Problem 3: A 56 mm long piece of square stock (structural steel) 3 mm on a side is

clamped in a press in one lateral direction but not in the other, using 5.5 kN, while a tension
of 3 kN is applied axially. The press has rectangular clamps 5 mm wide and 7 mm long.
What are the values of the three strain components? What are the dimensional changes in
each of the three dimensions?

Solution: From Appendix B, structural steel has an elastic modulus of 220 GPa, and a
modulus of rigidity of 77.2 GPa. The cross-sectional area is (0.003 m)2 = 9 x 10-6 m2.
Taking the axial direction as the z-direction, and the two lateral directions as x and y, with
the 5.5 kN applied in the x-direction, the normal stress is:

The stresses in the other two directions are (since the area to which the force is applied is 3
mm x 7 mm):

Poisson's ratio is given by equation 2.43:

Now I have enough information to use the generalized Hooke's Law equations (eqn 2.28):
The original length in the z-direction is 56 mm but the third equation applies to only 7 mm

of this length: .
However, the remaining 49 mm of length is affected by an axial strain

only: . Multiplying this by 49 mm, I get 7.42 x 10-2

mm. So the total change in length of the bar is the sum of these: 8.84 x 10-2 mm.

For the other dimensions, which are originally 3 mm, the changes are:
Problem: A cylindrical block of cold-rolled yellow brass, 160 mm high and 120 mm in
diameter, is lowered into the ocean to a depth where the pressure is 75 MPa (about 7500 m
below the surface). Given that Poisson's ratio is 0.35 determine a) the change in height of
the block, b) its change in diameter, c) its change in volume. How much difference would it
make if the absolute pressure were used?

Solution: Let's answer the last question first... The absolute pressure is the sum of the
atmospheric pressure and the gauge pressure (pressure due to depth in this case).
Atmospheric pressure is 1.013 x 105 Pa; this is a difference of 0.135 %.

Parts a & b) Here's the coordinate system being used:

For this problem, the x and y directions are both radial and will have the same stress and
strain. For equations 2.28 on page 86, ex = ex = eR and ez = eL, where I am using R = radial
and L = long axis of the cylinder:

As you can see, the first two equations are the same, since the cylinder's properties are
isotropic in the radial direction. The pressure P is the stress, so:
The sign is negative because the stress is compressive.

Either (1) or (2) can be used to write:

The diameter D is the radial "length:"

By the same process, the strain in the z (or L) direction is again -2.14 x 10-4 and the change
in length is - 3.43 x 10-2 mm.

c) From equation 2.30, and the change in the volume is 3(-2.14x10-4)V = -1.16
x 103 mm3.
4
This is Problem 2.80 in Beer & Johnston's Mechanics of Materials, 2 nd Edition, McGraw-Hill.