Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology

Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

STRESS-STRAIN RELATIONS

Introduction
An elastic material is one that returns to its original (unloaded) shape upon the removal
of applied forces. Elastic behavior thus precludes permanent deformation. In many
cases, the elastic range includes a region throughout which stress and strain bear a
linear relationship. This portion of the stress-strain variation ends at a point termed the
proportional limit. Such materials are linearly elastic. It is not necessary for a material
to possess such linearity for it to be elastic. In a viscoelastic material, the state of stress
is a function not only of the strains, but of the time rates of change of stress and strain
as well.

Combinations of elastic (spring-like) and viscous (dashpot-like) elements form a

viscous-elastic model. Glasses, ceramics, biomaterials, synthetic rubbers, and plastics
may frequently be considered to be linear viscoelastic materials. Also, roost rocks
exhibit properties that can be represented by inclusion of viscous terms in the stress-
strain relationship. Viscoelastic solids return to their original state when unloaded. A
plastically deformed solid, on the other hand, does not return to its original shape when
the load is removed; there is some permanent deformation.

It is also assumed herein that the material is homogeneous and isotropic. A

homogeneous material displays identical properties throughout. If the properties are
identical in all directions at a point, the material is termed isotropic. A non-isotropic or
anisotropic solid such as wood displays direction dependent properties, for example,
greater strength in a direction parallel to the grain than perpendicular to the grain.
Single crystals also display pronounced anisotropy, manifesting different properties
along the various crystallographic directions.

Materials comprised of many crystals (polycrystalline aggregates) may exhibit

either isotropy or anisotropy. Isotropy results when the crystal size is small relative to
1

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah

 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

the size of the sample, provided that nothing has acted to disturb the random
distribution of crystal orientations within the aggregate. Mechanical processing
operations such as cold rolling may contribute to minor anisotropy, which in practice
is often disregarded. These processes may also result in high internal stress, termed
residual stress. In this course the materials are assumed initially entirely free of such
stress.

Stress-Strain Diagrams
In such a test, a specimen is inserted into the jaws of a machine that permits tensile
straining at a relatively low rate. Normally, the stress-strain curve resulting from a
tensile test is predicated on engineering (conventional) stress as the ordinate and
engineering (conventional) strain as the abscissa. The stress in the engineering stress-
strain curve is the load or tensile force (P) divided by the original cross-sectional area
(Ao) of the specimen. True stress is the load divided by the actual instantaneous or
current area (A) of the specimen.

Figure 1a shows two stress-strain plots, one (indicated by a solid line) based on
engineering stress, the other on true stress. The material tested is a relatively ductile.
polycrystalline metal such as steel. A ductile metal is capable of substantial elongation
prior to failure. The converse applies to brittle materials. Note that beyond the point
labeled "proportional limit" is a point labeled yield point. At the yield point, a great
deal of deformation occurs while the applied loading remains essentially constant. The
engineering stress curve for the material when strained beyond the yield point shows a
characteristic maximum termed the ultimate tensile stress and a lower value, the
rupture stress, at which failure occurs.

Interestingly, the stress-strain diagram for brittle materials shows that rupture
occurs without any noticeable prior change in the rate of elongation. The fracture of
these materials is associated with the tensile stresses.

The large disparity between the engineering stress and true stress curves in the
region of a large strain is attributable to the significant localized decrease in area
2

(necking down) prior to fracture. In the area of large strain, particularly that occurring
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah
 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

in the plastic range, the engineering strain, based on small deformation, is clearly
inadequate. It is therefore convenient to introduce true or logarithmic strain. The true
strain, denoted by , is defined by
𝐿 𝑑𝐿 𝐿
𝜀 = ∫𝐿 = ln = ln⁡(1 + 𝜀𝑜 ) (1)
𝑜 𝐿 𝐿𝑜

Figure 1. (a) Stress-strain diagram of a typical ductile material. (b) Determination of

yield strength by the offset method.
In the plastic range, the material is assumed to be incompressible and the volume
constant. Hence

𝐴𝑜 𝐿𝑜 = 𝐴⁡𝐿 (2)

Therefore, the stress may be expressed as

𝑃 𝑃 𝐿 𝐿
𝜎= = = 𝜎𝑜 = 𝜎𝑜 (1 + 𝜀𝑜 ) (3)
𝐴 𝐴𝑜 𝐿𝑜 𝐿𝑜

That is, the true stress is equal to the engineering stress multiplied by 1 plus the
engineering strain.

For materials that do not exhibit a distinctive yield point, it is usual to employ a
quasi-yield point. According to the 0.2-percent offset method, a line is drawn through
a strain of 0.002, parallel to the initial straight-line portion of the curve, as shown in
Figure 1b. The intersection of this line with the stress-strain curve defines the yield
point as shown.
3

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah

 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

Hooke's Law and Poisson's Ratio

Most structural materials exhibit an initial region of the stress-strain diagram in which
the material behaves both elastically and linearly. This linear elasticity is extremely
important in engineering because many structures and machines are designed to
experience relatively small deformations. For that straight-line portion of the diagram,
stress is directly proportional to strain. If the normal stress acts in the x direction,

𝜎𝑥 = 𝐸⁡𝜀𝑥 (4)

This relationship is known as Hooke's law. The constant E is called the modulus of
elasticity, or Young's modulus. As  is a dimensionless quantity, E has the units of .
Thus, E is expressed in Pascal (or Giga Pascal). Graphically, E is the slope of the stress-
strain diagram in the linearly elastic region. It differs from material to material. For
most materials, E in compression is the same as that in tension.

