Module-1 Stresses and Strains:

Dr. C. Suresh
INTRODUCTION
Choice of Selection of Engineering Materials

➢ Availability of materials.
➢ Sustainability of materials for the working conditions in
service.
➢ Cost of materials.

Physical Properties of Materials

➢ Lustre
➢ Colour
➢ Size
➢ Density
Materials are also classified as

i. Elastic Material
ii. Plastic Material
iii. Rigid Material
 Mechanical Properties
• Elasticity
It is the property by virtue of which a material deformed under the load is
enable to return to its original dimension when load is removed.
If the body regains completely its original shape, it is said to be perfectly
elastic
• Plasticity
It is the converse of Elasticity. It is the property of a material which
retains the deformation produced under the load permanently.

• Ductility
It is the property of a material which exhibits large deformations in
longitudinal direction under the application of tensile force before failure.
A ductile material must be strong and plastic. The ductility is measured in
terms of % elongation or % reduction in cross-sectional area of test specimen.
Ex: Mild steel, Brass, Aluminium, Nickel, Zinc, Tin, Lead etc..,
∙ Brittleness
It is the property of a material which exhibits little or no
yielding before failure. Generally brittle materials are have higher
strength in compression than in tension

Ex: Cast Iron, High carbon steel, Concrete, Stone, Glass, Ceramic
materials etc..,

∙ Malleability
It is the property of a material which permits the material to be
extended in all directions without rupture.
A malleable material possesses a high degree of plasticity but not
necessarily great strength.

Ex: Gold, Lead, Soft steel, wrought iron, Copper, Aluminium, etc..,
∙ Strength
It is the ability of a material to resist the externally applied forces
without breaking or yielding.
The load required to cause fracture divided by the area of the test
specimen is termed as ultimate strength of the material.

∙ Toughness
It is the property of a material which enables it to absorb energy
without fracture.
This property is desirable in parts subjected to impact and shock
loads. Toughness is measured in terms of energy required per unit
volume of the material to cause rupture under the action of
gradually increasing tensile load.
∙ Hardness
It is the ability of the material to resist indentation or surface
abrasion.
It embraces many different properties such as resistance
to wear, scratching, deformation, machinability etc..,

∙ Stiffness
It is the ability of a material to resist deformation under stress.
The stiffness is measured by the modulus of elasticity in case of
axially loaded members
∙ Creep
Whenever a member is subjected to a constant stress for a longer
period of time, it will undergo a slow and permanent deformation
called creep.

∙ Fatigue
Whenever a member or part of a machine subjected to a cyclic
load it will undergo failure called Fatigue.

∙ Resilience
It is the property of the material to absorb energy and to resist
shock and Impact loads.
It is measured by the amount of energy absorbed per unit volume
within elastic limit,
Stress, Strain and Hook’s law
The most fundamental concepts in mechanics of materials
are stress and strain. These concepts can be illustrated in
their most elementary form by considering a prismatic bar
subjected to axial forces. A prismatic bar is a straight structural
member having the same cross section throughout its length, and
an axial force is a load directed along the axis of the member,
resulting in either tension or compression in the bar.
Load (F or P)
• It is defined as any external force acting on a body
Stress
When a body is acted upon by external force F, or Load P,
internal resisting force is setup in the body such a body is said to
be in state of stress, hence the resistance offered by the body
against deformation due to the application of load is called as
stress. Or
The Internal resisting force per unit area at any section of the
body is known as Stress.
It is denoted by σ (Sigma),

Types of Stresses
1) Normal Stress
a) Tensile Stress
b) Compressive Stress
2) Shear Stress
1. Normal Stress
A normal stress is a stress that occurs when a member is loaded by
an axial force. (Axial force is the force acting along the axis of the
specimen).
Normal stress can be either tensile or compressive in nature.

a) Tensile stress
• When a load is acting in such a way that it tends to extend the
material in the direction of application of load is called tensile load
and the corresponding stress is called tensile stress.
b) Compressive stress

When a load is acting in such a way that it tends to shorten the

material in the direction of application of load is called
compressive load and the corresponding stress is called
compressive stress.

When a sign convention for normal stresses is required, it

is customary to define tensile stresses as positive and
compressive stresses as negative.
2. Shear Stress
Shearing stress is a force that causes two contacting parts or layers to
slide upon each other in opposite directions. The stress developed at the
contacting surfaces is known as shear stress.

Unit of Stress: If the force is expressed in Newtons (N) and area of c/s in mm2
then the unit of stress is N/ mm2

The force, 1 KN = 10 3 N - Kilo Newton, 1 MN = 10 6 N - Mega Newton,

1 GN = 10 9 N - Giga Newton

If the area of c/s is in m2 then the unit of stress is N/ m2 or Pascal (Pa)

1 N/ m2 = 1 Pascal = 1 Pa, 10 3 N/ m2 = 1 KN/m2 = 1KPa,

10 6 N/ m2 = 1 MN/m2 = 1MPa, 10 9 N/ m2 = 1 GN/m2 = 1GPa
Strain

When a body is subjected to some external force there is some change

in dimensions of the body.
The ratio of change in dimensions of the body to the original
dimensions is known as Strain. Strain is dimensionless.
It is denoted by ε

Types of Strain
1) Linear Strain
a) Tensile Strain
b) Compressive Strain
2) Lateral Strain
3) Shear Strain
4) Volumetric Strain
1. Linear Strain
A straight bar will change in length when loaded axially,
becoming longer when in tension and shorter when in
compression. This change in dimensions in axial direction is
known as Linear Strain.
Tensile Strain,

Compressive Strain,
2. Lateral Strain
Lateral strain, also known as transverse strain, which takes
place at right angles to the direction of applied load is known
as lateral strain.

