All Topics  
Stress (physics)

 

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

Stress (physics)



 
 
In continuum mechanics
Continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the analysis of the kinematics and mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids ....
, stress is a measure of the average amount of force
Force

In physics, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Force has both Euclidean_vector#Length of a vector and Direction , making it a Vector quantity....
 exerted per unit area
Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron....
. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal force
Force

In physics, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Force has both Euclidean_vector#Length of a vector and Direction , making it a Vector quantity....
s acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body force
Body force

A body force is a force that acts throughout the volume of a body. This is in contrast to surface forces, such as friction and normal forces, which are exerted only on the surface of the object....
s. It was introduced into the theory of elasticity
Linear elasticity

Linear elasticity is the mathematical study of how solid objects deform and become internally stressed due to prescribed loading conditions. Linear elasticity relies upon the Continuum mechanics hypothesis and is applicable at macroscopic length scales....
 by Cauchy around 1822. Stress is a concept that is based on the concept of continuum
Continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the analysis of the kinematics and mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids ....
. In general, stress is expressed as

where

is the average stress, also called engineering or nominal stress, and

is the force acting over the area

The SI
Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :...
 unit for stress is the pascal
Pascal (unit)

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, stress , Young's modulus and tensile strength. It is a measure of force per unit area i.e. equivalent to one newton per square meter or one joule per cubic meter....
 (symbol Pa), which is a shorthand name for one newton (Force) per square metre (Unit Area).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Stress (physics)'
Start a new discussion about 'Stress (physics)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


In continuum mechanics
Continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the analysis of the kinematics and mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids ....
, stress is a measure of the average amount of force
Force

In physics, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Force has both Euclidean_vector#Length of a vector and Direction , making it a Vector quantity....
 exerted per unit area
Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron....
. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal force
Force

In physics, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Force has both Euclidean_vector#Length of a vector and Direction , making it a Vector quantity....
s acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body force
Body force

A body force is a force that acts throughout the volume of a body. This is in contrast to surface forces, such as friction and normal forces, which are exerted only on the surface of the object....
s. It was introduced into the theory of elasticity
Linear elasticity

Linear elasticity is the mathematical study of how solid objects deform and become internally stressed due to prescribed loading conditions. Linear elasticity relies upon the Continuum mechanics hypothesis and is applicable at macroscopic length scales....
 by Cauchy around 1822. Stress is a concept that is based on the concept of continuum
Continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the analysis of the kinematics and mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids ....
. In general, stress is expressed as

where

is the average stress, also called engineering or nominal stress, and

is the force acting over the area

The SI
Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :...
 unit for stress is the pascal
Pascal (unit)

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, stress , Young's modulus and tensile strength. It is a measure of force per unit area i.e. equivalent to one newton per square meter or one joule per cubic meter....
 (symbol Pa), which is a shorthand name for one newton (Force) per square metre (Unit Area). The unit for stress is the same as that of pressure
Pressure

Pressure is the force per unit area applied to an object in a direction surface normal to the surface. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure....
, which is also a measure of Force per unit area. Engineering quantities are usually measured in mega
Mega

mega is an SI prefix in the SI system of Units of measurements denoting a factor of 1 E6, 1,000,000 .For example, 1 MW = 1,000,000 watts = 1,000 kilowatts....
pascals (MPa) or giga
Giga

Giga is a SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting Orders of magnitude , or 1,000,000,000. The Oxford English Dictionary reports the earliest written use of giga- in this sense to be in the Reports of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry 14th Conference in 1947: "The following prefixes to abbreviations for the names...
pascals (GPa). In imperial units, stress is expressed in pounds-force per square inch (psi) or kilopounds-force per square inch (ksi).

