Continuum Mechanics For Engineers By Dr.

Djomo Mbong

CHAPTER TWO:

Stress Principles

1. Body and Surface Forces, Mass density

Stress is a measure of force intensity either within or on the bounding surface of a body
subjected to loads. The stresses that concern us here are those which result from the application
of forces by an external agent. Two basic types of forces are easily distinguished from one
another and are defined as follows:
- First, those forces acting on all volume elements, and distributed throughout the body,
are known as body forces. Gravity and inertia forces are the best-known examples. We
designate body forces by the vector symbol bi (force per unit mass), or by the symbol
pi (force per unit volume).
- Second, those forces which act upon and are distributed in some fashion over a surface
element of the body, regardless of whether that element is part of the bounding surface,
or an arbitrary element of surface within the body, are called surface forces. These are
denoted by the vector symbol f i , and have dimensions of force per unit area. Forces
which occur on the outer surfaces of two bodies pressed against one another (contact
forces) are examples of surface forces.

Next, let us consider a material body B having a volume V enclosed by a surface S ,

and occupying a regular region R0 of physical space. Let P be an interior point of the body
located in the small element of volume V whose mass is m as indicated in Fig.1. We define
the average density of this volume element by the ratio:
m
 ave = ( 1)
V
and the density  at point by the limit of this ratio
as the volume shrinks to the point P ,
m dm
 = lim
V → 0  V
= ( 2)
dV
The units of density are kilograms per cubic meter
(kg/m3). Notice that the two measures of body
forces, bi having units of Newtons per kilogram
Figure 1: Typical continuum volume
(N/kg), and pi having units of Newtons per meter with element having mass at
cubed (N/m3), are related through the density by the point . Point would be in the center
of the infinitesimal volume.
equation
 bi = pi or  b = p ( 3)
Of course, the density is, in general, a scalar function of position and time as indicated by
 =  ( xi , t ) or  =  ( x , t ) ( 4)
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 Chapter Two: Stress Principles

and thus may vary from point to point within a given body.

2. Cauchy Stress Principle

We consider a homogeneous, isotropic
material body B having a bounding surface S , and a
volume V , which is subjected to arbitrary surface
forces f i and body forces bi . Let S * be an interior
point of B and imagine a plane surface S * passing
through point S * (sometimes referred to as a cutting
plane) so as to partition the body into two portions,
designated I and II (Fig.2).
Figure 2: Typical continuum volume
Point S * is in the small element of area S * showing cutting plane passing through
of the cutting plane, which is defined by the unit point .
normal pointing in the direction from Portion I into
Portion II as shown by the free body diagram of
Portion I in Fig.3.
The internal forces being transmitted across
the cutting plane due to the action of Portion II upon
Portion I will give rise to a force distribution on S *
equivalent to a resultant force f i and a resultant
moment M i at S * , as is also shown in Fig.3.
The Cauchy stress principle asserts that in
the limit as the area S * shrinks to zero with S *
remaining an interior point, we obtain:
Figure 3: Force and moment acting at
f i df
lim
S →0 S
*
= i* = t i( )
nˆ
( 5) point in surface element .
*
dS
And
M i
S
lim
→ 0 S
* *
=0 ( 6)
( nˆ )
The vector df i dS = t i
*
is called the stress vector. In Eq.(6), we have made the assumption
that in the limit at S * , the moment vector vanishes, and there is no remaining concentrated
moment, or couple stress as it is called.
By applying Newton’s third law of action and reaction across the cutting plane, we
observe that the force exerted by Portion I upon Portion II is equal and opposite to the force of
Portion II upon Portion I. Additionally, from the principle of linear momentum (Newton’s
second law) we know that the time rate of change of the linear momentum of any portion of a
continuum body is equal to the resultant force acting upon that portion. For Portions I and II,
this principle may be expressed in integral form by the respective equations,

 SI
ti( ) dS +   bi dV =
nˆ
VI
d
dt (
VI
 vi dV ) ( 7a )

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 Continuum Mechanics For Engineers By Dr. Djomo Mbong

