Stress Analysis

Lecture 2

Course Postgraduate
Asst. Prof. Dr. Alaa Dahham Younis
Normal Stress in Beams

Beam bending stress equation (flexure formula) is developed under the following assumptions:
- The beam is straight, long and having a constant cross-section with an axis of symmetry in the
plane of bending.
- The material is isotropic, homogeneous, and linearly elastic.
- The beam is subjected to pure bending moment (no axial force, shear or torsion).
Bending results from a couple, or a bending moment M, that is applied. Just like torsion, in pure
bending there is an axis within the material where the stress and strain are zero. This is referred
to as the neutral axis

what you can notice now is that the bottom surface of the beam got longer in length, while the top
surface of the beam got shorter in length. Also, along the center of the beam, the length didn't
change at all – corresponding to the neutral axis. A beam subjected to a positive bending moment
will tend to develop a concave-upward curvature. This means the material near the top of the
beam is placed in compression along the x direction, with the lower region in tension. At the
transition between the compressive and tensile regions, the stress becomes zero; this is the
neutral axis of the beam. If the material tends to fail in tension, like chalk or glass, it will do so
by crack initiation and growth from the lower tensile surface. If the material is strong in tension
but weak in compression, it will fail at the top compressive surface; this might be observed in a
piece of wood by a compressive buckling of the outer fibers.
We begin by stating that originally transverse planes within the beam remain planar under
bending, but rotate through an angle about points on the neutral axis as shown in Fig. 1. For
small rotations, this angle is given approximately by the x-derivative of the beam's vertical
deflection function
u = −y dv/dx
Here y is measured positive upward from the neutral
axis, whose location within the beam has not yet been
determined.

The x-direction normal strain x is then the gradient of

the displacement
= −y d²v/dx²

Note that the strains are zero at the neutral axis where
y = 0, negative (compressive) above the axis, and
positive (tensile) below. They increase in magnitude Figure 1: Geometry of beam bending
linearly with y, much as the shear strains increased
linearly with r in a torsional loaded circular shaft.

The stresses are obtained directly from

Hooke's law as −y E d²v/dx²
This restricts the applicability of this derivation to linear elastic materials. Hence the axial
normal stress, like the strain, increases linearly from zero at the neutral axis to a maximum at the
outer surfaces of the beam.

Since there are no axial (x-direction) loads applied

externally to the beam, the total axial force generated by
the normal x stresses (shown in Fig. 2) must be zero.

d²v/dx² dA
Figure 2: Moment and force
equilibrium in the beam

The distance y from the neutral axis to the centroid of the cross-sectional area is

Hence y = 0, i.e. the neutral axis is coincident with the centroid of the beam cross-sectional
area. This result is obvious on reflection, since the stresses increase at the same linear rate,
above the axis in compression and below the axis in tension. Only if the axis is exactly at the
centroidal position will these stresses balance to give zero net horizontal force and keep the beam
in horizontal equilibrium.
The normal stresses in compression and tension are balanced to give a zero net horizontal force,
but they also produce a net clockwise moment. This moment must equal the value of M(x) at that
value of x, as seen by taking a moment balance around point O

d²v/dx²) d²v/dx²

The quantity is the rectangular moment of inertia with respect to the centroidal
axis, denoted I. For a rectangular cross section of height h and width b as shown in Fig. 3 this is:

d²v/dx² = M / EI

Figure 3: Moment of inertia

for a rectangular section.
The bending stress in beams subjected to bending moment is found as:

Where, 𝑦: is the height from the neutral axis (centroidal axis)

𝐼: is the moment of inertia about the 𝑧 axis
The maximum tensile and compressive stresses are at the top and bottom surfaces.

The maximum bending stress in the beam is usually found using:

or sometimes it is written as:

Buckling
Long slender columns placed in compression are prone to fail by buckling, in which the column
develops a kink somewhere along its length and quickly collapses unless the load is relaxed. This
is actually a bending phenomenon, driven by the bending moment that develops if and when the
beam undergoes a transverse deflection. Consider a beam loaded in axial compression and
pinned at both ends as shown in Fig. 4. Now let the beam be made to deflect transversely by an
amount v, perhaps by an adventitious sideward load or even an irregularity in the beam's cross
section. Positions along the beam will experience a moment given by