Stress is a second order tensor
Tensor

A tensor is an object which extends the notion of Scalar , Vector , and Matrix . The term has slightly different meanings in mathematics and physics....
 quantity. According to Cauchy, the stress at any a point in an object, assumed to be a continuum, is completely defined by the nine components of the Cauchy stress tensor. The Cauchy stress tensor is not the only measure of stress that is used in practice. Other measures of stress include the first and second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensors, the Biot stress tensor
Stress measures

The most commonly used measure of stress is the Stress . However, several other measures of stress can be defined. Some such stress measures that are widely used in continuum mechanics, particularly in the computational context, are , ...
, and the Kirchhoff stress tensor
Stress measures

The most commonly used measure of stress is the Stress . However, several other measures of stress can be defined. Some such stress measures that are widely used in continuum mechanics, particularly in the computational context, are , ...
. If the continuum body is in equilibrium it can be demonstrated that the components of the stress tensor in every material point in the body satisfy the equilibrium equations (Cauchy's equations of motion
Cauchy momentum equation

The Cauchy momentum equation is a vector partial differential equation put forth by Cauchy that describes the non-relativistic momentum transport in any continuum:...
 for zero acceleration). At the same time, equilibrium requires that the summation of moments with respect to an arbitrary point is zero, which leads to the conclusion that the stress tensor is symmetric, thus having only six independent stress components, instead of the original nine, i.e.



As a tensor, the stress tensor obeys the tensor transformation law under a change in the system of coordinates. A graphical representation of this transformation law is the Mohr's circle for stress.

As with force, stress cannot be measured directly but is usually inferred from measurements of strain
Strain (materials science)

In continuum mechanics, the infinitesimal strain theory, sometimes called small deformation theory, small displacement theory, or small displacement-gradient theory, deals with infinitesimal Deformation s of a Continuum mechanics....
 and knowledge of elastic properties of the material. Devices capable of measuring stress indirectly in this way are strain gauge
Strain gauge

A strain gauge is a device used to measure the Strain of an object. Invented by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, the most common type of strain gauge consists of an Electrical insulation flexible backing which supports a metallic foil pattern....
s and piezoresistors.

Stress as a tensor


In its full form, linear stress is a rank-two tensor
Tensor

A tensor is an object which extends the notion of Scalar , Vector , and Matrix . The term has slightly different meanings in mathematics and physics....
 quantity, and may be represented as a 3x3 matrix. A tensor may be seen as a linear vector operator - it takes a given vector and produces another vector as a result. In the case of the stress tensor , it takes the vector normal to any area element and yields the force (or "traction") acting on that area element. In matrix notation:

where are the components of the vector normal to a surface area element with a length equal to the area of the surface element, and are the components of the force vector (or traction vector) acting on that element. Using index notation
Index notation

Index notation is used in mathematics to refer to the elements of matrix or the components of a vector . The formalism of how indices are used varies according to the discipline....
, we can eliminate the summation sign, since all sums will be the same over repeated indices. Thus:

Just as it is the case with a vector (which is actually a rank-one tensor), the matrix components of a tensor depend upon the particular coordinate system chosen. As with a vector, there are certain invariants associated with the stress tensor, whose value does not depend upon the coordinate system chosen (or the area element upon which the stress tensor operates). For a vector, there is only one invariant - the length. For a tensor, there are three - the eigenvalues of the stress tensor, which are called the principal stresses. It is important to note that the only physically significant parameters of the stress tensor are its invariants, since they are not dependent upon the choice of the coordinate system used to describe the tensor.

If we choose a particular surface area element, we may divide the force vector by the area (stress vector) and decompose it into two parts: a normal component acting normal to the stressed surface, and a shear component, acting parallel to the stressed surface. An axial stress is a normal stress produced when a force acts parallel to the major axis of a body, e.g. column. If the forces pull the body producing an elongation, the axial stress is termed tensile stress. If on the other hand the forces push the body reducing its length, the axial stress is termed compressive stress. Bending stresses
Bending

In engineering mechanics, bending characterizes the behavior of a structural element subjected to an external Structural load applied perpendicular to the axis of the element....
, e.g. produced on a bent beam, are a combination of tensile and compressive stresses. Torsional stresses
Torsion (mechanics)

In solid mechanics, torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque. In circular sections, the resultant shear stress is perpendicular to the radius....
, e.g. produced on twisted shafts, are shearing stresses.

