Pin Failure in Shear vs.

Bending for a Double Shear Joint

by
Edward Kwon
An Engineering Project Submitted to the Graduate
Faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ENGINEERING
Major Subject: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Approved:

_________________________________________
Ernesto Gutierrez-Miravete, Thesis Adviser

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Hartford, CT
December, 2013
 Copyright 2013
by
Edward Kwon
All Rights Reserved

ii
 CONTENTS
Pin Failure in Shear vs. Bending for a Double Shear Joint ................................................ i
LIST OF EQUATIONS .................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................................................. vi
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... vii
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 1
THEORY/METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 2
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................ 8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................ 15
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 17
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 18

iii
 LIST OF EQUATIONS
Equation 1 .......................................................................................................................... 3
Equation 2 .......................................................................................................................... 4
Equation 3 .......................................................................................................................... 4
Equation 4 .......................................................................................................................... 4
Equation 5 .......................................................................................................................... 5
Equation 6 .......................................................................................................................... 5
Equation 7 .......................................................................................................................... 5
Equation 8 .......................................................................................................................... 5
Equation 9 .......................................................................................................................... 6
Equation 10 ........................................................................................................................ 6
Equation 11 ........................................................................................................................ 6
Equation 12 ........................................................................................................................ 7
Equation 13 ...................................................................................................................... 11
Equation 14 ...................................................................................................................... 11

iv
 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 .............................................................................................................................. 2
Figure 2 .............................................................................................................................. 3
Figure 3 .............................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 4 .............................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 5 .............................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 6 ............................................................................................................................ 10
Figure 7 ............................................................................................................................ 11
Figure 8 ............................................................................................................................ 12
Figure 9 ............................................................................................................................ 13

v
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Type the text of your acknowledgment here.

vi
 ABSTRACT
The most common failure method for pins is through shear failure. However,
there have been cases of pins failing despite being adequately sized for shear. Many
people fail to take into account pin bending as a legitimate failure mode. There have
been some studies done in the past to try to come up with a theoretical equation for the
maximum bending stress in a pin in double shear. In order to come up with this equation,
the pin was assumed to see a uniform load distribution.
In this project, a new equation for the maximum pin bending stress is developed
based on assuming a triangular load distribution across the pin. This triangular load
distribution assumption is validated by studying finite element analysis contact stress
plots. By comparing the calculated maximum bending stresses using the old equation
and this new equation against finite element analysis results, this new equation is
determined to be more accurate. Based on this new maximum pin bending stress
equation, a critical pin diameter is developed and validated through finite element
analysis. For pin sizes smaller than this critical pin diameter, pin failure is expected to
occur due to bending. For pin sizes larger than this critical pin diameter, shear failure is
expected to occur.

vii
 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
The purpose of this project will be to develop an equation for the maximum pin
bending stress for a double shear joint and then to validate this equation through an
ABAQUS finite element model. A relationship between the pin diameter and the failure
method will also be developed and validated through the finite element model. This
relationship will help engineers to better understand when pin bending should be
considered over shear failure.

Flesh out this section (i.e. include some historical examples)

1
 THEORY/METHODOLOGY
An ABAQUS model was created of a clevis connection with a pin in double
shear. The model consists of three partsthe clevis, the clevis pin, and the tang. The
parts were meshed with hex elements and were assembled as shown in Figure 1.

Tang

Clevis Pin

Clevis

Figure 1

An initial step was created to initialize contact. In this initial step, a downward
displacement was applied to the clevis and an upward displacement was applied to the
tang in order to establish contact with the pin. A second step was then created to apply a
1000 pound load to the tang in the upward direction with the base of the clevis fixed.
The displacements from the initial step were deactivated for this step since contact had
already been established. Two additional boundary conditions were created at the pin
and the tang. The pin boundary condition was created to prevent axial displacement and
rotation of the pin. The tang boundary condition was created to prevent displacement
along the pin axis and to prevent twisting of the tang.

