Lecture 2

The Concept of Strain

Problem 2-1: A thin- walled steel pipe of length 60 cm, diameter 6 cm, and wall thickness 0.12
cm is stretched 0.01 cm axially, expanded 0.001 cm in diameter, and twisted through 1o.
Determine the strain components of the pipe. Note that the shell with a diameter to thickness
ratio of 50 is predominately in the membrane state. For plane stress there are only 3 components
of the strain tensor.

Problem 2-1 Solution:

1
Evaluate deformation components at the end cross-section

ur o 0.01/ 2cm 0.0005cm

o
u R 3 (1o )cm 0.0523cm
180o
uz o 0.01cm

Evaluate deformation components across the whole pipe

ur is constant
ur ur o 0.0005cm

u is linearly proportional to and r , independent of

o z r
u u z, r u
LR

u z is linearly proportional to z, independent of r and

z
uz uz z uz o
L

Substitute the above equations of ur , u and u z into the expression of six components of the
strain tensor in cylindrical coordinate system, we have

2
 ur ur o
rr 0
r r
ur 1 u ur o 1 0.0005
0 1.67 10 4
r r r r 6/2
u z u z o 0.01
zz 1.67 10 4
z L 60
1 ur 1 u u 1 u oz u oz
r 0 0
2 r r r 2 LR LR
1 uz u 1 u or 1 u oR 1 0.0523 4
z 0 4.36 10
2 r z 2 LR 2 LR 2 60
1 ur uz 1 ur o uz ( z)
zr 0
2 z r 2 z r

rr r zr 0
4
zz 1.67 10
Summary 4
1.67 10
4
z 4.36 10

3
Problem 2-2: Derive an expression for the change in volume of a unit volume element subjected
to an arbitrary small strain tensor.

Problem 2-2 Solution:

A unit volume has sides of unit length

Unit Volume 1 1 1 1[length]3

Strain is defined by

If each side is deformed by , then the new length of each side is 1

L
L 1

Volume after deformation is:

V (1 1 )(1 2 )(1 2 )
1 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 2 3

Because of small strain, we cancel all higher order terms

Volumetric Strain = change in volume per unit volume, the original volume of a unit volume
element is 1

V Vo 1 1 2 3 1
v 1 2 3
Vo 1

v 1 2 3

4
Problem 2-3: A unit square OABC is distorted to OABC in three ways, as shown in the figure
below. In each case write down the displacement field (u1, u2) of every point in the square as a
function of the location of that point (x1, x2) and the strain components ij.

x2 x2 x2
2
A B B
A B A A A B
A B

1 C B
C
O C x1 O C x1 O C x1

C
(a) (b) (c)

Problem 2-3 Solution:

(a)

Only Axial deformation in this case

u1 x
1 1

u2 x
2 x

The strain components are

5
 u1
11 1
x1
u2
22 2
x2
1 u1 u1
12 21 0
2 x2 x2

(b)

Only pure shear in this case

u1
tan
x2
u2
tan
x1

Deformation

u1 x2
u2 x1

Because of small angel , tan

The strain components are

u1
11 0
x1
u2
22 0
x2
1 u1 u1
12 21
2 x2 x2

6
(c)

Only rigid body rotation in this case, there should be 0 strain everywhere

Deformation

u1 x2
u2 x1

The strain components are

u1
11 0
x1
u2
22 0
x2
1 u1 u1 1
12 21 0
2 x2 x2 2

7
Problem 2-4: The strain (plane strain) in a given point of a body is described by the 2x2 matrix
below. Find components of the strain tensor x' y ' in a new coordinate system rotated by the angle
. Consider four cases = 45o, -45o, 60o and -60o.

0 0.05
xy
0.05 0

Problem 2-4 Solution:

Transformation equations for plane strain, from old coordinate system xy to new coordinate
system xy

xx yy xx yy
x'x' cos(2 ) xy sin(2 )
2 2
xx yy xx yy
y' y' cos(2 ) xy sin(2 )
2 2
xx yy
x' y' sin(2 ) xy cos(2 )
2

Given strain components:

x y 0
xy 0.05

Simplify the transformation equations:

x'x' xy sin(2 )
y' y' xy sin(2 )
x' y' xy cos(2 )

Substitute the stain components into the simplified transformation equations:

45o 45o
0.05 0 0.05 0
x' y ' x' y '
0 0.05 0 0.05

60o 60o
0.04 0.025 0.04 0.025
x' y ' x' y '
0.025 0.04 0.025 0.04

8
Problem 2-5: A cylindrical pipe of 160-mm outside diameter and 10-mm thickness, spirally
welded at an angle of =40o with the axial (x) direction, is subjected to an axial compressive
load of P=150 kN through the rigid end plates (see below). Determine the normal force and
shearing stresses acting simultaneously in the plane of the weld.

y
P x P

Problem 2-5 Solution:

Calculate stress in given coordinate system

Compressive force in x-direction

P 150kN
xx 2
A (80 702 )(10 3 )2 cm2

The stress components are

xx 32MPa
yy 0
xy 0

Transformation equations for plane strain

xx yy xx yy
x'x' cos(2 ) xy sin(2 )
2 2
xx yy xx yy
y' y' cos(2 ) xy sin(2 )
2 2
xx yy
xy sin(2 ) xy cos(2 )
2

Substitute the stain components and 40 o into the simplified transformation equations:

x'x' 18.77MPa
y'y' 13.22MPa
z'z' 15.76MPa

9
Problem 2-6: A displacement field in a body is given by:

u c x 2 10
v 2cyz
w c xy z2

where c=10-4. Determine the state of strain on an element positioned at (0, 2, 1).