In the above description, little distinction is drawn between the "stress" and the "stress vector" since the body which is being stressed provides a particular coordinate system in which to discuss the effects of the stress. The distinction between "normal" and "shear" stresses is slightly different when considered independently of any coordinate system. The stress tensor yields a stress vector for a surface area element at any orientation, and this stress vector may be decomposed into normal and shear components. The normal part of the stress vector averaged over all orientations of the surface element yields an invariant value, and is known as the hydrostatic pressure. Mathematically it is equal to the average value of the principal stresses (or, equivalently, the trace of the stress tensor divided by three). The normal stress tensor is then the product of the hydrostatic pressure and the unit tensor. Subtracting the normal stress tensor from the stress tensor gives what may be called the shear tensor. These two quantities are true tensors with physical significance, and their nature is independent of any coordinate system chosen to describe them. In fact, the extended Hooke's law
Hooke's law

In mechanics, and physics, Hooke's law of theory of elasticity is an approximation that states that the extension of a spring is in direct proportion with the load added to it as long as this load does not exceed the elastic limit....
 is basically the statement that each of these two tensors is proportional to its strain tensor counterpart, and the two constants of proportionality (elastic moduli) are independent of each other. Note that In rheology
Rheology

Rheology is the study of the flow of matter: mainly liquids but also soft solids or solids under conditions in which they flow rather than deform elastically....
, the normal stress tensor is called extensional stress, and in acoustics
Acoustics

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of sound, ultrasound and infrasound . A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician....
 is called longitudinal stress.

Solids, liquids and gases have stress fields. Static fluids support normal stress but will flow under shear stress. Moving viscous fluids
Viscosity

Viscosity is a measure of the Drag of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness"....
 can support shear stress (dynamic pressure). Solids can support both shear and normal stress, with ductile materials failing under shear and brittle
Brittle

A material is brittle if it is liable to fracture when subjected to stress . That is, it has little tendency to deform before fracture. This fracture absorbs relatively little energy, even in materials of high Strength of materials, and usually makes a snapping sound....
 materials failing under normal stress. All materials have temperature dependent variations in stress related properties, and non-newtonian
Non-Newtonian fluid

A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose flow properties are not described by a single constant value of viscosity. Many polymer solutions and molten polymers are non-Newtonian fluids, as are many commonly found substances such as ketchup, starch suspensions, paint, blood and shampoo....
 materials have rate-dependent variations.

Cauchy's stress principle

Cauchy's stress principle asserts that when a continuum
Continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the analysis of the kinematics and mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuum, e.g., solids and fluids ....
 body is acted on by forces (i.e., surface forces and body force
Body force

A body force is a force that acts throughout the volume of a body. This is in contrast to surface forces, such as friction and normal forces, which are exerted only on the surface of the object....
s) there are internal reactions (forces) throughout the body acting between the material points. Based on this principle, Cauchy demonstrated that the state of stress at a point in a body is completely defined by the nine components of a second-order Cartesian tensor
Tensor

A tensor is an object which extends the notion of Scalar , Vector , and Matrix . The term has slightly different meanings in mathematics and physics....
 called the Cauchy stress tensor, given by

where , , and are the stress vectors associated with the planes perpendicular to the coordinate axes, , , and are normal stresses, and

, , , , , and are shear stresses. The first index indicates that the stress acts on a plane normal to the axis, and the second index denotes the direction in which the stress acts. A stress component is positive if it acts in the positive direction of the coordinate axes, and if the plane where it acts has an outward normal vector pointing in the positive coordinate direction.

The Voigt notation
Voigt notation

In mathematics, Voigt notation or Voigt form in multilinear algebra is a way to represent a symmetric tensor by reducing its order. There are a few variants and associated names for this idea: Mandel notation, Mandel-Voigt notation and Nye notation are others found....
 representation of the Cauchy stress tensor takes advantage of the symmetry of the stress tensor to express the stress as a 6-dimensional vector of the form

The Voigt notation is used extensively in representing stress-strain relations in solid mechanics and for computational efficiency in numerical structural mechanics software.