 S II
ti( ) dS +   bi dV =
nˆ
VII
d
dt (
VII
 vi dV ) ( 7b )
where S I and S II are the bounding surfaces and VI and VII are the volumes of Portions I and
II, respectively. Also, bi are the body forces,  is the density, and vi is the velocity field for
the two portions. We note that S I and S II each contain S * as part of their total areas.
The linear momentum principle may also be applied to the body B as a whole, so that

 S
ti( ) dS +   bi dV =
n̂
V
d
dt
(  v dV )
V i ( 8)
If we add Eq.(7a) and Eq.(7b) and utilize Eq.(8), noting that the normal to S * for Portion I is
n , whereas for Portion II it is − n , we arrive at the equation

 S *
 t i( n ) + t i( − n )  dS = 0
  ( 9)
This equation means that the integrand must be identically zero. Hence,
t i( ) = − t i(
n − n)
( 10 )
indicating that if Portion II had been chosen as the free body in Figs.2 and 3 instead of Portion
( n)
I, the resulting stress vector would have been − t i .

3. The Stress Tensor

As noted in Section 2, the Cauchy stress principle associates with each direction n at
( n)
point P a stress vector t i . In particular, if we introduce a rectangular Cartesian reference
frame at P , there is associated with each of the area elements dSi ( i = 1,2,3 ) located in the
(ej )
coordinate planes and having unit normals ei ( i = 1,2,3 ) , respectively, a stress vector t i
as shown in Fig.4. In terms of their coordinate components these three stress vectors associated
with the coordinate planes are expressed by:
t ( 1 ) = t1( 1 ) e1 + t 2( 1 ) e2 + t 3( 1 )e3
e e e e

t(
e2 )
= t1( 2 ) e1 + t 2( 2 ) e2 + t 3( 2 )e3
e e e
( 11)
t(
e3 )
= t1( 3 ) e1 + t 2( 3 ) e2 + t 3( 3 )e3
e e e

or more compactly, using the summation convention

Figure 4: Stress vectors on the three coordinate planes at point .

25
 Chapter Two: Stress Principles

t(
ei )
= t (j i ) e j ,
e
( i = 1,2,3 ) ( 12 )
Let apply this equation to an arbritrary oriented plane. For this purpose, we consider the
equilibrium of a small portion of the body in the shape of a tetrahedron having its vertex at P
, and its base ABC perpendicular to an arbitrarily oriented normal n = ni ei as shown by Fig.5.
The coordinate directions are chosen so that the three faces BPC, CPA, and APB of the
tetrahedron are situated in the coordinate planes. If the area of the base is assigned the value
dS , the areas of the respective faces will be the projected areas dSi = dS cos ( n, ei ) ,
( i = 1,2, 3 ) or specifically,
for BPC dS1 = n1dS
for CPA dS2 = n2dS ( 13 )
for APB dS3 = n3dS
The stress vectors shown on the surfaces of the tetrahedron of Fig.5 represent average values
over the areas on which they act. This is indicated in our notation by an asterisk appended to
the stress vector symbols (remember that the stress vector is a point quantity). Equilibrium
requires the vector sum of all forces acting on the tetrahedron to be zero, that is, for,
t i( ) dS −* t i( 1 ) dS1 −* t i( 2 )dS2 −* t i( 3 )dS3 +  *bi dV = 0 ( 14 )
* n e e e

*
where bi is an average body force which acts throughout the body. The negative signs on the
coordinate-face stresses result from the outward unit normals on those faces pointing in the
( − n)
= − t i( ) ). Taking into consideration
n
negative coordinate axes directions. (Recall that t i
Eq.(13), we can write Eq.(14) as:
(e )
*
t i( ) dS −* t i j n j dS +  *bi dV = 0
n
( 15 )
The volume of the tetrahedron is given by dV = h  dS 3 , where h is the perpendicular
distance from point P to the base ABC. Inserting this into Eq.(15) and canceling the common
factor dS , we obtain

Figure 5: Free body diagram of tetrahedron element having its vertex at .