Problem 2-6 Solution:

Substitute the displacement into the expression of strain components, we have

u 4
xx c 2 x 10 2 0 0
x
v 4 4
yy 2cz 2 10 1 2 10
y
w 4 4
zz 2cz 2 10 1 2 10
z
1 u v 1
xy 0 0 0
2 y x 2
1 v w 1 1 4
yz 2cy cx 2 2 0 2 10
2 z y 2 2
1 u w 1 4
xz 0 cy 1 10
2 z x 2

At (0, 2, 1), the state of strain is

0 0 1 10 4
4
0 2 10 2 10 4
4 4 4
1 10 2 10 2 10

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Problem 2-7: The distribution of stress in an aluminum machine component is given by:

d (cy 2z 2 ), xy 3dz 2
x

y d (cx cz), yz dx 2

z d (3cx cy), xz 2dy 2

where c= 1 mm and d=1MPa/mm2. Calculate the state of strain of a point positioned at (1, 2, 4)
mm. Use E=70 GPa and =0.3.

Problem 2-7 Solution:

Substitute the given value of c, d , E, into stress component expressions, we have

x 34MPa yx 48MPa
y 5MPa yz 1MPa
z 34MPa xz 8MPa

Use constitutive equations

1 1
xx xx yy zz xy xy
E G
1 1
yy yy xx zz yz yz
E G
1 1
zz zz yy xx xz xz
E G

E
And G
2(1 )

We have the strain components

4 4
xx 4.42 10 xy 8.91 10
5
yy 9.57 10 yz 1.86 10 5

5
zz 9.57 10 xz 1.49 10 4

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Problem 2-8: An aluminum alloy plate (E=70 GPa, =1/3) of dimensions a=300 mm, b=400 mm,
and thickness t=10 mm is subjected to biaxial stresses as shown below. Calculate the change in
(a) the length AB; (b) the volume of the plate.

y
a

b
30 MPa

A x
90 MPa

Problem 2-8 Solution:

The state of stress is given

xx 30MPa
yy 90MPa
zz 0MPa

Use constitutive equations to calculate strains xx and yy

1 1 1
xx xx yy zz 9
30 90 0 106 0
E 70 10 3
1 1 1
yy yy xx zz 9
90 30 0 106 0.00114
E 70 10 3
1 1 1
zz zz xx yy 9
0 30 90 0.00057
E 70 10 3

Given strain yy , calculate the change in length in y

y
yy
Lo
y Lo yy

y 0.46mm

12
Using solutions in problem 2-2, calculate the change in volume

V
v
Vo
V V0 v V0 xx yy zz a b t xx yy zz

V 685.72mm3

13
Problem 2-9: Consider the general definition of the strain tensor in the 3D continuum. The three
Euler-Bernoulli hypotheses of the elementary beam theory state:

1. Plane remain plane

2. Normal remain normal

3. Transverse deflections are only a function of the length coordinate x.

Proof that under the above assumptions the state in the beam is uni-axial, meaning that the only
surviving component of the strain is in the length, x-direction. The proof is sketched in the lecture
notes, but we want you to redo the step by step derivation.

Problem 2-9 Solution:

1. Plane remains Plane

This Hypothesis is satisfied when the u-component of the displacement vector is a linear function
of z

uz uo z (1)

where u o is the displacement of the beam axis

2. Normal remains normal

This hypothesis is satisfied when the rotation of the deformed cross-section is equal to the
local slope of the middle axis

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 dw
(2)
dx

Combing (1) and (2), we have

dw
u ( x, z ) u o z (3)
dx

3. Deflections are only a function of x

w w( x ) (4)

Also, because of planar deformation

v 0 (5)

Evaluate all components of strain tensor

u
xx
x

v
From equation(5): v 0 yy 0
y

w( x)
From equation(4):w w(x) zz 0
z

1 v w( x) 1
From equation(4):w w(x) and equation(5): v 0 yz ( ) (0 0) 0
2 z y 2

dw 1 u w 1 w w
From equation(3): u uo z zx ( ) ( ) 0
dx 2 z x 2 x x

1 u ( x, z) v 1
From equation(3):u u (x, z) and equation(5): v 0 xy ( ) (0 0) 0
2 y x 2

Only xx survives, therefore the state of strain of a classical beam theory is uniaxial

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MIT OpenCourseWare
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2.080J / 1.573J Structural Mechanics

Fall 2013

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