Relationship stress vector - stress tensor

The stress vector at any point associated with a plane of normal vector can be expressed as a function of the stress vectors on the planes perpendicular to the coordinate axes, i.e. in terms of the components of the stress tensor . In tensor form this is:



Transformation rule of the stress tensor

It can be shown that the stress tensor is a second order tensor; this is, under a change of the coordinate system, from an system to an system, the components in the initial system are transformed into the components in the new system according to the tensor transformation rule:

where is the rotation matrix
Rotation matrix

In matrix theory, a rotation matrix is a real number square matrix whose transpose is its invertible matrix and whose determinant is 1 The matrix is so-called because it geometrically corresponds to a linear map that sends vectors to a corresponding vector rotated about the origin by a fixed angle....
 with components . In matrix form this is

Expanding the matrix operation, and simplifying some terms by taking advantage of the symmetry of the stress tensor, we have:

A graphical representation of this transformation of stresses, for a two-dimensional (plane stress and plane strain) and a general three-dimensional state of stresses, is the Mohr's circle for stresses

Normal and shear stresses

The magnitude of the normal
Tangential and normal components

In mathematics, given a Vector at a point on a surface, that vector can be decomposed uniquely as a sum of two vectors, one tangent to the surface, called the tangential component of the vector, and another one...
stress component, , of any stress vector acting on an arbitrary plane with normal vector at a given point in terms of the component of the stress tensor is the dot product of the stress vector and the normal vector, thus

The magnitude of the shear stress component, , acting in the plane formed by the two vectors and , can then be found using the Pythagorean theorem
Pythagorean theorem

In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a relation in Euclidean geometry among the three sides of a triangle#Types of triangles....
, thus

where

Equilibrium equations and symmetry of the stress tensor

When a body is in equilibrium the components of the stress tensor in every point of the body satisfy the equilibrium equations,



At the same time, equilibrium requires that the summation of moments with respect to an arbitrary point is zero, which leads to the conclusion that the stress tensor is symmetric
Symmetric matrix

In linear algebra, a symmetric matrix is a square matrix, A, that is equal to its transposeThe entries of a symmetric matrix are symmetric with respect to the main diagonal ....
, i.e.



However, in the presence of couple-stresses, i.e. moments per unit volume, the stress tensor is non-symmetric. This also is the case when the Knudsen number
Knudsen number

The Knudsen number is a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of the molecular mean free path length to a representative physical length scale ....
 is close to one, , or the continuum is a Non-Newtonian fluid
Non-Newtonian fluid

A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose flow properties are not described by a single constant value of viscosity. Many polymer solutions and molten polymers are non-Newtonian fluids, as are many commonly found substances such as ketchup, starch suspensions, paint, blood and shampoo....
, which can lead to rotationally non-invariant fluids, such as polymers.

Principal stresses and stress invariants


The components of the stress tensor depend on the orientation of the coordinate system at the point under consideration. However, the stress tensor itself is a physical quantity and as such, it is independent of the coordinate system chosen to represent it. There are certain invariants
Invariant (physics)

In mathematics and theoretical physics, an invariant is a property of a system which remains unchanged under some Transformation .The gravitational field of the Sun is invariant under a change of time ....
 associated with every tensor which are also independent of the coordinate system. For example, a vector is a simple tensor of rank one. In three dimensions, it has three components. The value of these components will depend on the coordinate system chosen to represent the vector, but the length
Length

Length is the long dimension of any object. The length of a thing is the distance between its ends, its linear extent as measured from end to end....
 of the vector is a physical quantity (a scalar
Scalar

A scalar is a variable that only has magnitude , e.g. a speed of 40 km/h. Compare it with vector, a quantity comprising both magnitude and Direction , e.g....
) and is independent of the coordinate system chosen to represent the vector. Similarly, every second rank tensor (such as the stress and the strain tensors) has three independent invariant quantities associated with it. One set of such invariants are the principal stresses of the stress tensor, which are just the eigenvalues of the stress tensor. Their direction vectors are the principal directions or eigenvectors. When the coordinate system is chosen to coincide with the eigenvectors of the stress tensor, the stress tensor is represented by a diagonal matrix:

where , , and , are the principal stresses. These principal stresses may be combined to form three other commonly used invariants, , , and , which are the first, second and third stress invariants, respectively. The first and third invariant are the trace and determinant respectively, of the stress tensor. Thus, we have

Because of its simplicity, working and thinking in the principal coordinate system is often very useful when considering the state of the elastic medium at a particular point.