26
 Continuum Mechanics For Engineers By Dr. Djomo Mbong

(e ) 1
*
ti( ) =* t i j n j −  *bi h
n
( 16 )
3
Now, letting the tetrahedron shrink to point P by taking the limit as h → 0 and noting that in
this limiting process the averaged quantities take on the actual values of those same quantities
at point P , we have
(e )
t i( ) = t i j n j
n
( 17 )
 ji  t i( ) ,
ej
or, by defining

t i( ) =  ji n j or t ( n ) = n   ( 18 )
n

 ji  t i( ) are the components of a

j e
which is the Cauchy stress formula. The quantities

second-order tensor  known as the stress tensor. The Cauchy stress formula given by Eq.(18)
expresses therefore the stress vector associated with the element of area having an outward
normal ni at point P in terms of the stress tensor components  ji at that point. For
computational purposes it is often convenient to express Eq.(18) in the matrix form
 11  12  13 
( n) ( n)
 t1 , t 2 , t 3 ( n)    ( 19 )
  = n1 , n2 , n3   21  22  23 
 31  32  33 
The nine components of  ji are often displayed by arrows on the coordinate faces of a
rectangular parallelpiped, as shown in Fig.6. In an actual physical body B , all nine stress
components act at the single point P . The three stress components shown by arrows acting
perpendicular (normal) to the respective coordinate planes and labeled  11 ,  22 and  33 are
called normal stresses. The six arrows lying in the coordinate planes and pointing in the

Figure 6: Cartesian stress components shown in their positive sense.

27
 Chapter Two: Stress Principles

directions of the coordinate axes, namely,  12 ,  21 ,  23 ,  32 ,  31 and  13 are called shear

stresses. Note that, for these, the first subscript designates the coordinate plane on which the
stress acts, and the second subscript identifies the coordinate direction in which it acts.
A stress component is positive when its vector arrow points in the positive direction of
one of the coordinate axes while acting on a plane whose outward normal also points in a
positive coordinate direction. In general, positive normal stresses are called tensile stresses,
and negative normal stresses are referred to as compressive stresses.
The units of stress are Newtons per square meter (N/m) in the SI system, and pounds
per square inch (psi) in the English system. One Newton per square meter is called a Pascal,
but because this is a rather small stress from an engineering point of view, stresses are usually
expressed as mega-Pascals (MPa) or in English units as kilo-pounds per square inch (ksi).

Example 1: Let the components of the stress tensor at P be given in matrix form by:
 21 −63 42 
 ji  =  −63 0 84 

 42 84 −21
in units of mega-Pascals. Determine
(a) The stress vector on the plane at P having the unit normal
1
n=
7
( 2e1 − 3e2 + 6e3 )
(b) The stress vector on a plane at P parallel to the plane ABC shown in the sketch.

Solution:
(a) From Eq.(19) for the given data,
 21 −63 42 
 t1( n ) , t 2( n ) , t 3( n )  =  , − ,   −63 0
2 3 6
84  =  69 54 −42
   7 7 7  
 42 84 −21
( n)
or, in vector form, t = 69e1 + 54e2 − 42e3 .
(b) The equation of the plane ABC in the sketch is easily verified to be 2 x1 + 2 x2 + x3 = 2
1
, and the unit outward normal to this plane is n = ( 2e + 2e2 + e3 ) so that, again
3 1
from Eq.(19),
 21 −63 42 
 2 2 1 
 t1 , t 2 , t 3 = , ,  −63 0  = −14 −14 77
  
( n) ( n) ( n) 
  
 3 3 3  84
 42 84 −21
( n)
or, in vector form, t = −14e1 − 14e2 + 77e3 .

4. Force and Moment Equilibrium, Stress Tensor Symmetry

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 Continuum Mechanics For Engineers By Dr. Djomo Mbong

In the previous section, we used a balance-of-forces condition for a tetrahedron element

of a body in equilibrium to define the stress tensor and to develop the Cauchy stress formula.
Here, we employ a force balance on the body as a whole to derive what are known as the local
equilibrium equations.
Consider a material body having a volume V and a bounding surface S . Let the body
( n)
be subjected to surface tractions t i and body forces b (force per unit mass), as shown by
Fig.7.
- Equilibrium requires that the summation of all forces acting on the body be equal to
zero.
This condition is expressed by the global (integral) equation representing the sum of the
total surface and body forces acting on the body,