2
 Maximum pin shear and bending stresses will be obtained from the results of this
ABAQUS finite element analysis. These stresses will be linearized across the cross
section of the pin such that only primary stresses are captured. Once these shear and
bending stresses are linearized, they will be compared to the shear and pin bending
equations developed below (Equation 1, Equation 4, Equation 7, and Equation 9).
Could include more ABAQUS setup/explanation with pictures if necessary (i.e. describe
the stress linearization process / include ABAQUS stress plots in the Appendices, etc.)
The shear stress equation for a pin in double shear is simply:

Equation 1

A pin bending equation is derived in Reference 1 assuming a uniform distributed

load as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

3
Based on this load distribution, the maximum pin bending moment is calculated as:

Equation 2

Further assuming that the load in each lug is uniformly distributed across the lug
thickness (b1 = t1 and 2b2 = t2) results in the following equation:

Equation 3

Given the moment of inertia of the pin is

and the distance from the neutral axis to the outer fiber is

the maximum bending stress of the pin can be calculated as:

Equation 4

The pin bending equations derived in Reference 1 assume a uniformly distributed

load. However, a triangular load distribution as shown in Figure 3 may be a better
representation of the load profile on the pin. Note that in Figure 3(a), and thus b1

is assumed to be equal to t1. In Figure 3(b), and b1 is assumed to be no greater

than b2.

4
 (a) (b)

Figure 3

Based on this triangular load distribution, the maximum pin bending moment is
calculated as:

Equation 5

For the case where , Equation 5 becomes:

Equation 6

and the maximum bending stress of the pin can be calculated as:

Equation 7

For the case where , Equation 5 becomes:

Equation 8

5
and the maximum bending stress of the pin can be calculated as:

Equation 9

As previously discussed, ABAQUS shear and bending stresses will be compared

to shear and bending stresses calculated using Equation 1, Equation 4, Equation 7, and
Equation 9. In addition, the uniform and triangular load distribution assumptions will be
tested by studying the contact stresses of the finite element model. Based on the contact
stress plot, a new equation will be developed if appropriate.
Based on Equation 1, Equation 4, Equation 7, and Equation 9, an equation can be
developed for the critical pin diameter where bending stresses overtake shear stresses.
Since the shear yield strength is 0.577 the tensile yield strength, the critical pin diameter
can be calculated by letting . Assuming a uniform load distribution
across the lug thickness, the critical pin diameter is calculated to be:

Equation 10

Assuming a triangular load distribution, the critical pin diameter is calculated to be:

Equation 11

for the case where , and

6
 Equation 12

for the case where .

These critical pin diameter equations will be tested by varying the pin diameter in
the finite element model and comparing the resulting bending and shear stresses. Pin
failure due to bending should be more of a concern than shear failure for pin diameters
smaller than the critical pin diameter calculated above.

7
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The finite element analysis contact stress plot was studied to determine if the
uniform load distribution assumed in Reference 1 and shown in Figure 2 or if the
triangular load distribution shown in Figure 3 is more accurate. Reviewing the contact
stress plots shown in Figure 4, it can be seen that the triangular load distribution is a
more accurate assumption. Therefore, it can be predicted that the bending stress
equations derived from this triangular load distribution assumption (Equation 7 and
Equation 9) will be more accurate than the equation derived in Reference 1 (Equation 4).

Figure 4

The assumption was also made that the length of pin reacted by the clevis lug (b1
in Figure 3) was not going to be any greater than the length of pin reacted by half of the
tang lug (b2 in Figure 3) or . This assumption was put to the test by running the

8
finite element analysis with varying clevis lug thicknesses. With the tang lug thickness at
0.750 thick, the finite element analysis was performed for clevis lug thicknesses
ranging from 0.200 to 0.600 thick at every 0.050 increment. See Figure 5 for contact
stress plots on the pins with a clevis lug thickness of 0.200, 0.400, and 0.600.

Figure 5

To accurately assess the load distribution on the pin, the contact stress values
from the contour plots shown in Figure 5 above were plotted as a line along the length of

9
the pin in Figure 6. By doing so, it can be seen that the load distribution is indeed
triangular in nature. Note that unlike in Figure 5, contact stresses for all the different
clevis lug thickness models were plotted for completeness, rather than just for the
0.200, 0.400, and 0.600 clevis lug thickness models. It can also be seen that the
maximum length of pin reacted by each clevis lug is roughly 0.45 inch. Compared to the
0.75 inch thick tang lug, the maximum length of pin reacted by each clevis lug is
roughly 1.2 times the length of pin reacted by half of the tang lug ( ). See

Figure 7 for an overlay of all the ABAQUS plots.

Figure 6

10
 40000

35000
200
30000
250
25000 300
350
20000
400

15000 450
500
10000
550

5000 600

0
-1.25 -0.75 -0.25 0.25 0.75 1.25

Figure 7

Based on this result, a new maximum bending stress equation was developed.
Assuming , the maximum pin bending moment (Equation 5) for the case

where , becomes:

Equation 13

and the maximum bending stress of the pin can be calculated as:

Equation 14

A plot of maximum bending stresses versus clevis lug thicknesses was created to
compare the actual bending stress results from the finite element analysis with the
calculated bending stresses based on either a uniform load distribution across the entire

11
lug thickness as assumed in Reference 1, a triangular load distribution with , or a

triangular load distribution with . See Figure 8 below.