Stress deviator tensor

The stress tensor can be expressed as the sum of two other stress tensors:

  1. a mean hydrostatic stress tensor or volumetric stress tensor or mean normal stress tensor, , which tends to change the volume of the stressed body; and
  2. a deviatoric component called the stress deviator tensor, , which tends to distort it.


where is the mean stress given by

The deviatoric stress tensor can be obtained by subtracting the hydrostatic stress tensor from the stress tensor:

Invariants of the stress deviator tensor


As it is a second order tensor, the stress deviator tensor also has a set of invariants
Invariants of tensors

In mathematics, in the fields of multilinear algebra and representation theory, invariants of tensors are coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of the tensor A:...
, which can be obtained using the same procedure used to calculate the invariants of the stress tensor. It can be shown that the principal directions of the stress deviator tensor are the same as the principal directions of the stress tensor . Thus, the characteristic equation is

where , and are the first, second, and third deviatoric stress invariants, respectively. Their values are the same (invariant) regardless of the orientation of the coordinate system chosen. These deviatoric stress invariants can be expressed as a function of the components of or its principal values , , and , or alternatively, as a function of or its principal values , , and . Thus,

Because , the stress deviator tensor is in a state of pure shear.

A quantity called the equivalent stress or von Mises stress
Von Mises stress

The von Mises yield criterion suggests that the yield of materials begins when the stress #Stress_deviator_tensor reaches a critical value . For this reason, it is sometimes called the -plasticity or flow theory....
 is commonly used in solid mechanics. The equivalent stress is defined as

Octahedral stresses

Considering the principal directions as the coordinate axes, a plane which normal vector makes equal angles with each of the principal axes, i.e. having direction cosines equal to , is called an octahedral plane. There are a total of eight octahedral planes (Figure 6). The normal and shear components of the stress tensor on these planes are called octahedral normal stress and octahedral shear stress , respectively.

Knowing that the stress tensor of point O (Figure 6) in the principal axes is

the stress vector on an octahedral plane is then given by:

The normal component of the stress vector at point O associated with the octahedral plane is

which is the mean normal stress or hydrostatic stress. This value is the same in all eight octahedral planes. The shear stress on the octahedral plane is then

Analysis of stress


All real objects occupy a three-dimensional space. However, depending on the loading condition and viewpoint of the observer the same physical object can alternatively be assumed as one-dimensional
List of structural elements

Structural elements are used in structural analysis to simplify the structure which is to be analysed. An Wiktionary:element is defined as the simplest part of the whole....
 or two-dimensional, thus simplifying the mathematical modelling of the object.

Uniaxial stress

If two of the dimensions of the object are very large or very small compared to the others, the object may be modelled as one-dimensional. In this case the stress tensor has only one component and is indistinguishable from a scalar. One-dimensional objects include a piece of wire loaded at the ends and viewed from the side, and a metal sheet loaded on the face and viewed up close and through the cross section.

When a structural element is elongated or compressed, its cross-sectional area changes by an amount that depends on the Poisson's ratio
Poisson's ratio

Poisson's ratio , named after Simeon Poisson, is the ratio of the contraction or transverse strain , to the extension or axial strain .When a sample cube of a materials is stretched in one direction, it tends to contract in the other two directions perpendicular to the direction of stretch....
 of the material. In engineering applications, structural members experience small deformations and the reduction in cross-sectional area is very small and can be neglected, i.e., the cross-sectional area is assumed constant during deformation. For this case, the stress is called engineering stress or nominal stress. In some other cases, e.g., elastomer
Elastomer

An elastomer is a polymer with the property of elasticity. The term, which is derived from elastic polymer, is often used interchangeably with the term rubber, and is preferred when referring to vulcanization....
s and plastic
Plasticity (physics)

In physics and materials science, plasticity describes the deformation of a material undergoing non-reversible changes of shape in response to applied forces....
 materials, the change in cross-sectional area is significant, and the stress must be calculated assuming the current cross-sectional area instead of the initial cross-sectional area. This is termed true stress and is expressed as

,

where

is the nominal (engineering) strain
Strain (materials science)

In continuum mechanics, the infinitesimal strain theory, sometimes called small deformation theory, small displacement theory, or small displacement-gradient theory, deals with infinitesimal Deformation s of a Continuum mechanics....
, and

is nominal (engineering) stress.