 S
t i( ) dS +   bi dV = 0
n
V
( 20 )
where dS is the differential element of the surface S and dV that of volume V . Using
( n)
Eq.(18), stating that t i =  ji n j and the Green-Ostrogradski theorem given in chapter 1,
Eq.(20) becomes:

 (V ji , j )
+  bi dV = 0 ( 21)
This equation must be valid for arbitrary V (every portion of the body is in equilibrium), which
requires the integrand itself to vanish, and we obtain the so-called local equilibrium equations:
 ji , j +  bi = 0 ( 22 )
- In addition to the balance of forces expressed by Eq.(20), equilibrium requires that the
summation of moments with respect to an arbitrary point must also be zero.
Recall that the moment of a force about a point is defined by the cross product of its
position vector with the force. Therefore, taking the origin of coordinates as the center for
moments, and noting that xi is the position vector for the typical elements of surface and
volume (Fig.7), we express the balance of moments for the body as a whole by:

 S
 ijk x j t k( n ) dS +   ijk x j  bk dV = 0
V
( 23 )

Figure 7: Material volume showing surface traction vector on infinitesimal area element , and body force
vector acting on infinitesimal volume element at

29
 Chapter Two: Stress Principles

( n)
As before, using t k =  qk nq and the Green-Ostrogradski theorem, Eq.(20) becomes:

  ijk ( x j qk ) + x j  bk  dV = 0 ( 24 )
V  ,q 
Or

  ijk  x j ,q qk + x j (  qk ,q +  bk )  dV = 0 ( 25 )
V

Using Eq.(22) and that x j ,q =  jq , Eq.(25) becomes for for arbitrary V ,

 ijk jk = 0 ( 26 )
By a direct expansion of the left-hand side of this equation (for different values of i , j , k ), we
shows that Eq.(26) is:
 jk =  kj ( 27 )
Thus, we conclude from the balance of moments for a body in which concentrated body
moments are absent that the stress tensor is symmetric.

5. Maximum and Minimum Stress Values

( n)
The stress vector t i on an arbitrary plane
at P may be resolved into a component normal to
the plane having a magnitude  N , along with a
shear component which acts in the plane and has a
magnitude  S , as shown in Fig.8. From Fig.8, we
can clearly write:
 N =  ij n j ni or  N = t ( n)  n ( 28 )
And
Figure 8: Traction vector components
 S2 = t i( n ) t i( n ) −  N2 or  S2 = t ( n )  t ( n ) −  N2 normal and in-plane (shear) at on the

( 29 ) plane whose normal is .

It is important to know for a particular system or structure, the values of the maximum
and minimum normal and shear stresses depending on the stress state of that structure. The
evaluation of these maximum stress values are linked to the principal stresses (which
correspond to the eigenvalues of the stress tensor). Therefore let assume that  I ,  II and  III
are the principal stresses with the convention  I   II   III . We have:
- The maximum and minimum normal stress values are:
 Nmax =  I and  Nmin =  III ( 30 )
- The maximum and minimum shear stress values are:
1
 Smax =  I −  III and  Smin = 0 ( 31)
2

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 Continuum Mechanics For Engineers By Dr. Djomo Mbong

6. Mohr’s Circles For Stress

Consider again the state of stress at P
* * *
referenced to principal axes Px x x (Fig.9), and
1 2 3
let the principal stresses be ordered according to
 I   II   III . Using Eqs.(28)-(29), we can
write:

 N =  I n12 +  II n22 +  III n32 ( 32 − a )

