Stress Analysis

Lecture 4

Course Postgraduate
Asst. Prof. Dr. Alaa Dahham Younis
Work- Energy method (Virtual Work method)
virtual work arises in the application of the principle of least action to the study
of forces and movement of a mechanical system. The work of a force acting on a particle as it
moves along a displacement is different for different displacements. Among all the possible
displacements that a particle may follow, called virtual displacements, one will minimize the
action. This displacement is therefore the displacement followed by the particle according to the
principle of least action.
The virtual work method, also referred to as the method of virtual force or unit-load method, uses
the law of conservation of energy to obtain the deflection and slope at a point in a structure. This
method was developed in 1717 by John Bernoulli. To illustrate the principle of virtual work,
consider the deformable body shown in Figure 1. First, applying a virtual or fictitious unit
load Pv = 1 at a point Q, where the deflection parallel to the applied load is desired, will create
an internal virtual or imaginary load f and will cause point Q to displace by a certain small
amount. Then, placing the real external loads P1, P2, and M on the same body will cause an
internal deformation, dS, and an external deflection of point Q to Q’ by an amount ∆.

Fig. 1. Deformable body

Upon placement of the real load, the point of application of the virtual load also displaces by ∆,
and the applied unit load performs work by traveling the distance ∆. The work done by the virtual
forces are as follows:

External work done by the unit load Pv

…(1)

Internal work done by the virtual load f

…(2)

Applying the principle of conservation of energy by equating equation1 and equation2 suggests
the following:
External work done = Internal work done

…(3)

where
Pv = 1 = external virtual unit load.
f = internal virtual load.
∆ = external displacement caused by real loads.
dS = internal deformation caused by real loads.
Similarly, to obtain the slope at a point on a structure, apply a unit virtual moment Mv at the
specified point where the slope is desired, and apply the following equation derived via the
principle of conservation of energy:

…(4)

where
Mv = 1 = external virtual unit moment.
f = internal virtual load.
θ = external rotational displacement caused by real loads.
dS = internal deformation caused by real loads.

Virtual Work Formulation for the Deflection and Slope of Beams and Frames

To develop the equations for the computation of deflection of beams and frames using the virtual
work principles, consider the beam loaded as shown in Figure 2b. The deflection at point C due
to the applied external loads is required. First, removing the loads P and W and applying a
virtual unit load Pv = 1 will cause elementary forces and deformations to develop in the bar, and
a small deflection to occur at C, as follows:
The stress acting on the
differential cross-sectional
area dA at a distance x from the
left-end support due to a virtual
unit load is as follows:

𝑚𝑦
𝜎`= 𝐼
..(5)

where
m = internal virtual moment at the
section at a distance xe from the
left-end support due to the virtual
unit load. Fig.2. Loaded beam
I = moment of inertia of the
section.

The force acting on the differential area due to the virtual unit load is written as follows:

..(6)
The stress due to the external loads P1 and P2 on the beam is written as follows:

𝑚𝑦
𝜎`= 𝐼

The deformation of a differential beam length dx at a distance x from the left-end support is as
follows:
…(7)

The work done by the force f acting on the differential area due to the deformation of the
differential beam length dx is as follows:

…(8)

The internal work done Wi in the entire length of the beam due to the applied virtual unit load can
now be obtained by integrating with respect to dx, which is written as follows:

…(9)
The external work done We by the virtual unit load due to the deflection ∆ at point C of the beam
caused by the external loads is as follows:

..(10)

The principle of conservation of energy is applied to obtain the expression for the computation of
the deflection at any point in a beam or frame, which is written as follows:

..(11)

where
1 = external virtual or imaginary unit load on the beam or frame in the direction of the required
deflection ∆.
∆ = external displacement at the specified point on a beam or frame caused by the real loads.
M = internal moment in the beam or frame caused by the real load, expressed in terms of the
horizontal distance x.
m = internal virtual moment in the beam or frame caused by the external virtual unit load,
expressed with respect to the horizontal distance x.
E = modulus of elasticity of the material of the beam or frame.
I = moment of inertia of the cross-sectional area of the beam or frame about its neutral axis.
Similarly, the following expression can be obtained for the computation of the slope at a point in
a beam or frame:

…(12)

where
θ = slope or tangent rotation at a point on a beam or frame.
mθ = internal virtual moment in the beam or frame, expressed with respect to the horizontal
distance x, caused by the external virtual unit moment applied at the point where the rotation is
required.