The beam's own stiffness will act to restore the deflection

and recover a straight shape, but the effect of the
bending moment is to deflect the beam more. It's a battle
over which influence wins out. If the tendency of the
bending moment to increase the deflection dominates
over the ability of the beam's elastic stiffness to resist
bending, the beam will become unstable, continuing to Figure 4: Imminent buckling in a beam
bend at an accelerating rate until it fails.

effective structural stiffness (k) is a linear

change in restoring force with deflection
The bending moment is related to the beam curvature
𝑃
d²v/dx² = ν
Of course, this governing equation is satisfied 𝐸𝐼
identically if v = 0, i.e. the beam is straight

Effective length
Le  KL
where L = actual length of column between supports
K = constant dependent on the end fixity.

Diagram shows the values of K for

the different kinds of support
mentioned
Equation a will be satisfied by functions that are proportional to their own second derivatives.
Trigonometric functions have this property, so candidate solutions will be of the form

It is obvious that c2 must be zero, since the deflection must go to zero at x = 0 and L. Further,
the sine term must go to zero at these two positions as well, which requires that the length L
be exactly equal to a multiple of the half wavelength of the sine function:

The lowest value of P leading to the deformed shape corresponds to n = 1; the critical buckling
load Pcr is then:

Note the dependency on L², so the buckling load drops with the square of the length.
This strong dependency on length shows why crossbracing is so important in preventing
buckling. If a brace is added at the beam's midpoint as shown in Fig. 5 to eliminate deflection
there, the buckling shape is forced to adopt a wavelength of L rather than 2L. This is equivalent
to making the beam half as long, which increases the critical buckling load by a factor of four.
Radius of gyration
I
r 
A

Le KL
slenderness ratio  
rmin rmin
Transition slenderness ratio
2 2 E
Cc 
sy
Determining “long” or “short”
If KL/r > Cc, the column is long.

Euler’s method
For long columns  2 EA  2 EI
Pcr  2 2

( KL / r ) / r ( KL) 2
Similar reasoning can be used to assess the result of having different support conditions. If for
instance the beam is cantilevered at one end but unsupported at the other, its buckling shape
will be a quarter sine wave. This is equivalent to making the beam twice as long as the case
with both ends pinned, so the buckling load will go down by a factor of four. Cantilevering both
ends forces a full-wave shape, with the same buckling load as the pinned beam with a midpoint
support.

Figure 5: Effect of lateral support and end

conditions on beam buckling
Example Problem 6-1 A column has a solid circular cross section, 1.25
inches in diameter; it has a length of 4.50 ft and is pinned at both ends. If
it is made from AISI 1020 cold-drawn steel, what would be a safe column
loading?

Solution Objective Specify a safe loading for the column.

Given Solid circular cross section: diameter = d =1.25 in;

length = L = 4.50 ft.
Both ends of the column are pinned.
Material: AISI 1020 cold-drawn steel.

Results Step 1. For the pinned-end column, the end-fixity factor is AT = 1.0.
The effective length equals the actual length; KL = 4.50 ft = 54.0 in.
Step 2. From Appendix 1, for a solid round section,
r = D/4 = 1.25/4 = 0.3125 in

Step 3. Compute the slenderness ratio:

Step 4. Compute the column constant from Equation (6^). For AISI 1020 cold-
drawn
steel, the yield strength is 51 000 psi. and the modulus of elasticity is 30 x10"
psi. Then

Step 5. Because KLIr is greater than C,, the column is long, and Euler's formula
should be used. The area is

Then the critical load is

At this load, the column should just begin to buckle. A safe load would be a reduced
value, found by applying the design factor to the critical load. Let's use A' = 3 to
compute the allowable load, P^, = P^JN;

P„ = (12 200)/3 = 4067 1b The safe load on the column is 4067 lb.
Curved Beams in Bending

When a curved beam (having a symmetric section with respect to the plane of bending) is
subjected to bending moment, bending stress will develop in the beam similar to straight beams.
However, there are two basic differences:
- The neutral axis does not coincide with the centroidal axis.
- The stress doses not vary linearly from the neutral axis.

Note: These equations assume pure bending only (pure moment).