3. Shear Strain
Shear strain is the ratio of deformation to original dimensions. In
the case of shear strain, it is the amount of deformation
perpendicular to a given line rather than parallel to it.
4. Volumetric Strain
It is the ratio of change in volume to its original volume

Poison’s ratio
It is the ratio of lateral strain to linear strain
Hook’s Law
It states that “When a material is loaded within its elastic
limit, stress is directly proportional to the strain”
Stress α Strain

Where,
E = A constant of proportionality known as Modulus of Elasticity
σ = Stress & ε = Strain
Hook’s law holds good for tension as well as compression.

Modulus of Elasticity or Young’s Modulus (E)

Modulus of Elasticity or Young’s Modulus (E) is the constant of
proportionality and is defined as the ratio of linear stress to linear strain
within elastic limit.
Stress, Strain and Deformation (Extension or Shortening) in a
straight or uniform section bar.

P
Stress, σ = Stress
=
𝜎
Strain 𝜀
A
dl
Strain, ε = E =
P/A
L dl/l

P L
Extension or shortening of bar, dl =
AE
Stress – Strain Relation or Diagram for Ductile Material
(Mild Steel or Low carbon steel)

A stress-strain diagram for a typical structural steel as a specimen

in tension is shown in Figure. Strains are plotted on the horizontal
axis and stresses on the vertical axis.
The load on the test specimen is increased gradually from zero in
suitable increments till the specimen fails and the corresponding
graph will be computed as shown in the figure below.
Proportional Limit (A)
From O to A the curve is straight and linear and hence proportional
limit is the limiting value of stress up to which stress is directly
proportional to strain and hence Hooke’s law holds good up to point
A.

Elastic Limit (B)

The point B is slightly beyond point A and is known as Elastic limit.

Up to point B, the material will regain its original size and shape
when load is removed. This indicates that the material has elastic
properties up to point B.
Upper Yield Point (C)
If the material is stressed beyond point B, plastic deformation starts and
the material does not regain its original size and shape upon unload and
this phenomenon is called as Yielding.
A point at which Maximum load or stress required to initiate
the plastic deformation or yielding of the material is called as
Upper yield point “C

Lower Yield Point (D)

As the material is stressed further, it offers less resistance to the material
and hence curve falls slightly.
A point at which minimum load or stress required to maintain the
plastic deformation or yielding of the material is called as Lower yield
point “D” and this point depicts the end of plastic deformation of the
material.
Ultimate Stress point (E)
After Lower Yield point D, stress remains same but strain increases
for some time. Later as stress increases strain also increases.
At point E the specimen takes maximum load, and the corresponding
stress at point E is called the ultimate stress point “E”.

Breaking Point (F)

Beyond the ultimate stress point is reached Necking takes place and
the cross sectional area considerably decreases, the load carrying
capacity of the specimen reduces and hence in the portion E to F the
strain increases with decrease in stress. At point F the specimen
breaks. The stress at this point is called breaking stress or fracture
stress.
Engineering Stress – Strain and True Stress - Strain
Let P be the load, A be the original area of Cross-section, A be the
o i
area of cross-section at
any instant.

Engineering stress is the applied load divided by the original

cross-sectional area of a material. Also known as nominal stress.

Engineering strain is the change in length to its original length in a

tensile test. Also known as nominal strain.
True stress is the applied load divided by the actual
cross-sectional area (the changing area with respect to time) of
the specimen at that load

True strain is the sum of all the strains over the original length.
True Strain ε = ∑ __
Stress – Strain Relation or Diagram for Brittle Material

Brittle materials, which includes cast iron, glass, and stone do not
have a yield point, and do not strain-harden. Therefore, the ultimate
strength and breaking strength are the same. A typical stress–strain
curve is shown in the figure.
Proof Stress:
For materials which do not have clearly defined yield point, an
arbitrary yield point is defined by drawing a line which is offset by a
certain strain value and is parallel to the original stress-strain line
(within proportional limit). The strain by which line is offset can be
0.1% or 0.2% and the corresponding stress is the Proof Stress at
0.1% or 0.2% strain respectively.
Percentage Elongation in Length,

Percentage Reduction in Area,

Factor of Safety (FOS)
It is defined as the ratio of ultimate stress or yield stress to the
working or allowable or design stress

Ultimate or Yield Stress

FOS =
Working or Allowable or Design Stress

While designing machine parts, it is desirable to keep the stress much

Lower than the yield stress or ultimate stress and this stress is called
working stress or allowable stress or Design stress.

For ductile material, where yield point is clearly defined, FOS is

based on Yield stressFOS = Yield Stress
Working or Allowable or Design Stress

For brittle material, where yield point is not well defined, FOS is
based on Ultimate stress
Ultimate Stress
FOS =
Working or Allowable or Design Stress