The relationship between true strain and engineering strain is given by

.

In uniaxial tension, true stress is then greater than nominal stress. The converse holds in compression.

Plane stress

A state of plane stress exist when one of the three principal , stresses is zero. This usually occurs in structural elements where one dimension is very small compared to the other two, i.e. the element is flat or thin. In this case, the stresses are negligible with respect to the smaller dimension as they are not able to develop within the material and are small compared to the in-plane stresses. Therefore, the face of the element is not acted by loads and the structural element can be analyzed as two-dimensional, e.g. thin-walled structures such as plates subject to in-plane loading or thin cylinders subject to pressure loading. The other three non-zero components remain constant over the thickness of the plate. The stress tensor can then be approximated by:

.


The corresponding strain tensor is:



in which the non-zero term arises from the Poisson's effect
Poisson's ratio

Poisson's ratio , named after Simeon Poisson, is the ratio of the contraction or transverse strain , to the extension or axial strain .When a sample cube of a materials is stretched in one direction, it tends to contract in the other two directions perpendicular to the direction of stretch....
. This strain term can be temporarily removed from the stress analysis to leave only the in-plane terms, effectively reducing the analysis to two dimensions.

Plane strain

If one dimension is very large compared to the others, the principal strain
Strain (materials science)

In continuum mechanics, the infinitesimal strain theory, sometimes called small deformation theory, small displacement theory, or small displacement-gradient theory, deals with infinitesimal Deformation s of a Continuum mechanics....
 in the direction of the longest dimension is constrained and can be assumed as zero, yielding a plane strain condition. In this case, though all principal stresses are non-zero, the principal stress in the direction of the longest dimension can be disregarded for calculations. Thus, allowing a two dimensional analysis of stresses, e.g. a dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
 analyzed at a cross section loaded by the reservoir.

Stress transformation in plane stress and plane strain

Consider a point in a continuum under a state of plane stress, or plane strain, with stress components and all other stress components equal to zero (Figure 7.1, Figure 8.1). From static equilibrium of an infinitesimal material element at (Figure 8.2), the normal stress and the shear stress on any plane perpendicular to the - plane passing through with a unit vector making an angle of with the horizontal, i.e. is the direction cosine in the direction, is given by:

These equations indicate that in a plane stress or plane strain condition, one can determine the stress components at a point on all directions, i.e. as a function of , if one knows the stress components on any two perpendicular directions at that point. It is important to remember that we are considering a unit area of the infinitesimal element in the direction parallel to the - plane.

The principal directions (Figure 8.3), i.e. orientation of the planes where the shear stress components are zero, can be obtained by making the previous equation for the shear stress equal to zero. Thus we have:

and we obtain

This equation defines two values which are apart (Figure 8.3). The same result can be obtained by finding the angle which makes the normal stress a maximum, i.e.

The principal stresses and , or minimum and maximum normal stresses and , respectively, can then be obtained by replacing both values of into the previous equation for . This can be achieved by rearranging the equations for and , first transposing the first term in the first equation and squaring both sides of each of the equations then adding them. Thus we have

where

which is the equation of a circle of radius centered at a point with coordinates , called Mohr's circle. But knowing that for the principal stresses the shear stress , then we obtain from this equation:

When the infinitesimal element is oriented in the direction of the principal planes, thus the stresses acting on the rectangular element are principal stresses: and . Then the normal stress and shear stress acting on a plane making an angle of with the principal directions can be obtained by making . Thus we have

Then the maximum shear stress occurs when , i.e. (Figure 8.3):

Then the minimum shear stress occurs when , i.e. (Figure 8.3):