If the moment is resulting from a force applied to one side of the
section, such as the case of a hook, the moment is computed about
the centroidal axis not the neutral axis, and the additional axial stress
is added to the bending stress.
• Flexure formula only applies to members that are straight as normal strain varies linearly
from the neutral axis
• Thus another equation needs to be formulated for curved beam, i.e., a member that has a
curved axis and is subjected to bending

• Assumptions for analysis:

1. X-sectional area is constant and has an
axis of symmetry that is perpendicular to
direction of applied moment M
2. Material is homogeneous and isotropic
and behaves in linear-elastic manner
under loading
3. X-sections of member remain plane after
moment applied and distortion of x-
section within its own will be neglected
CURVED MEMBERS IN FLEXURE
The distribution of stress in a curved flexural member is determined by using the following
assumptions.
1 The cross section has an axis of symmetry in a plane along the length of the beam.
2 Plane cross sections remain plane after bending.
3 The modulus of elasticity is the same in tension as in compression.
It will be found that the neutral axis and the centroidal axis of a curved beam, unlike a straight
beam, are not coincident and also that the stress does not vary linearly from the neutral axis. The
notation shown in the above figures is defined as follows:
ro = radius of outer fiber
ri = radius of inner fiber
h = depth of section
co = distance from neutral axis to outer fiber
ci = distance from neutral axis to inner fiber
r = radius of neutral axis
r`= radius of centroidal axis
e = distance from centroidal axis to neutral axis
To begin, we define the element abcd by the angle φ. A bending moment M cause section bc to
rotate through dφ to b’c’. The strain on any fiber at distance ρ from the center 0 is
The normal stress corresponding to this strain is

Since there are no axial external forces acting on the beam, the sum of the normal forces acting
on the section must be zero. Therefore

Now arrange Eq. (2) in the form

and solve the expression in parentheses. This gives

This important equation is used to find the location of the neutral axis with respect to the center
of curvature 0 of the cross section. The equation indicates that the neutral and the centroidal axes
are not coincident
Our next problem is to determine the stress distribution. We do this by balancing the external
applied moment against the internal resisting moment. Thus, from Eq. (2),

Since Eq. (5) can be written in the form

Note that r is a constant; then compare the first two terms in parentheses with Eq. (4). These
terms vanish, and we have left

The first integral in this expression is the area A, and the second is the product rA. Therefore

𝑀𝑦
Now, using Eq. (1) once more, and rearranging, we finally obtain 𝜎=
𝐴𝑒𝜌

The stress at any distance “𝑦” from the neutral axis is found as:
This equation shows that the stress distribution is hyperbolic. The algebraic maximum stresses
occur at the inner and outer fibers and are

The sign convention used is that M is positive if it acts to straighten on the beam. The distance y
is positive inwards to the center of curvature and is measured from the neutral axis. It follows that
ci is positive and co is negative
These equations are valid for pure bending. In the usual and more general case such as a crane
hook, the U frame of a press, or the frame of a clamp, the bending moment is due to forces acting
to one side of the cross section under consideration. In this case the bending moment is computed
about the centroidal axis, not the neutral axis. Also, an additional axial tensile (P/A) or
compressive (-P/A) stress must be added to the bending stress given by Eq. (7) to obtain the
resultant stress acting on the section.
 Location of neutral axis:

 = Ek (R r r )
A
R=
∫A dA
r

R = location of neutral axis, specified from center of curvature O’ of member

A = x-sectional area of the member
R = arbitrary position of the area element dA on x-section specified from center of
curvature P’ of member
 A
R=
∫A dA
r
Normal stress in curved beam

M(R  r)
=
Ar(r  R)

My
=
Ae(R  y)

• The above equations represent 2 forms of the curved-

beam formula, used to determine the normal-stress
distribution in a member
Normal stress in curved beam:
• The stress distribution is as shown, hyperbolic,
and is sometimes called circumferential stress
• Radial stress will also be created as a result
• If radius of curvature is greater than 5 times the
depth of member, flexure formula can be used to
determine the stress instead
Example (1): A flat steel bar, 1 inch wide by ¼ inch thick and 40 inches long, is bent by couples
applied at the ends so that the midpoint deflection is 1.0 inch. Compute the stress in the bar and
the magnitude of the couples. Use E = 29 × 106 psi.

