter having no voids. Also, the
material must be cohesive, meaning that all
portions of it are connected together, without
having breaks, cracks, or separations.

Equilibrium of a body requires both a balance of

forces, to prevent the body from translating or
having accelerated motion along a straight or

stress -describes the intensity of the internal force

acting on a specific plane (area) passing through a
point.
Normal Stress. The intensity of the force acting
normal A to is
defined as the normal stress, (sigma).

If the normal force or stress pulls,it is referred to

as tensile stress, whereas if it pushes on it is
called compressive stress.
Shear Stress. The intensity of force acting
tangent to is called the shear stress, (tau).

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.
Notice that the normal strains cause a change in
volume of the element, whereas the shear strains
cause a change in its shape. Of course, both of
these effects occur simultaneously during the
deformation.

Homogeneous material has the same physical

and mechanical properties throughout its volume,
and isotropic material has these same properties
in all directions.
In other words, the two normal stress components
on the element must be equal in magnitude but
opposite in direction. This is referred to as uniaxial
stress.

The factor of safety (F.S.) is a ratio of the failure

load to the allowable load.
In any of these equations, the factor of safety must
be greater than 1 in order to avoid the potential for
failure.

Normal Strain. If we define the normal strain as

the change in length of a line per unit length, then
we will not have to specify the actual length of any
particular line segment. Note that normal strain is a
dimensionless quantity, since it is a ratio of
two lengths.

We will now discuss the characteristics of the

conventional stressstrain curve as it pertains to
steel, a commonly used material for fabricating
both structural members and mechanical elements.
Using the method described above, the
characteristic stressstrain diagram for a steel
specimen is shown in Fig. 34. From this curve we
can identify four different ways in which the
material behaves, depending on the amount of
strain induced in the material.

Elastic Behavior. Elastic behavior of the material

occurs when the strains in the specimen are within
the light orange region shown in Fig. 34. Here the
curve is actually a straight line throughout most of
this region, so that the stress is proportional to the
strain.The material in this region is said to be linear
elastic. The upper stress limit to this linear
relationship is called the proportional limit, ___, If
the stress slightly exceeds the proportional limit,
the curve tends to bend and flatten out as
shown.This continues until the stress reaches the
elastic limit. Upon reaching this point, if the load is
removed the specimen will still return back to its
original shape. Normally for steel, however, the
elastic limit is seldom determined, since it is very
close to the proportional limit and therefore rather
difficult to detect.

Yielding. A slight increase in stress above the

elastic limit will result in a breakdown of the
material and cause it to deform permanently. This
behavior is called yielding, and it is indicated by
the rectangular dark orange region of the
curve.The stress that causes yielding is called the
yield stress or yield point,____,and the
deformation that occurs is called plastic
deformation. Although not shown in Fig. 34, for
low carbon steels or those that are hot rolled, the
yield point is often distinguished by two values.
The upper yield point occurs first, followed by a
sudden decrease in load-carrying capacity to a
lower yield point. Notice that once the yield point
is reached, then as shown in Fig. 34, the
specimen will continue to elongate (strain) without
any increase in load. When the material is in this
state, it is often referred to as being perfectly
plastic.

Strain Hardening. When yielding has ended, an

increase in load can be supported by the
specimen, resulting in a curve that rises
continuously but becomes flatter until it reaches a
maximum stress referred to as the ultimate
stress,____ The rise in the curve in this manner is
called strain hardening, and it is identified in Fig.
34 as the region in light green.

Necking. Up to the ultimate stress, as the

specimen elongates, its
cross-sectional area will decrease. This decrease
is fairly uniform over the specimens entire gauge
length; however, just after, at the ultimate stress,
the cross-sectional area will begin to decrease in a
localized region of the specimen. As a result, a
constriction or neck tends to form in this region as
the specimen elongates further, Fig. 35a. This

region of the curve due to necking is indicated in

dark green in Fig. 34. Here the stressstrain
diagram tends to curve downward until the
specimen breaks at the fracture stress.____

