ME 215 ENG.

MATERIALS I

CHAPTER 4
PROPERTIES IN SHEAR
• Static bending and shear
properties of materials are not
of the same universal interest
as the static tension and
compression properties.

• the properties in shear (and

Materials are usually
bending) might be determined • stronger in compression than in
from tensile data (eg. tension (weaker in tension than in
compression )
Ssy=~0.5Sy) • Stronger in tension than in shear
(weaker in shear than in tension)
There are two main types of shear categorized due to loadings.

One is the direct or transverse shear

and
the other is the pure or torsional shear.

(a) Direct Shear Stress (rivets & beams are examples)

(b) Torsional Shear Stress (Shafts subjected to pure torsion are examples)
 PROPERTIES IN SHEAR
• Shear stress plays an important role in the failure of ductile
materials (which resist to normal stress by undergoing large
plastic deformations, but fails by rupturing under shear
stress. )

• However, the shear tests have not met wide acceptance

and use that have been given to tension test.

• This unpopularity may largely be due to the fact that an

idea about the shear properties of a material can often be
obtained from the tensile properties (eg. Ssy=~0.5Sy).

• Shear test are usually conducted to obtain a measure of

shear strength for specific applications.
Some examples of shear failures

Failure of a crankshaft under torsional

load (shear stress) :Brittle shaft material
with 45 degree fracture plane
 Side View of Sector Shaft
The side view of the broken
shaft, at right, showed twisting
deformation from torsional forces
during fracture. The fracture
Fracture Surface of Sector Shaft
showed no indications of fatigue
The fracture surface had circumferential smearing cracking, which would possibly
and a slightly off-center final fracture zone point to a defect in the shaft as
the cause for failure
 One of the retention studs was fractured
through the shank in a spiral fashion
(45degree) from the region of the first
thread. A second stud was intact but
cracked in the same manner.

• A close-up view of the fractured

retention stud. A brittle torsional
spiral fracture is observed
 Types of Shear Stresses
There are two main types of shear categorized due to the
loadings.

(a)Direct Shear Stress (rivets & beams are examples)

(b)Torsional Shear Stress (Shafts are subjected to pure torsion)

 Types of shear tests
There are two types of shear tests:
• 1- Direct or transverse shear tests are
usually employed to obtain an
“aproximate” shear strength (Ssy or
Ssu) for specific applications

• 2- Whereas torsion test is usually

employed to evaluate/determine the
shear properties (and behaviour) of a
material more reliably (similar to the
tensile test of materials)
 1. Direct shear test
• Direct shear test is employed in various ways as seen in figure.
• The specimen is usually clamped in a fixture and a shearing force
F is applied through a shear tool and the max. Load F is
determined usually with a direct shear test (but not the reliable
shear strength).

3 types of direct shear tests are:

•Single shear test (a)
•Double shear test (b)and
•Punch shear test (c)
Here are different direct shear applications and the shear
stresses created in materials subjected to shear loads
• In direct shear tests, usually the max load F (required
to shear the test specimen) is determined
• The same maximum load is then converted to the max.
direct shear stress (ultimate strength in shear ) via
suitable equation with questinable reliability.
• This direct test, however, does not provide reliable
information for the properties (such as yield, stiffness,
resilience etc) of material in shear.
• This test provides only the “approximate” ultimate
strength of material in shear. Even this property is not
always reliable due to factors such as:
– Hardness, sharpness and correct setting of shearing tools
– Bending stresses and friction between the parts
– etc
Example for punch test
Example for punch test
 2. Torsion Test
Torsion tests are performed on special type of
machines which have been developed especially for
this purpose/test.
Torsion tests are carried out applying a given twisting
moment (torque) to one end of a specimen while
measuring the deformation as angular displacement
at the same end (if other end is fixed).
 τ

Before loading torque on circular specimen

τ =0
(T=0)

τ
τ
After loading torque on circular specimen
(T>0)
τ >0
The torsion test is not used in material specification to the same extent as the
tension test (but more reliable than direct shear tests).

The main reason for lack of popularity of torsion tests arises from the fact that
no uniform shear stress can be generated within the material.

Whereas in tension test, usually, uniform normal stress can be generated within
the material.
Nevertheless, the torsion test is still usefull (and better
than direct shear test) in determination of material
properties such as

Shear modulus of elasticity, G: G= E/((2(1+μ))

torsional yield strength Ssy:

and
shear modulus of rupture Su:
• Torsion tests can be also carried out
on full sized engineering components
themselves such as shafts, twist drills
etc. in order to determine their
behaviour under service conditions.

• Plastic deformation is almost uniform

over the whole length of specimen,
which makes it possible to determine
deformations and stress more reliably
for highly ductile materials, especially
pure metals.

• Materials with very low ductility (or

brittle materials), which are often
difficult to test in tension, undergo
quite measurable deformation in
torsion tests which facilitates the
determination of their mechanical
properties.
• During torsion tests no “neck” forms in
solid specimens. Consequently the
torque increases up to the moment of
failure.

• Thin walled tubes or hollow sections

are sometimes used to determine the
mechanical properties more accurately,
but the danger of buckling in these
hollow sections has to be avoided
before the material fails from shear
stress.
For hollow sections under
torsion:

Failure by buckling, happens

generally if d > 10t.
There are two main parts of the Torsion Test Machine ;
A- Loading Unit
B- Indicating Unit

Torsion Testing Machine

The two units are seperated from each other by the specimen.
While one unit is fixed to the bed the other is free to move along the bed to
compensate for the variation in the length of the specimen when subjected
to the torsional load.