𝑀𝑦 𝑀 𝑟−𝜌
𝜎= =
𝐴𝑒𝜌 𝐴𝑒𝜌

𝜎𝐼
𝑀= 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝜌 = 𝐼
𝑟−𝜌 b
𝑟−𝜌 𝜎𝐼
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜀 = so 𝑀=
𝜌 𝜀𝜌

b

b
Example (2): Steel bar with rectangular x-section is shaped into a circular arc. Allowable normal
stress is allow = 140 MPa. Determine maximum bending moment M that can be applied to the
bar. What would this moment be if the bar was straight?

Internal moment
Since M tends to increase bar’s
radius of curvature, it is positive.
Section properties
Location of neutral axis is
determined using Eqn.4

A
∫
110𝑚𝑚 20×20 400
R= = 90𝑚𝑚 20×𝑑𝑟
= 4.0134= 99.666 mm
dA 𝑟
Ar

Section properties
We do not know if normal stress reaches its maximum at the top or bottom of the bar, so both
cases must be compute separately.
Since normal stress at bar top is  = 140 MPa

= M(R  r ) 𝑀 99.66 − 110

M = 0.199 kN·m
o −140 =
Aro(r  R) 400 × 0.11 100 − 99.66
Likewise, at bottom of bar,  = +140 MPa

= M(R  ri) 𝑀 99.66 − 90

140 = M = 0.174 kN·m
Ari(r  R) 400 × 0.09 100 − 99.66

By comparison, maximum that can be applied is 0.174 kN·m, so maximum normal stress occurs at
bottom of the bar.
0.174 99.66 − 110
𝜎=
400 × 0.11 100 − 99.66

Compressive stress at top of bar is then  = 122.5 N/mm2

By comparison, maximum that can be applied is 0.174 kN·m, so

maximum normal stress occurs at bottom of the bar.

If bar was straight?

 = Mc/I M = 0.187 kN·m

This represents an error of about 7% from the more exact value determined above.
 Stress Concentration
Flexure formula can only be used to determine stress distribution within regions of a member
where x-sectional area is constant or tapers slightly
If x-section suddenly changes, normal-stress and strain distributions become nonlinear and they
can only be obtained via experiment or mathematical analysis using the theory of elasticity

Common discontinuities include members having notches on

their surfaces, holes for passage of fasteners or abrupt
changes in outer dimensions of member’s x-section
The maximum normal stress at the discontinuities occur at the
smallest x-sectional area

For design, we only need to know the maximum normal

stress developed at these sections, not the actual stress
distribution
Thus, the maximum normal stress due to bending can be
obtained using the stress-concentration factor K

Mc
=K
I
IMPORTANT
• Stress concentrations in members subjected to bending occur at x-sectional change, such as
notches and holes, because here the stress and strain become nonlinear.
• The more severe the change, the larger the stress distribution
• For design/analysis, not necessary to know the exact stress distribution around x-sectional
change
• The maximum normal stress occurs at the smallest x-sectional area
• The maximum normal stress can be obtained using stress concentration factor K, which is
determined through experiment and is a function of the geometry of the member
• If material is brittle or subjected to fatigue loading, stress concentrations in the member
need to be considered in design
The presence of discontinuities (such as a hole in a plate) alters the stress distribution causing
higher stress near the discontinuity. Any type of discontinuity (hole, shoulder, notch, inclusion)
serve as a stress raiser where it increases the stress in the vicinity of the discontinuity.

Stress concentration occurs at the region in which stress raisers are present, and a stress
concentration factor (𝐾𝑡) is used to relate the actual maximum stress at the discontinuity to the
nominal stress without the discontinuity.
Stress concentration factors are independent of the
material properties (as long as the material is in the
linear elastic region). They depend only on the type of
discontinuity and the geometry.

One of the theoretical stress concentration factors is that of an elliptical hole in an infinite plate
loaded in tension which is given as:

Thus, if the hole is circular (𝑎 = 𝑏 ) in an infinite plate then 𝐾𝑡=3

However stress concentration factors are very difficult to find using theoretical analysis, and
usually they are found experimentally (using Photoelasticity) or using finite element analysis and
they are usually presented in charts for different geometric and loading configurations in
specialized books (such as the Peterson's Stress Concentration Factors).
When using stress concentration factors from charts you should be careful to
how 𝐾𝑡 is defined (with respect to stress in the net area or the total area).
When dealing with brittle materials it is very important to consider the stress concentrations
because rupture will initiate there and the entire part will fail, while for ductile materials stress
concentrations are usually not considered because the material will yield at the high stress
location and this relieves the stress concentration.
Example : Transition in x-sectional area of steel bar is achieved using shoulder fillets as shown. If
bar is subjected to a bending moment of 5kN·m, determine the maximum normal stress developed
in the steel. Y = 500 MPa.