30000

28000

26000 ABAQUS

24000
Triangular -
b1 < t2/2
22000
Triangular -
20000 b1 <
1.2*t2/2
18000 Uniform

16000

14000
0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700

Figure 8

Figure 8 reveals the uniform load distribution assumption made in Reference 1 to

be more conservative but less accurate than the triangular load distribution assumptions.
Between the two triangular load distribution assumptions, the original assumption of
looks to be slightly more accurate while the assumption of based

on the ABAQUS contact stress plots is slightly more conservative at the higher clevis
lug thickness ranges.
Since the triangular load distribution with has been established to be the

most accurate of the three assumptions, the critical pin diameter will be assumed to be
the ones derived in the theory/methodology section (Equation 11 and Equation 12).

12
 If the pin diameter is smaller than the critical pin diameter, the bending stress
term outweighs the shear stress term and thus, pin failure due to bending becomes more
of a concern. If the pin diameter is greater than the critical pin diameter, the opposite is
true and shear stress governs. To validate this calculated critical pin diameter, actual
bending and shear stresses from finite element analyses were compared against the
calculated stresses for varying pin diameters (see Figure 9). Five finite element models
were used for this validation with constant clevis lug thicknesses of t1 = 0.400 inch,
constant tang lug thicknesses of t2 = 0.750 inch, constant gaps of g = 0.125 inch, and
varying pin diameters of 0.48 inch, 1 inch, 1.5 inches, 3 inches, and 4 inches. Note that
the 0.48 inch pin diameter model was already previously analyzed as part of the clevis
thickness study.

20000

18000

16000

14000

12000 Bending - ABAQUS

10000 Bending - Calculated

Shear - ABAQUS
8000
Shear - Calculated
6000

4000

2000

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Figure 9

It can be seen from Figure 9 that the bending stress is much larger than the shear
stress for very small pin diameters. As the pin diameter increases, the bending stress
decreases exponentially. The fact that the ABAQUS bending and shear stresses are

13
roughly the same as the calculated bending and shear stresses for varying pin diameters
further validates the shear and bending equations. The critical pin diameter equation is
validated by comparing the ABAQUS bending and shear stresses at the calculated
critical pin diameter:

With the pin diameter at 1.731 inches, the ABAQUS bending stress result is roughly 500
psi and the ABAQUS shear stress result is roughly 250 psi. This shear stress is 0.5 or
roughly 0.577 times the bending stress, thus validating the critical pin diameter equation.
Could run an FEA with the pin diameter set to 1.731 to get more accurate results at the
critical pin diameter

14
 CONCLUSION
The purpose of this project was to develop an equation for the maximum bending
stress of a pin in double shear and then to validate this equation through finite element
analysis. A secondary purpose was to determine, and validate through finite element
analysis, a relationship between the pin size and the shear and bending stresses in order
to better understand when pin bending should be considered over shear failure.
In order to derive an equation for the maximum pin bending stress, the load
profile on the pin had to be determined. The assumption of a triangular load distribution
on the pin was made and validated through finite element analysis. Based on this load
distribution, maximum pin bending stress equations of

for the case where the clevis lug thickness is less than or equal to half of the tang lug

thickness and

for the case where the clevis lug thickness is greater than half of the tang lug thickness

were derived and validated using ABAQUS finite element analysis software.

A relationship was also determined between the pin size and the shear and
bending stresses. Critical pin diameter equations of

for the case where and

15
for the case where were derived and validated through an ABAQUS finite

element analysis. Failure due to pin bending was shown to be a concern over shear
failure for pin sizes below this critical pin diameter.

The results of this study are summarized below:

Verification of triangular load distribution on pin

Derivation of maximum pin bending stress equation
Validation of maximum pin bending stress equation
Derivation of critical pin diameter equation
Validation of critical pin diameter equation

16
 REFERENCES
Maddux, G.E., Leon A. Vorst, F. Joseph Giessler, and Terence Moritz. Stress Analysis
Manual. Dayton: Technology Incorporated, 1969.

17
 APPENDICES
Numerous pages of Excel plot data, ABAQUS stress linearization data, and ABAQUS
stress plots will be included

18