Mohr's circle for stress

The Mohr's circle, named after Christian Otto Mohr
Otto Mohr

Christian Otto Mohr was a Germany civil engineer, one of the most celebrated of the nineteenth century.Mohr was born the son of a landowning family in Wesselburen in the Holstein region and at the age of 16 attended the University of Hanover in Hanover....
, is a two-dimensional graphical representation of the state of stress at a point. The abscissa, , and ordinate, , of each point on the circle
Circle

A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those point in a plane which are the same distance from a given point called the center....
 are the normal stress and shear stress components, respectively, acting on a particular cut plane with a unit vector
Vector

Vector may refer to:...
  with components . In other words, the circumference of the circle is the locus of points that represent state of stress on individual planes at all their orientations.

Karl Culmann was the first to conceive a graphical representation for stresses while considering longitudinal and vertical stresses in horizontal beams during bending
Bending

In engineering mechanics, bending characterizes the behavior of a structural element subjected to an external Structural load applied perpendicular to the axis of the element....
. Mohr's contribution extended the use of this representation for both two-dimensional and three-dimensional stresses, and developing a failure criterion based on the stress circle.

Mohr's circle for plane stress or plane strain

If we know the stress components . , and at a point for any two perpendicular planes in a continuum body under plane stress, or plane strain (Figures 8.1 and 8.2) we can construct the Mohr circle of stress. Once the Mohr circle is drawn one can use it to find the stress state on any other plane passing through that point in the body.

According to the sign convention for engineering mechanics, in disciplines such as mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering

Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of physics#branches of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of machine....
 and structural engineering
Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist structural loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
, which is the one used in this article, for the construction of the Mohr circle the normal stresses are positive if they are outward to the plane of action (tension), and shear stresses are positive if they rotate clockwise about the point in consideration. In geomechanics
Geomechanics

Geomechanics is the geologic study of the behavior of soil and rock . The two main disciplines of geomechanics are soil mechanics and rock mechanics....
, i.e. soil mechanics
Soil mechanics

Soil mechanics is a discipline that applies principles of engineering mechanics, e.g. kinematics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, and mechanics of material, to predict the mechanical behavior of soils....
 and rock mechanics
Rock mechanics

Rock mechanics is the theoretical and applied science of the mechanical behaviour of rock and rock masses; it is that branch of mechanics concerned with the response of rock and rock masses to the force fields of their physical environment....
, however, normal stresses are considered positive when they are inward to the plane of action (compression), and shear stresses are positive if they rotate counterclockwise about the point in consideration.

To construct the Mohr circle of stress for a state of plane stress, or plane strain, first we plot two points in the space corresponding to the known stress components on both perpendicular planes, i.e. and (Figure 9.1 and 9.2). We then connect points and by a straight line and find the midpoint which corresponds to the intersection of this line with the axis. Finally, we draw a circle with diameter and centre at .

As demonstrated in the previous section, the radius of the circle is , and the coordinates of its centre is .

The principal stresses are then the abscissa of the points of intersection of the circle with the axis (note that the shear stresses are zero for the principal stresses).

Using the Mohr circle one can find the stress components on any other plane with a different orientation that passes through point . For this, two approaches can be used:

  1. The first approach relies on the fact that the angle between two planes passing through is half the angle between the lines in the Mohr circle joining their corresponding stress points on the Mohr circle and the centre of the circle (Figure 9.1). In other words, the stresses acting on a plane at an angle counterclockwise to the plane on which acts is determined by travelling counterclockwise around the circle from the known stress point a distance subtending and angle at the centre of the circle (Figure 9.1).
  2. The second approach involves the determination of a point on the Mohr circle called the pole or the origin of planes. Any straight line drawn from the pole will intersect the Mohr circle at a point that represents the state of stress on a plane inclined at the same orientation (parallel) in space as that line. Therefore, knowing the stress components and on any particular plane, one can draw a line parallel to that plane through the particular coordinates and on the Mohr circle and find the pole as the intersection of such line with the Mohr circle. As an example, let's assume we have a state of stress with stress components , , and , as shown on Figure 9.2. First, we can draw a line from point parallel to the plane of action of , or, if we choose otherwise, a line from point parallel to the plane of action of . The intersection of any of these two lines with the Mohr circle is the pole. Once the pole has been determined, to find the state of stress on a plane making an angle with the vertical, or in other words a plane having its normal vector forming an angle with the horizontal plane, then we can draw a line from the pole parallel to that plane (See Figure 9.2). The normal and shear stresses on that plane are then the coordinates of the point of intersection between the line and the Mohr circle.