Ductile Materials. Any material that can be

subjected to large strains before it fractures is
called a ductile material. Mild steel, as discussed
previously, is a typical example. Engineers often
choose ductile materials for design because these
materials are capable of absorbing shock or
energy, and if they become overloaded, they will
usually exhibit large deformation before failing.
Brittle Materials. Materials that exhibit little or no
yielding before failure are referred to as brittle
materials.
The stressstrain diagrams for most engineering
materials exhibit a linear relationship between
stress and strain within the elastic region.
Consequently, an increase in stress causes a
proportionate increase in strain. This fact was
discovered by Robert Hooke in 1676 using springs
and is known as Hookes law. It may be expressed
mathematically as (35). Here E represents the
constant of proportionality, which is called the
modulus of elasticity or Youngs modulus,
named after Thomas Young, who published an
account of it in 1807.
As a material is deformed by an external loading, it
tends to store energy internally throughout its
volume. Since this energy is related to the strains
in the material, it is referred to as strain energy.

Modulus of Resilience. In particular, when the

stress reaches the proportional limit, the strain
energy density is referred to as the modulus of
resilience.
Modulus of Toughness. Another important
property of a material is the modulus of
toughness,____ This quantity represents the
entire area under the stressstrain diagram, Fig.
316b, and therefore it indicates the strain-energy
density of the material just before it fractures.

In the early 1800s, the French scientist

S.D.Poisson realized that within the elastic range
the ratio of these strains is a constant, since the
deformations and are proportional. This constant is
referred to as Poissons ratio, (nu), and it has a
numerical value that is unique for a particular
material that is both homogeneous and isotropic.
The negative sign is included here since
longitudinal elongation (positive strain) causes
lateral contraction (negative strain), and vice versa.
Notice that these strains are caused only by the
axial or longitudinal force P; i.e., no force or stress
acts in a lateral direction in order to strain the
material in this direction.
Poissons ratio is a dimensionless quantity, and for
most nonporous solids it has a value that is
generally between 1/4 and 1/3. Furthermore, it will
be shown in Sec. 10.6 that the maximum possible
value for Poissons ratio is 0.5.

The Shear StressStrain Diagram

Here G is called the shear modulus of elasticity
or the modulus of rigidity.

The principle of superposition is often used to

determine the stress or displacement at a point in a
member when the member is subjected to a
complicated loading. By subdividing the loading
into components, the principle of superposition
states that the resultant stress or displacement at
the point can be determined by algebraically
summing the stress or displacement caused by
each load component applied separately to the
member. The following two conditions must be
satisfied if the principle of superposition is to be
applied.

1. The loading must be linearly related to the

stress or displacement that is to be
determined.
2. The loading must not significantly change
the original geometry or configuration of the
member.

Torque is a moment that tends to twist a member

about its longitudinal axis. Its effect is of primary
concern in the design of axles or drive shafts
used in vehicles and machinery.

Statically Indeterminate Axially Loaded

Member

Power Transmission

It is also possible to solve statically indeterminate

problems by writing the compatibility equation
using the principle of superposition. This method of
solution is often referred to as the flexibility or
force method of analysis.

Shafts and tubes having circular cross sections are

often used to transmit power developed by a
machine. When used for this purpose, they are
subjected to a torque that depends on the power
generated by the machine and the angular speed
of the shaft. Power is defined as the work
performed per unit of time.Also, the work
transmitted by a rotating shaft equals the torque
applied times the angle of rotation

Thermal Stress
A change in temperature can cause a body to
change its dimensions. Generally, if the
temperature increases, the body will expand,
whereas if the temperature decreases, it will
contract. Ordinarily this expansion or contraction is
linearly related to the temperature increase or
decrease that occurs. The change in length of a
statically determinate member can easily be
calculated using Eq. 44, since the member is free
to expand or contract when it undergoes a
temperature change. However, in a statically
indeterminate
member,
these
thermal
displacements will be constrained by the supports,
thereby producing thermal stresses that must be
considered in design.

A torsionally loaded shaft may be classified as

statically indeterminate if the moment equation of
equilibrium, applied about the axis of the shaft, is
not adequate to determine the unknown torques
acting on the shaft.

Shear and Moment Diagrams

Members that are slender and support loadings
that are applied perpendicular to their longitudinal
axis are called beams. In general, beams are long,
straight bars having a constant cross-sectional
area.