An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

CHAPTER 5
Materials and
Stresses

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Overview

§ Knowing the forces acting on an object alone

is not enough for an engineer to determine
whether hardware will be strong enough and
not fail during use.
§ “Fail” does not only mean that the hardware
will not break, but also that it will not stretch
or bend so much as to become significantly
distorted.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Materials and Stresses

§ Mechanical failure depends on the forces
applied, dimensions, and material properties.
§ This gives rise to the concept of stress, a
measure of the intensity of a force that is applied
over an area.
§ The strength of a material describes its ability to
support and withstand the stress applied to it.
§ Engineers compare the stress that is present in a
component to the strength of its material in
order to decide if the design is satisfactory.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Materials and Stresses cont.

Engineers are able to
combine their
knowledge of forces,
materials, and
dimensions in order to
learn from past failures
and to improve and
evolve the design of
new hardware.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Materials and Stresses cont.

§ Tension, compression, and shear stress are

quantities that engineers calculate when they
relate the dimensions of a mechanical
component to the forces acting on it.

§ Engineers conduct these types of force, stress,

materials, and failure analyses while they design
products.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Stress
§ Stress is essentially an internal force that has been
distributed over the area of the rod’s cross section.
§ It is defined by the equation:
!
𝜎="
where σ represents stress, F is the force acting on
the rod, and A is the cross sectional area of the rod.
§ When stress lengthens a rod, it is called tension. On
the other hand, when the rod is shortened, the
stress is called compression.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Stress cont.
§ The derived unit of stress is the pascal (1 Pa = 1
N/m2).
§ Because large numerical quantities frequently
arise in calculations involving stresses and
material properties, prefixes are frequently
used.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Internal Force
Although a force may be applied only at one
end of a rod, its influence is felt at each cross
section along the rod’s length.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Tension and Compression

Tension and compression are stresses which are
based on the direction of the forces acting on
the structure.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Poisson’s Ratio
§ This ratio is the material property that
quantifies the contraction or expansion of a
cross section due to a change in its length ∆L.
§ ∆L is known as elongation and is one way to
describe how a rod lengthens when a force F
is applied to it.
§ The change in diameter, ∆d, is smaller and
usually less noticeable than the lengthwise
stretch ∆L.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Poisson’s Ratio cont.

§ Poisson’s ratio ν (the lowercase Greek character nu)
is defined by changes in the rod’s diameter ∆d and
length ∆L:
∆𝐿
∆𝑑 = −𝑣𝑑
𝐿

§ The negative sign in this equation sets the sign

convention that tension (with ∆L > 0) causes the
diameter to contract, and compression causes the
diameter to expand.
§ For many metals, ν ≈ 0.3.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Elastic and Plastic Behavior

§ If a rod is not permanently deformed after

being subjected to a force F, the stretching is
said to exhibit elastic properties.

§ Alternatively, if a rod is permanently

deformed after being subjected to a force F,
the stretching is said to be plastic.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Strain
§ Strain ε is defined as the amount of elongation
that occurs per unit of the rod’s original length.
§ It is a measure of the amount that a rod
stretches when subjected to a force.
§ Strain is calculated from the expression:
∆𝐿
𝜀=
𝐿
where ε is a dimensionless quantity.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Material Response
§ Regardless of rod dimensions, force and
elongation are always proportional and defined
by:
F = k ∆L
where k is called the stiffness.

§ This observation is the basis of the concept

known as Hooke’s law which states that:

The extension of a spring is in direct proportion with the

force applied to it.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Material Response cont.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Stress–Strain Curve
§ The stress–strain diagram is broken down into
two regions:
1. low-strain elastic region (where no permanent
deformation occurs).
2. high-strain plastic region (where permanent
deformation occurs).
§ For strains below the proportional limit, stress
and strain are proportional and they therefore
satisfy the relationship:
σ = Eε
where E is defined as the elastic modulus.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Stress–Strain Curve cont.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Stress–Strain Curve cont.

§ For loading between points A and B, the material
behaves elastically, but the stress and strain are no
longer proportional.
§ Yielding occurs in the region between B and C; for
small changes in stress, the rod experiences a large
change in strain.
§ The onset of yielding is often taken by engineers as
an indication of failure.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Stress–Strain Curve cont.

§ The value of stress in region B–C defines the

material property called the yield strength, Sy.
§ As the load is increased even further beyond point
C, the stress grows to the ultimate strength, Su at
point D.
§ Fracture eventually occurs at point E.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Elastic Modulus
§ The elastic modulus (or Young’s modulus) is a
physical material property. It is simply the slope
of the stress–strain curve before the proportional
limit.
§ It has the dimensions of force per unit area with
the units GPa in the SI.
§ Elongation and stiffness can then be redefined
as:
!" #$
∆𝐿 = #$
𝑘= "

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Elastic Modulus cont.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Materials Testing Machine

§ Stress–strain curves are
measured on a device
called a materials testing
machine.
§ A computer records the
force and elongation data
during the experiment,
and those values are then
converted to stress and
strain.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Shear Stress
§ Shear stress develops when a force tends to slice
or cut through a structure or machine
component.
§ Shear stress, τ, is associated with a force that
acts parallel to the surface of the cross section.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Shear Stress cont.

§ Like tension and compression, shear forces are also
spread continuously within material over any cross
section that we can imagine making.
§ Shear stress τ (lowercase Greek letter tau) is defined as:
!
𝜏=
"
where A is the exposed area of the cross section and V is
the shear force.
§ Shear stress is often associated with connections made
between components in a structure or machine,
including bolts, pins, rivets, welds, and adhesives.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Shear Stress cont.

Two types of attachments that are seen in practice are
known as single and double shear.
For the case of single
shear in the top figure on
the left, the full load is
carried by just one layer
of adhesive, and V = F.
Double shear is
illustrated in the bottom
figure on the left.
Because two surfaces
share the load, the shear
stress is halved and V =
F/2.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Engineering Materials
§ Mechanical engineers select materials in the
context of both the product’s purpose and the
processes that will be used during its
manufacture.
§ The main classes of materials that are
encountered in mechanical engineering are:
1. Metals and their alloys
2. Ceramics
3. Polymers
4. Composite materials
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Engineering Materials cont.

§ The more manufacturing steps that are required
to produce a material, the greater the material’s
cost.
§ In selecting the materials to be used in a product,
an engineer:
ú First decides on the class of materials that will be used
(for instance, metals and their alloys).
ú Then determines which material within the class is
most appropriate (for instance, steel or aluminum).

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Metals and Their Alloys

§ Metals are relatively stiff and heavy materials with

large elastic modulus and density values.
§ The strength of metals can be increased by
mechanical and heat treatments and by alloying.
§ Metals are a good choice to use in structures and
machines that must carry large forces.
§ Metals are, however, susceptible to corrosion, and
can deteriorate and weaken over time.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Metals and Their Alloys cont.

§ Metals can be manufactured by casting,
extrusion, forging, rolling, cutting, drilling, and
grinding.
§ The ability of a material to withstand a
significant amount of stretching before it
fractures is called ductility.
§ Some metals, by virtue of their processing and
alloys, have high degrees of ductility.
§ A ductile material has a wide region over which
plastic deformation occurs.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Ceramics
§ Ceramics are hard, brittle, crystalline materials
that can comprise metals and nonmetals.
§ They are not appropriate for supporting large
tensile forces.
§ Ceramics are capable of withstanding extreme
temperatures and are widely used for insulation.
§ Space shuttles use tens of thousands of
lightweight ceramic tiles for insulation.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Polymers
§ Polymers are organic compounds, with a chemical
formulation based on the properties of the
element carbon.
§ Rubber and silk are two naturally occurring
polymers.
§ Synthetic polymers are classified into two groups:
ú plastics (which can be extruded into sheets and pipes or
molded to form different products).
ú elastomers (which are compliant in a manner
characteristic of rubber).

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Polymers cont.

§ Polymers are not well suited for applications

where strength is required or for operations at
elevated temperatures.

§ They are however, relatively inexpensive,

lightweight, good insulators against heat and
electricity, and easy to shape and mold into
complex parts.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Composite Materials

§ Composites are mixtures of several different

materials, and their formulation can be
customized for specific applications.
§ They are generally comprised of two components:
the matrix and the reinforcement.
§ The matrix is a relatively ductile material that
holds and binds together the strong reinforcing
particles or fibers that are embedded within it.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Composite Materials cont.

§ Composites are not well suited for high
temperatures.
§ They tend to be made very stiff, strong, and
lightweight.
§ The additional processing steps that are
necessary to produce these materials raise their
costs.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Composite Materials cont.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Factor of Safety
§ Factor of safety is a variable that accounts for
unexpected effects, imprecision, uncertainty,
potential assembly flaws, and material
degradation of hardware.
§ It is defined as the ratio of the stress at failure to
the stress during ordinary use.
§ The factor of safety to guard against ductile
yielding often falls in the range between 1.5 and
4.0, meaning that the design is intended to be
between 150% and 400% stronger than it needs
to be for ordinary use.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Factor of Safety cont.

§ Engineers define the tensile-stress factor of safety as:
𝑆'
𝑛!"#$%&# =
𝜎

§ The shear-stress factor of safety is defined as:

𝑆$'
𝑛$(")* =
𝜏

§ For both cases, if the factor of safety is greater than one,

this predicts that the component will not yield, and if it
is less than one, failure is expected to occur.

© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Summary
§ Mechanical engineers must design structures
and machine components that are reliable and
do not break.
§ Stress, strain, and strength are important
quantities for engineers to analyze.
§ Stress can be tension or shear depending upon
the direction in which it acts.
§ Engineers must also choose materials by
considering performance, economic,
environmental, and manufacturing issues.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, SI, Enhanced Fourth Edition Wickert/Lewis

Summary cont.
§ Each class of materials has its own advantages,
special characteristics, and preferred
applications.
§ Some of the most common materials in
mechanical engineering include metals and their
alloys, ceramics, polymers, and composite
materials.
§ The factor of safety is intended to improve the
reliability of a design and to account for known
and unknown unknowns in the forms of
uncertainty in usage, materials, and assembly.
© 2021 Cengage®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.