Homework #1 Solution

ME 311-Winter 2016
Due Date 01/15/2016

1.6. A wooden plank is 200 mm wide, 25 mm thick and 1.5 m long. It is simply
supported at the two ends. How far will it deflect if you stand on it at the centre?
Depending on how heavy you are, about 15 mm.

1.11. Estimate the maximum bending moment you can apply to a one inch diameter broom handle using only your hands. (Suppose the broom is lying on the
ground and you want to pick it up with one hand from the end of the handle,
keeping the handle horizontal all the time. Would you be able to do so and if so,
how much weight at the other (broom) end could be added before the moment
required from your grip would be too large?)
About 10 lb ft.

1.17. A tree is 60 feet high and the trunk is 2 feet in diameter at the base. Estimate the total weight of wood in the tree.
Wood floats in water but mostly submerged so its density is about 80% that of
water, which in turn is 60 lb/ft3 . The diameter of the trunk will taper towards the
top of the tree, but this is partly compensated for by the branches. A conical shape
would definitely underestimate the volume and would be 1/3rd of the volume of
the cylinder. As a rough estimate, we therefore calculate 2/3rds of the cylindrical
volume, obtaining
2 22 60

0.8 60 = 6000 lb = 2.7 tons.

3
4

1.23. An initially straight piece of steel wire of diameter 1 mm is wrapped

around a rigid drum of diameter 100 mm. The wire is then released. Will it return to the straight shape or will it be permanently deformed? If it is deformed,
what radius would you expect it to have after being released?
It will be permanently deformed. The maximum strain when wrapped is
emax =

ymax
0.5
=
= 0.01 .
R
50

For steel, E = 210 GPa, so the maximum stress if the wire were elastic would be

max = Eemax = 210 103 0.01 = 2100 MPa,

which exceeds the yield stress of all steels.
The wire will spring back to a radius of about 60 mm (from the tight wound
radius of 50 mm).

1.26. What determines the minimum wall thickness usable for an aluminium
beverage can:(i) resistance to damage during shipping,
(ii) retention of shape when standing on a surface,
(iii) possible failure due to internal pressure of fermented beverages,
(iv) tearing during the manufacturing process,
(v) thermal stresses during refrigeration.
Thermal stresses arise only as a result of temperature differences. A uniform
change in temperature produces thermal strain, but no stresses. The wall thickness
is very small, so it is unlikely that there will be significant temperature variation
through the thickness.
From everyday experience, if you shake a beer can and develop some internal
pressure, you will not cause it to fail. The most likely failure anyway would be that
it would pop open.
Cans would need to be significantly thinner if they were to collapse when standing on a surface. You can exert quite a substantial axial force without causing deformation, particularly when the can is full.
This leaves items (i) and (iv), both of which are of concern. Beverage cans are
already very easy to deform by denting. It is part of the challenge of the packaging
and distribution process to avoid this and thinner cans would make it harder. However, probably the biggest challenge is the forming process itself, which has to be
controlled to tight tolerances to maintain uniform shell thickness. Minor changes in
(for example) lubrication conditions can cause variation in local stress sufficient to
produce tearing.

3.5. A spring is made of a non-linear material, such that the tensile force F and
the extension u are related by the equation F = F0 tan(u/u0), where F0 , u0 are
constants. Find the strain energy stored U (i) as a function of u and (ii) as a
function of F. Sketch the load-displacement curve and comment on the results
when |u/u0| 1.
The strain energy is
U=

Z u
0

Fdu = F0

Z u
0

tan(u/u0)du .

(i) Writing x = u/u0, u = xu0 , we have

U = F0 u0

Z u/u0
0

tan xdx = F0 u0 ln{cos(u/u0 )} .

(ii) To express U in terms of F, write

tan(u/u0 ) =
and hence

F
F0

F0
,
cos(u/u0 ) = q
F 2 + F02

giving




F0 u0
F2
1
ln 1 + 2 .
U = F0 u0 ln(F0 ) ln(F 2 + F02 ) =
2
2
F0
The load-displacement curve is sketched in Figure P3.5.1. At |u/u0| 1, the
spring is approximately linear with stiffness F0 /u0 . In this range
cos(x) 1

x2
;
2

ln{cos(x)}

x2
,
2

giving
U

F0 u2
,
2u0

as in equation (3.5).
At larger u/u0 , the spring stiffens and no force is sufficient to cause displacements in excess of |u| > u0 /2.

u0
2

O
u

Figure P3.5.1

u0
2

3.12. The determinate truss of Figure P3.12 is simply-supported at its ends A, D

and loaded by a vertical force F at C. All the members have cross-sectional area
A and are of a material with Youngs modulus E. Find the vertical displacement
u under the load at C.
E

Figure P3.12
We first need to find the forces in all the struts by considering the equilibrium
of appropriate joints. The equilibrium of the structure as a whole can be used to
determine the reactions at A and D. For example, taking moments about D we find
the reaction at A to be F/3 after which equilibrium of vertical forces demands that
the reaction at D be 2F/3.
Figure P3.12.1 shows the forces acting on the pins at A, D, F.

F DE

F AF

F EF
F CD

FAB

F
3
A

2F
3

F AF

D
Figure P3.12.1

The equilibrium of joint A gives

FAF F
F
+ = 0 ; AF + FAB = 0
2
2 3
and hence
FAF

2F
F
FAF
=
; FAB = = .
3
3
2

An essentially identical calculation for joint D gives

2F
2 2F
; FCD =
.
FDE =
3
3

F BF
F

Equilibrium of joint F gives

FAF
FAF
FEF = 0 ; + FBF = 0
2
2
and hence

F
F
; FBF = .
3
3
At joint C, by inspection, we must have
FEF =

FBC = FCD =

2F
; FCE = F
3

and to find the remaining force FBE we can enforce vertical equilibrium of the joint
B obtaining
FBE
FBF + = 0
2
and hence

2F
FBE = 2FBF =
.
3
The total strain energy is now obtained as
9

Fi2 Li
,
i=1 2EA

U=

where the suffix i denotes the separate struts in the truss. It is convenient to list these
in tabular form as follows, using the above results:Strut
Fi
Li
Fi2 Li
AB
F/3
L
F 2 L/9
BC
2F/3
L
4F 2 L/9
CD
2F/3
L
4F 2 L/9
BF
F/3
L
F 2 L/9
CE
F
L
F 2L
2
EF
F/3
L F L/9

AF 2F/3 2L 22F 2 L/9

BE 2F/3 2L 22F 2 L/9
DE 2 2F/3 2L 8 2F 2 L/9
Using these results, we obtain
U=

o 2.054F 2 L

F 2L n
1+4+4+1+9+1+2 2+2 2+8 2 =
18EA
EA

and hence
u=

4.108FL
2U
=
.
F
EA