 N2 +  S2 =  I2 n12 +  II2 n22 +  III
2
n32 ( 32 − b )
which, along with the condition
n12 + n22 + n32 = 1 ( 32 − c )
provide us with three equations for the three Figure 9: Normal and shear components
at to plane referred to principal axes.
direction cosines n1 , n2 , and n3 . Solving these
equations, we obtain
(  N −  II )( N −  III ) +  S2
n =
2
( 33 − a )
1
( I −  II )( I −  III )
(  N −  I )( N −  III ) +  S2
n2 =
2
( 33 − b )
( II −  I )( II −  III )
(  N −  I )( N −  II ) +  S2
n3 =
2
( 33 − c )
( III −  I )( III −  II )
Our intention here is to interpret these equations graphically by representing conjugate
pairs of ( N , S ) values, which satisfy Eq.(33), as a point in the stress plane having  N as
absicca and  S as ordinate.
To develop this graphical interpretation of the three-dimensional stress state in terms of
 N and  S , let use the hypothesis  I   II   III to simplify Eqs.(33). So, for
 I   II   III , we have ( I −  II )( I −  III )  0 , ( II −  I )( II −  III )  0 and
( III −  I )( III −  II )  0 . Knowing that n12  0 , n22  0 and n32  0 , it follows that
( N −  II )( N −  III ) +  S2  0 ( 34 − a )
( N −  I )( N −  III ) +  S2  0 ( 34 − b )
( N −  I )( N −  II ) +  S2  0 ( 34 − c )
Which can be rewritten in the final form

2 2
   II +  III    II −  III 
 N −   +  S  
2
 ( 35 − a )
  2   2 

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 Chapter Two: Stress Principles

2 2
   I +  III    I −  III 
 N −   +  S  
2
 ( 35 − b )
  2   2 
2 2
   I +  II    I −  II 
 N −   +  S  
2
 ( 35 − c )
  2   2 
In the ( N , S ) plane,
- The 1st equation correspond to the
exterior of a circle C1 , with its center
at the point ( II +  III ) 2 on the
N axis, and having a radius
( II −  III ) 2.
- The 2nd equation correspond to the
interior of a circle C 2 , with its center
at the point ( I +  III ) 2 on the  N
axis, and having a radius
( I −  III ) 2. Figure 10: Typical Mohr’s circles for
stress.
- The 3rd equation correspond to the
exterior of a circle C 3 , with its center at the point ( I +  II ) 2 on the  N axis, and
having a radius ( I −  II ) 2.
The three circles defined above, and shown in Fig.10, are called Mohr’s circles for stress. All
possible pairs of values of ( N , S ) at P which satisfy Eqs.(33) lie on these circles or within
the shaded areas enclosed by them. It is clear from the Mohr’s circles diagram that the maximum
shear stress value at P is the radius of circle C 2 , which confirms the result presented in
Eq.(31).

7. Deviator and Spherical Stress States

The arithmetic mean of the normal stresses,

1 1
M = (  11 +  22 +  33 ) =  ii ( 36 )
3 3
is referred to as the mean normal stress. The state of stress having all three principal stresses
equal (and therefore equal to  M ) is called a spherical state of stress, represented by the
diagonal matrix

 M 0 0 
 ij  =  0 M 0  ( 37 )

 0 0  M 

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 Continuum Mechanics For Engineers By Dr. Djomo Mbong

for which all directions are principal directions.

Every state of stress  ij may be decomposed into a spherical portion and a portion S ij
known as the deviator stress in accordance with the equation

1
 ij = Sij +  ij M = Sij +  ij kk ( 38 )
3
where  ij is the Kronecker delta. This equation may be solved for S ij , which then appears in
the symmetric matrix form
 S11 S12 S13   11 −  M  12  13 
 Sij  =  S21 S22 S23  =   21  22 −  M  23  ( 39 )

 S31 S32 S33    31  32  33 −  M 

Example 2: The components of the stress tensor at P are given in MPa with respect to axes
Px1 x2 x3 by the matrix
 57 0 24 
 ji  =  0 50 0 
 
 24 0 43 
Decompose the stress tensor  ji  into its deviator and spherical portions and determine the
principal stress values of the deviator portion.
Solution:
1
By Eq.(36),  M for the given stress is  M = ( 57 + 50 + 43) = 50
3
 50 0 0 
Therefore according to Eq.(37), the spherical portion will gives  ij  =  0 50 0 
S
   
 0 0 50 

 7 0 24 
According to Eq.(39), the deviatoric part is  Sij  =  0 0 0 
   
 24 0 −7 

Principal stress values of the deviator portion result from the determinant

7− S 0 24
0 −S 0 = − S ( 7 − S )( −7 − S ) − 242  = 0
24 0 −7 − S

which is readily factored to yield S(1) = 25 , S( 2) = 0 , and S( 3 ) = −25 .

33