Example 1
Using the virtual work method, determine the deflection and the slope at a point B of the
cantilever beam shown in Figure 3a. E = 29 × 103ksi, I = 600 in4.
Real and virtual systems. The real and virtual systems are shown in Figure 3a, and Figure 3c,
respectively. Notice that the real system consists of the external loading carried by the beam, as
specified in the problem. The virtual system consists of a unit 1-kip load applied at B, where the
deflection is required, and 1-kip-ft moment applied at the same point where the slope is
determined. The bending moments at each portion of the beam, with respect to the horizontal
axis, are presented in Table 1. Notice that the origin of the horizontal distance, x, for both the
real and virtual system is at the free end, as shown in Figure 3b, Figure 3d, and Figure 3f.
Table 1. Bending moments at portions of the beam.

Deflection at B. The deflection at the free

end of the beam is determined by
using equation 1, as follows:

Therefore

Fig. 3. Cantilever beam.

Slope at B. The slope at the free end of the beam is determined by using equation 2, as follows:

Therefore
Example 2
Using the virtual work method, determine the deflection at B and the slope at C for the simply
supported beam subjected to a concentrated load, as shown in Figure 4a. EI= constant. E = 29 ×
103ksi. I = 24 in4.

Fig. 4. Simply supported beam

Solution
Real and virtual systems. The real and virtual systems are shown in Figure 4a, Figure 4c,
and Figure 4e, respectively. The bending moments at each portion of the beam, with respect to the
horizontal axis, are presented in Table 3. The origin of the horizontal distances for both the real
and virtual system are shown in Figure 4b, Figure 4d, and Figure 4f.

Table 2. Bending moments at portions of the beam.

Deflection at B. The deflection at B can be determined by using equation 1, as follows:

Therefore

The positive value indicates deflection in the direction of the applied virtual load.
Slope at C. The slope at C can be determined by using equation 2, as follows:

Therefore
Contact Stress
When two bodies having curved surfaces are pressed against each other, the point or line contact
changes to area contact. The area of contact depends on the force, the geometry of the two
bodies, and the material the bodies are made of. As a result of the contact, three-dimensional
state of stress develops at the area of the contact and it might lead to cracking or flaking or
similar type of surface failure.
Examples of contact-stress problems are: wheel on rail, cam and follower, gear teeth contact, etc.
The contact-stress equations were developed by Hertz and they are usually called Hertzian
stresses.
Spherical Contact
When two spheres of diameters 𝑑1 & 𝑑2 made from two different materials
(having 𝐸1,𝜐1& 𝐸2,𝜐2) are pressed against each other with force 𝐹, the
contact area will be circular with a radius of “𝑎” which is found as:

The resulting pressure distribution is

hemispherical and its maximum value is:
Figure 1
And the principal stresses are found as:

And the maximum shear stress is:

The principal stresses are maximum at the

surface and decrease as depth increases,
while the maximum value of shear stress
occurs below the surface at 𝑧≅0.5𝑎
Cylindrical Contact
For cylinders in contact, the contact area will be rectangular with length
“𝐿” and width “2𝑏” where:

And the maximum pressure is:

And the state of stress is given as:

Figure 2
And the maximum shear is found as:

Hertz equations are valid if the contact

surface is free of shear stress (𝐹 only).
 Situations such as gear teeth contact,
wheel on rail, etc., involve significant
shear force on the contact area and the
state of stress can be found more
accurately using the “Smith-Liu
equations”.
Contact between a sphere and an elastic half-space
As showed in Figure 3, an elastic sphere of radius R indents an elastic half-space to depth u, and
thus creates a contact area of radius

The depth of indentation u is given by

Where

Fig. 3. Contact stress

And E1 , E2 are the elastic moduli and ν1, ν2 the Poisson’s ratios associated with each body.
Example
For a ½” steel tooling on a steel flat with 100 lb loading, E1 and E2 are 30 MPa, ν1 and ν2 are
0.3, according to the equations, we have: