Transformations of Stress

2.001, Spring 2003

1.0 The stress equations

Given an xy coordinate system, what are the stresses in a transformed coordinate system
x’y’?
y’ y

σxy σ y’y’
σxy x’
σ x’y’
θ
σ x’y’
σxx σxx
x
σ x’x’
σxy
σxy σ x’x’
σ x’y’ y’
σ x’
σyy σ y’y’
In class we derived the equations:
σ xx + σ yy σ xx – σ yy
σ x'x' = ---------------------- + --------------------- cos 2θ + σ xy sin 2θ (1)
2 2
σ xx + σ yy σ xx – σ yy
σ y'y' = ---------------------- – --------------------- cos 2θ – σ xy sin 2θ (2)
2 2
σ xx – σ yy
σ x'y' = ---------------------
- sin 2θ + σ xy cos 2θ (3)
2

These equations transform stress from the xy coordinate system to the x’y’ coordinate sys­
tem. By re-arranging Equations 1~3 above, you will see that:

σ
σ xx + σ yy 2 2 σ xx – σ yy 2 2
 x'x'
– ---------------------- + ( σ x'y' ) =  --------------------- + ( σ xy ) . (4)
2 2

Define:
σ +σ
xx yy
C = ---------------------- , (5)
2

and:

Transformations of Stress 1
 σ –σ 2
2
R =  ---------------------- + σ xy .
xx yy
(6)

 2 

Now you will see that Equation 4 can be rewritten in terms of C and R as:

2 2 2
(σ x'x' – C ) + (σ x'y' – 0) = R

which is the equation of a circle centered at (C,0) and of radius R. This is the Mohr Circle.
In other words, all transformations of stresses fall on the circle defined by the original
stresses.

σ xx + σ yy
----------------------
2

σ xx – σ yy
 ---------------------
2
2

- + σ xy
2 

Transformations of Stress 2
2.0 The connection to Matrices*
Stresses are written as a matrix because the matrix representation admits lots of easy
manipulation — if you like matrices, that is. Equations 1~3 can be captured with the
folowing matrix equation:

σ x'x' σ x'y' σ xx σ xy cos θ –sin θ

=
cosθ sin θ (7)

σ x'y' σ y'y' – sin θ cos θ σ xy σ yy sin θ cos θ

The first and last term on the right hand side of the equation above are rotation matrices.
Why does rotation turn up twice? Well, remember our wedge free body diagram? The fig­
ure below should jog your memory:
σ x'x'
σ x'y'
θ
θ
dy'

The first rotation comes from the fact that we need to take the components of σ x'x' and
σ x'y' in the x and y directions. The second rotation matrix comes from the fact that we
need to take projections of the area of the inclined face (dy’ × the thickness) on the xz and
yz planes! The fact that the trigonometric functions show up twice is what leads us to the
square terms, and eventually to the double angle (2θ) representation.

As an aside, note that the last term on the right hand side of Equation 7,

cos θ –sin θ ,

sinθ cos θ

happens to be the rotation matrix, and is represented by R ( θ ) Pre-multiplying the posi-

tion vector of a point by R rotates that point about the origin by θ. Note that the first term
in the right hand side of Equation 7 is R-1. which happens to also be RT.

3.0 Principal Stresses

The PowerPoint presentation shows you how to compute the principal directions with the
Mohr Circle. The principal directions can also be calculated from the equations. Here’s
how to derive the formula. Consider Equation 7, reproduced below. It shows you the rela-

Transformations of Stress 3
tion ship between the stresses at some transformed coordinates x’y’ and the stresses in the
given coordinates, xy.

σ
σ xx + σ yy 2 σ xx – σ yy 2
- + (σ x'y' )2 =  ---------------------
– --------------------- - + (σ xy ) 2
 x'x' 2   2 

Let us say we want the transformed coordinates to be the principal directions. In these
coordinates, by definition, σ x'y' must vanish:

σ xx + σ yy 2 0 σ –σ 2
σ 2 2
– ---------------------- + ( σ x'y' ) =  ---------------------- + (σ xy ) .
xx yy
 x'x' 2   2 

By rearranging the equation, we can show that the principal stresses are:

σ xx + σ yy σ xx – σ yy
 --------------------
2
2
σ x'x' = ---------------------
-± - + ( σ xy ) .
2  2 

There are two solutions, and they correspond to the two principal stresses.You should be
able to see that this is simply the center of the circle, offset either way by the radius, where
the center and the radius are defined in Equations 5 and 6. You should also be able to see
this from the diagram of the Mohr Circle.

4.0 Principal Stresses from Eigenvalues*

This section is directed at a couple of students who wondered what the relationship of the
Mohr Circle is to eigenvalues and eigenvectors. I recommend glancing over it.

You could also have computed the principal stresses from the matrix formulation of Equa­
tion 7. We want to determine the angle θ, and the values of axial stresses they result in,
where the shear stresses vanish:

0
σ x'x' σ x'y' σ xx σ xy cos θ – sin θ
= cos θ sin θ .
σ x'y' 0σ y'y' – sin θ cos θ σ xy σ yy sin θ cos θ

The resulting equation is an eigenvalue problem:

cos θ sinθ σ xx σ xy cos θ – sinθ = σ x'x' 0 .

– sin θ cos θ σ xy σ yy sin θ cos θ 0 σ y'y'

The form above is actually a variant of the more familiar Eigenvalue problem:

Transformations of Stress 4
 σ xx σ xy l = λ l .
σ xy σ yy m m

Solving it will give you two eigenvalues, corresponding to the two principal stresses, and
two eigenvectors, which when put together, give us back the rotation matrix as shown
below.

cos θ – sin θ .
sin θ cos θ

first second
eigenvector eigenvector

So you see, as Professor Williams said, everything is connected. If you are ever confused
about eigenvalues and eigenvectors in matrices, think Mohr Circle and principal stresses.
Eigenvalues are principal stresses. This formulation works well in 3D. The Mohr Circle is
cumbersome in 3D.

5.0 Some closing comments

σ xx σ xy σ x τ xy
1. Remember that is modern notation. The old notation was: , and is
σ xy σ yy τ xy σ y
used in the book. You will also see this notation in other texts. We don’t like it.
2. Turns out that there are nine strains too, and that symmetry reduces strains to six just
like in stress. The strain tensor in 2D is:

εxx ε xy
.
εxy ε yy

3. Strains also transform according to the Mohr Circle—in exactly the same way, in fact.
You will see all this in class.\
4. Strains too have a legacy of old notation, which we dislike. Strain used to be written
ε x γxy
, and to make matters worse, γ ij = 2ε ij . We will not use this notation, but
γxy εy
you will see it around.

Transformations of Stress 5