Otherwise the specimen will be subjected to

axial stresses which will then disturb the
state of pure shear stress

The test specimens for torsional tests are

cylindrical, usually having square or
hexagonal shaped ends to be held
easily at the chucks, as shown in the
figure.
 Elastic Behaviour in Torsion
When the one end of a beam/shaft is fixed to
the wall and a torque is applied to the
other free end of the beam gradually, the
beam will undergo a rotational
deformation as seen in figure.
T is the applied load Torque
Ѳ is the output measurement
The deformation here is circumferental and
equal to s=ѲR on the surface of the bar.
Stiffness in Torsion (Modulus of Rigidity)

As in the tension test, the slope of the τ-γ curve

in elastic range gives the stiffness value;

This equation is valid only for

materials which behave linearly
in the elastic range.
There is a close relationship between stiffnesses in tension (E) and in torsion (G):

Modulus of Rigidity G, can also be determined from a material’s Young’s Modulus, E,

provided that the Poisson’s ratio, µ, for that material is known.

As can seen from equation of G,

the higher the E, the higher the G value in torsion.
Poissons ratio and G values of different materials are given in Table 4.5
 Elastic Shear Strength (Ssy)
The elastic shear strength is measured by the maximum stress in the
torsion specimen, corresponding to a torque load representing the
transition from the elastic to plastic range.
For solid bars, Tsy point is not generally appearent due to stress
gradient across the diameter (having a non uniform stress
distribution over the cross-section of the bar)
Contrary to the solid bars which have a non uniform stress distribution
over the cross-section of the bar, the thin walled specimens will
have a uniform stress across the thickness of the wall and allow an
accurate determination of the Ssy point.
Simply, thinner is the wall thickess, more sensitive is the measure of elastic
strength since all fibres are at about the same stress.
Because thin walled tubular specimens do not benefit from the strengthening
effect of inner fibres which were at lower shear stress values than surface.

For Ssy & G determination a tubular specimen with;

L ≥ 10d and d ≤ 10t is recomended.
However, if a thin walled tube is subjected to torsion, it would first fail by
buckling before the shear strength of material is reached if the geometry is
not in suitable proportion.

If L/d and d/t ratios are not kept within limits, tubular specimens generally
fail by buckling before the Ssy point is reached.
Failure by buckling, however, happens generally if d > 10t .
So better to have tubular specimens with d<10t to avoid buckling in torsion

For thin walled specimens during torsion tests, the

both end should be plugged, so that the jaws of
the testing machine will not collapse the specimen
 The general equation of shear stress for solid specimen is
not directly used for tubular specimens and a new equation
is derived

For tubular thin walled specimens the shear stress is derived as:

So, Shear Elastic Strength is:

where Tsy is the torque at yield point and has to be

measured during test
 The first start point of yielding is not readily appearent with most materials
because of the stress gradient across the diameter of a solid bar.
Outer most fibers are restrained from yielding by the less stressed inner fibers.
It is not until considerable yielding has taken place that any noticeable effect is
apparent unless the material has very marked upper and lower yield points as
shown in figure below.

Consequently, the “off-set-yield” is commonly empolyed in torsion testing (similar

to tension test) to provide a common basis for comparison.
The offset angle of twist is generally taken as 4 x 10-5 radian/mm of gauge length.
The elastic shear strength, Ssy , is thus determined employing;

Where Tsy is the torque at

proportional limit or the
torque at specified offset
angle of twist.
 Modulus of Resilience
Resilience is the (elastic energy) capacity of a
material for returning to original dimension
after deformation.

Modulus of Resilience (MR) is, the elastic energy

per unit volume which can be stored in the
material with no plastic deformation.
 Plastic Behaviour in Torsion
After torsional yield strength limit the shear stress distribution
over the cross-section of a specimen is no longer linear.

It is, however, customary for comparison purposes with similar

materials, to employ the previous equation. Though they do not
represent the actual situation.
 Plastic Shear Strength
Plastic shear strength is the appearent
maximum strength in torsion. The special name
of “Modulus of rupture” is given to this strength
and calculated from,

For purposes of comparison only the modulus of

rupture gives a sufficiently accurate index of the
ultimate shear strength.
 Toughness (Index No.)
Toughness (T) is the ability of material to absorb energy in the
plastic range and is defined as T = Tu x Ѳf
Toughness Index No (To), however, is calculated by
To = Tu x Ѳf / Volume

similar to the case of tension. To = Fut x ΔLf /Volume

 Types of Torsion Failures
• Ductile Materials fracture at 90o to the specimen axis in maximum shear plane (because ductile materials
fail due to shear stress).

• Brittle materials fracture at 45o to the specimen axis in maximum tensile stress plane. (because brittle
materials fail due to normal stress)

• Buckling will happen if L/d & d/t ratios are not within the limits.
Crankshaft Failure
 Torsion Test Procedure
We have to follow a procedure during torsion test, and it is as
follows: (TS ISO 7800)

• The specimens should be prepared in compliance with the

standarts and ensure a uniform stress distribution along the
length of the specimen.

• The surface of the specimen should be clear/free from

scratches and notches

• The loading over the specimen have to be pure torsional, and

any condition which may cause tension/compression or
bending must be eliminated.

• The torsion load must be applied gradually to give the effect

of static loading.

• Load must be applied until fracture/failure is observed.

• During loading, values of torque and corresponding angular

deformation should be noted at regular intervals (T and Ѳ
vaues)
After test:
• By making use of the measurements (T and Ѳ vaues), shear stress vs shear strain
(τ-γ ) graph can be plotted.
• Torsional yield strenght, shear modulus of rupture and ultimate shear strength
values can be calculated.
• Also the ductility or brittleness of the material can be found.
• The graph can be plotted whether by hand or by the electrograph of the test
machine.