Hooke's Law

In our first topic, Static Equilibrium, we examined structures in which we assumed the members were
rigid - rigid in the sense that we assumed that the member did not deform due to the applied loads and
resulting forces. In real members, of course, we have deformation. That is, the length (and other
dimensions change due to applied loads and forces. In fact, if we loo! at a metal rod in simple tension
as shown in diagram ", we see that there will be an elongation (or deformation due to the tension. If
we then graph the tension (force verses the deformation we obtain a result as shown in diagram #.


In diagram #, we see that, if our metal rod is tested b$ increasing the tension in the rod, the
deformation increases. In the first region the deformation increases in proportion to the force. That is,
if the amount of force is doubled, the amount of deformation is doubled. This is a form of %oo!e&s 'aw
and could be written this wa$( ) * ! (deformation, where ! is a constant depending on the material
(and is sometimes called the spring constant. +fter enough force has been applied the material enters
the plastic region - where the force and the deformation are not proportional, but rather a small
amount of increase in force produces a large amount of deformation. In this region, the rod often
begins to &nec! down&, that is, the diameter becomes smaller as the rod is about to fail. )inall$ the rod
actuall$ brea!s.
The point at which the Elastic Region ends is called the elastic limit, or the proportional limit. In
actualit$, these two points are not quite the same. The Elastic Limit is the point at which permanent
deformation occurs, that is, after the elastic limit, if the force is ta!en off the sample, it will not
return to its original si,e and shape, permanent deformation has occurred. The Proportional Limit is
the point at which the deformation is no longer directl$ proportional to the applied force (%oo!e&s 'aw
no longer holds. +lthough these two points are slightl$ different, we will treat them as the same in
this course.
-ext, rather than examining the applied force and resulting deformation, we will instead graph the
axial stress verses the axial strain (diagram .. /e have defined the axial stress earlier. The axial
strain is defined as the fractional change in length or Strain = (deformation of member divided b!
the (original length of member , Strain is often represented b$ the 0ree! s$mbol epsilon(, and the
deformation is often represented b$ the 0ree! s$mbol delta(, so we ma$ write( Strain
(where 'o is the original length of the member Strain has no units - since its length divided b$ length,
however it is sometimes expressed as &in.1in.& in some texts.
+s we see from diagram ., the Stress verses Strain graph has the same shape and regions as the force
verses deformation graph in diagram #. In the elastic (linear region, since stress is directl$
proportional to strain, the ratio of stress1strain will be a constant (and actuall$ equal to the slope of
the linear portion of the graph. This constant is !nown as 2oung&s 3odulus, and is usuall$ s$mboli,ed
b$ an E or ". /e will use E for 2oung&s modulus. /e ma$ now write "o#ng's $od#l#s = Stress%Strain&
or' . (This is another form of %oo!e&s 'aw.
The value of 2oung&s modulus - which is a measure of the amount of force needed to produce a unit
deformation - depends on the material. 2oung&s 3odulus for Steel is () x *+
,
lb%in
(
, for -l#min#m E =
*+ x *+
,
lb%in
(
, and for .rass E = */ x *+
,
lb%in
(
. )or more values, select( "o#ng's $od#l#s 0 1able.
To summari,e our stress1strain1%oo!e&s 'aw relationships up to this point, we have(
The last relationship is 4ust a combination of the first three, and sa$s simpl$ that the amount of
deformation which occurs in a member is equal to the product of the force in the member and the
length of the member (usuall$ in inches divided b$ 2oung&s 3odulus for the material, and divided b$
the cross sectional area of the member. To see applications of these relationships, we now will loo! at
several examples.