Moment creates largest stress in bar at

base of fillet. Stress concentration factor
can be determined from the graph

w/h = ... = 1.5

r/h = ... = 0.2

From above values, we get K = 1.45

 Mc 5000×0.04
=K I = 1.45× 0.02×0.083 = 340 MPa
12

Result indicates that steel remains elastic

since stress is below yield stress.
Normal stress distribution is nonlinear

However, by Saint-Venant’s principle, the

localized stresses smooth out and become
linear when one moves at a distance of 80
mm or more to right of transition.

Thus, the flexure formula gives max = 234

MPa.
Note that choice of a larger-radius fillet will
significantly reduce max, since as r increase, K
will decrease.
Shear Stress for Beams in Bending
As we learned while creating shear and moment diagrams, there is a shear force and a bending
moment acting along the length of a beam experiencing a transverse load. In a previous lesson,
we have learned about how a bending moment causes a normal stress. This normal stress often
dominates the design criteria for beam strength, but as beams become short and thick,
a transverse shear stress becomes dominate. In this lesson, we will learn how the shear force in
beam bending causes a shear stress.
To understand the nature of this transverse shear stress more mathematically, let's imagine a
beam that is simply supported at its ends, and loaded by a point force at its center. Let's zoom into
a small segment of the beam, and analyze the forces acting on it. We know from our previous
sections that there will be a normal stress from bending that varies along the y-axis. From the
loading shown, we know that the normal stress in the x direction will be compressive (negative) at
the top of the beam, and tensile (positive) at the bottom of the beam. We also know that this
normal stress will be zero along the neutral axis of the beam. We're interested in summing the
forces in the x direction and setting them equal to zero. If we look at an arbitrary area of the cross
section (i.e. not the entire cross sectional area), we can write the forces from the normal stress as
the stress times the area of the differential element. Now, we know from our wooden board
analogy above that there has to be a force parallel to the base of this arbitrary area as well – this
shear force will be acting in the x direction, and we'll call it delta H. Now we can sum the forces
acting in the x direction. We also can simply this equation a little further by recalling the
relationship between a change in bending moment and a shear force. So, we can rewrite Md-
Mc (which is delta M) as V delta x. What we are left with, once we bring the two delta terms to the
same side of the equation is an equation for the horizontal shear force per unit length.
This equation for q has the units of
[N m-1]. Force per length… just from
dimensional analysis, we can
observe that this shear force per unit
length will be a stress if we
divide q by a length scale. The
relevant length scale in this case is
the thickness of area of interest, t.
It is rare to encounter beams subjected to pure bending moment only (no shear). Most beams are
subjected to both shear forces and bending moments.
Though the flexure formula (beam bending stress equation) was developed based on the
assumption of pure bending moment only, yet it holds reasonably accurate with the presence of
shear forces.

For a beam subjected to shear force, the shear stress is found as

where,
- 𝑉: is the shear force at the section of interest.
- 𝑄: is the first moment of inertia at the height where 𝜏 is determined.
- 𝐼: is the section moment of inertia.
- 𝑏: is the width at the point where 𝜏 is determined.

The first moment of inertia, 𝑄 , is found as:

where
• 𝐴′ is the area of the portion of the section above or below the point where 𝜏 is determined.
• 𝑦̅′ is the distance to the centroid of the area 𝐴′ measured from the neural axis of the beam.

The shear stress 𝜏 is maximum at the neutral

axis (since 𝑄 will be max), and it is zero on the
top and bottom surfaces (since 𝑄 is zero).
In non-circular member:

τ max = T/Q
Shear Stress in Standard Section Beams

When designing a machine element we always look at the maximum stress to ensure the safety of
the element. In beams, the maximum shear stress is located at the neutral axis (since 𝑄 is max at
the N.A.).

The maximum shear stress for some standard sections is found to be:
EXAMPLE A wood pole of solid circular cross section is subjected to a horizontal force P= 450
lb. The length of the pole is L=6 ft, and the allowable stresses in the wood are 1900 psi in
bending and 120 psi in shear. Determine the minimum required diameter of the pole based upon
the allowable shear stress.

Solution: