2.

1 Shear Force and Shear Stress

If a plane is passed through a body, a force acting along this plane is called a shear force or shearing force. It will be denoted by Fs. The shear force, divided by the area over which it acts, is called the shear stress or shearing stress. It is denoted by t. Thus
F A
s (2.1)

Let us consider a bar cut by a plane a-a perpendicular to its axis, as shown in Fig. 2-1. A normal stress s is perpendicular to this plane. This type of stress was considered in Chapter 1. The shear stress acts along the plane, is shown by the stress t , whereas normal stress acts normal to the plane.

27
Fig. 2-1 Normal and shear stresses acting on a plane area.

The shear stress is taken to be uniform in all problems discussed in this chapter. Thus the expression F A s / indicates an average shear stress over the area. Punching operations (Problem 2.2), wood test specimens (Problem 2.3), riveted joints (Problem 2.5), and welded joints (Problems 2.6 and 2.10) are common examples of systems involving shear stresses.

2.2 Deformations Due to Shear Stresses

Let us consider the deformation of a plane rectangular element cut from a solid where the forces acting on the element are known to be shearing stresses t in the directions shown in Fig. 2-2(a). The faces of the element parallel to the plane of the paper are assumed to be load free. Since there are no normal stresses acting on the element, the lengths of the sides of the rectangular element will not change when the shearing stresses assume the value t. However, there will be a distortion of the originally right angles of the element, and after this distortion due to the shearing stresses the element assumes the configuration shown by the dashed lines in Fig. 22(b).
(a) (b) Fig. 2-2 Shearing stresses acting on an element.

28 CHAPTER 2 Shear Stresses

2.3 Shear Strain

The change of angle at the corner of an originally rectangular element is defined as the shear strain. It must be expressed in radians and is denoted by g, as shown.

Shear Modulus
The ratio of the shear stress t to the shear strain g is called the shear modulus and is denoted by G. Thus G
(2.2)

G is also known as the modulus of rigidity. The units of G are the same as those of the shear stress, i.e., N/m2, since the shear strain is dimensionless.

Stress-strain diagrams for various materials may be drawn for shearing loads, just as they were drawn for normal loads in Chapter 1. They have the same general appearance as those sketched in Chapter 1 but the numerical values associated with the plots are of course different.
SOLVED PROBLEMS

2.1. Consider the bolted joint shown in Fig. 2-3. The force P is 30 kN and the diameter of the bolt is 10 mm. Determine the average value of the shearing stress existing across either of the planes a-a or b-b.
Fig. 2-3 SOLUTION: Assume that force P is equally divided between the sections a-a and b-b. Consequently, a force of
1 2

10 ) 15 10 N acts across either of these planes over a cross-sectional area A1 4 10 78 6 2 ( ) . mm2 Thus the average shearing stress across either plane is 1 2 15 10 78 6 10 191 10
3 3 (30 3 6

P6 A. Pa or 191 MPa

2.2. Low-carbon structural steel has a shearing ultimate strength of approximately 300 MPa. Determine the force P necessary to punch a 2.5-cm-diameter hole through a plate of this steel 1 cm thick. If the modulus of elasticity in shear for this material is 82 GPa, find the shear strain at the edge of this hole when the shear stress is 143 MPa.
SOLUTION: Let us assume uniform shearing on a cylindrical surface is 2.5 cm in diameter and 1 cm thick,

as shown in Fig. 2-4. For equilibrium the force P is P A 0 0250 01 300 10 236 000 6 . . N or 236 kN
2.5 cm 1 cm

Fig. 2-4

CHAPTER 2 Shear Stresses 29

To determine the shear strain g when the shear stress t is 143 MPa, we employ the definition G / to obtain G 143 10 82 109 0 00174
6

. radians

2.3. In the wood industries, inclined blocks of wood are sometimes used to determine the compressionshear strength of glued joints. Consider the pair of glued blocks A and B of Fig. 2-5(a) which are

38 mm deep in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper. Determine the shearing ultimate strength of the glue if a vertical force of 40 kN is required to cause rupture of the joint. It is to be noted that a good glue causes a large proportion of the failure to occur in the wood.
5 cm 38 mm

40 kN 40 kN

(a) (b) (c) Fig. 2-5 SOLUTION: Let us consider the equilibrium of the lower block A in Fig. 2-5(b). The reactions