Mohr's circle for a general three-dimensional state of stresses

To construct the Mohr's circle for a general three-dimensional case of stresses at a point, the values of the principal stresses and their principal directions must be first evaluated, as explained previously.

Considering the principal axes as the coordinate system, instead of the general , , coordinate system, and assuming that , then the normal and shear components of the stress vector , for a given plane with unit vector , satisfy the following equations

Knowing that , we can solve for , , , which yields

Since , and is non-negative, the numerators from the these equations satisfy

as the denominator and

as the denominator and

as the denominator and

These expressions can be rewritten as

which are the equations of the three Mohr's circles for stress , , and , with radii , , and , and their centres with coordinates , , , respectively.

These equations for the Mohr's circles show that all admissible stress points lie on these circles or within the shaded area enclosed by them (see Figure 7). Stress points satisfying the equation for circle lie on, or outside circle . Stress points satisfying the equation for circle lie on, or inside circle . And finally, stress points satisfying the equation for circle lie on, or outside circle .

Alternative measures of stress


The Cauchy stress tensor is not the only measure of stress that is used in practice. Other measures of stress include the first and second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensors, the Biot stress tensor
Stress measures

The most commonly used measure of stress is the Stress . However, several other measures of stress can be defined. Some such stress measures that are widely used in continuum mechanics, particularly in the computational context, are , ...
, and the Kirchhoff stress tensor
Stress measures

The most commonly used measure of stress is the Stress . However, several other measures of stress can be defined. Some such stress measures that are widely used in continuum mechanics, particularly in the computational context, are , ...
.

Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor

In the case of finite deformations, the Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensors are used to express the stress relative to the reference configuration. This is in contrast to the Cauchy stress tensor which expresses the stress relative to the present configuration. For infinitesimal deformations or rotations, the Cauchy and Piola-Kirchhoff tensors are identical. These tensors take their names from Gabrio Piola
Gabrio Piola

Gabrio Piola was an Italy physicist. The Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor bears his name.External links...
 and Gustav Kirchhoff
Gustav Kirchhoff

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was a Germany physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects....
.

1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor
Whereas the Cauchy stress tensor, , relates forces in the present configuration to areas in the present configuration, the 1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor, relates forces in the present configuration with areas in the reference ("material") configuration. is given by

where is the Jacobian
Jacobian

In vector calculus, the Jacobian is shorthand for either the Jacobian matrix or its determinant, the Jacobian determinant.In algebraic geometry the Jacobian of a algebraic curve means the Jacobian variety: a group variety associated to the curve, in which the curve can be embedded....
, and is the inverse of the deformation gradient.

Because it relates different coordinate systems, the 1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress is a two-point tensor
Two-point tensor

Two-point tensors, or double vectors, are tensor-like quantities which transform as vectors with respect to each of their indices and are used in continuum mechanics to transform between reference and present coordinates....
. In general, it is not symmetric. The 1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress is the 3D generalization of the 1D concept of engineering stress.

If the material rotates without a change in stress state (rigid rotation), the components of the 1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor will vary with material orientation.

The 1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress is energy conjugate to the deformation gradient.

2nd Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor

Whereas the 1st Piola-Kirchhoff stress relates forces in the current configuration to areas in the reference configuration, the 2nd Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor relates forces in the reference configuration to areas in the reference configuration. The force in the reference configuration is obtained via a mapping that preserves the relative relationship between the force direction and the area normal in the current configuration.

This tensor is symmetric.

If the material rotates without a change in stress state (rigid rotation), the components of the 2nd Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor will remain constant, irrespective of material orientation.

The 2nd Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor is energy conjugate to the Green-Lagrange finite strain tensor.

See also