Elasticity can similarly be measured in two-dimensional pure shear. It is found

experimentally that, in the linearly elastic range, stress and strain are related by Hooke's
law in shear:

𝜏𝑥𝑦 = 𝐺⁡𝛾𝑥𝑦 (5)

Here G is the shear modulus of elasticity or modulus of rigidity or shear modulus.

When a specimen subjected to axial tensile loading a reduction or lateral contraction

induces to the specimen's cross-sectional area. Similarly, a contraction owing to an
axial compressive load is accompanied by a lateral extension. In the linearly elastic
region, it is found experimentally that lateral strains, say in the y and z directions, are
related by a constant of proportionality, , to the axial strain caused by uniaxial stress
only 𝜀𝑥 = 𝜎𝑥 /𝐸⁡, in the x direction:
𝜎𝑥
𝜀𝑦 = 𝜀𝑧 = −𝜈 (6)
𝐸

Alternatively, the definition of v may be stated as

𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙⁡𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
𝜈=− (7)
𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑎𝑙⁡𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
4

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah

 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

Here  is known as Poisson's ratio, after S. D. Poisson (1781-1840), who calculated v

to be ¼ for isotropic materials employing molecular theory. Note that more recent
calculations based on a model of atomic structure yield v =1/3. Both values given here
are close to the actual measured values, 0.25 to 0.35 for most metals. Extreme cases
range from a low of 0.1 (for some concretes) to a high of 0.5 (for rubber).

Volume Change
The lateral contraction of a cubic element from a bar in tension is illustrated in Figure
2, where it is assumed that the faces of the element at the origin are fixed in position.
From the figure, subsequent to straining, the final volume is

𝑉𝑓 = (1 + 𝜀𝑥 )𝑑𝑥⁡(1 − 𝜐𝜀𝑥 )𝑑𝑦⁡(1 − 𝜐𝜀𝑥 )𝑑𝑧 (a)

Figure 2. Lateral contraction of an element in tension.

Expanding the right side and neglecting higher-order terms involving 𝜀𝑥2 and 𝜀𝑥3 we

Have
𝑉𝑓 = [1 + (𝜀𝑥 − 2𝜐𝜀𝑥 )]𝑑𝑥⁡𝑑𝑦⁡𝑑𝑧 = 𝑉𝑜 + Δ𝑉 (b)

where Vo is the initial volume dx dy dz and Δ𝑉is the change in volume. The unit volume
change e, also referred to as the dilatation, may now be expressed in the form
Δ𝑉 1−2𝜐
𝑒= = (1 − 2𝜐⁡)𝜀𝑥 = 𝜎𝑥 (8)
𝑉𝑜 𝐸

Observe from this equation that a tensile force increases and a compressive force
decreases the volume of the element.
5

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah

 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

GENERALIZED HOOKE'S LAW

For a three-dimensional state of stress, each of the six stress components is expressed
as a linear function of six components of strain within the linear elastic range, and vice
versa. We thus express the generalized Hooke’s law for any homogeneous elastic
material as follows:
𝜎𝑥 𝑐11 𝑐12 𝑐13 𝑐14 𝑐15 𝑐16 𝜀𝑥
𝜎𝑦 𝑐21 𝑐22 𝑐23 𝑐24 𝑐25 𝑐26 𝜀𝑦
𝜎𝑧 𝑐31 𝑐32 𝑐33 𝑐34 𝑐35 𝑐36 𝜀𝑧
𝜏𝑥𝑦 = 𝑐41 𝑐42 𝑐43 𝑐44 𝑐45 𝑐46 𝛾𝑥𝑦 (9)
𝜏𝑦𝑧 𝑐51 𝑐52 𝑐53 𝑐54 𝑐55 𝑐56 𝛾𝑦𝑧
𝜏
{ 𝑥𝑧 } [𝑐61 𝑐62 𝑐63 𝑐64 𝑐65 𝑐66 ] { 𝛾𝑥𝑧 }

The c's are the material-dependent elastic constants. In a homogeneous body, each of
these 36 constants has the same value at all points. Strain energy considerations can be
used to show that for fully anisotropic crystalline materials the number of independent
material constants can be as large as 21. For a homogeneous isotropic material, the
constants must be identical in all directions at any point. It is observed later that, if the
material is isotropic, the number of essential elastic constants reduces to two.

Consider now a two dimensional homogeneous isotropic rectangular elements of

unit thickness, subjected to a biaxial state of stress, see Figure 3. Were 𝜎𝑥 to act, not
only would the direct strain 𝜎𝑥 /𝐸 take place, but a y contraction as well −𝜎𝑥 /𝐸.
Application of 𝜎𝑦 alone would result in an x contraction −𝜎𝑦 /𝐸 and a y strain 𝜎𝑦 /𝐸.
The simultaneous action of 𝜎𝑥 and 𝜎𝑦 applying the principle of superposition, leads to
the following strains:
𝜎𝑥 𝜎𝑦 𝜎𝑦 𝜎𝑥
𝜀𝑥 = −𝜐 ,⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝜀𝑦 = −𝜐 (a)
𝐸 𝐸 𝐸 𝐸

For pure shear in the linearly elastic range, stress and strain are related by
𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝛾𝑥𝑦 = (b)
𝐺

Similar analysis enables us to express the three-dimensional state of stress, which leads
to the generalized Hooke's law, valid for an isotropic homogeneous material:
6

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah

 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

1 𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝜀𝑥 = [𝜎𝑥 − 𝜐(𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑧 )],⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝛾𝑥𝑦 =
𝐸 𝐺
1 𝜏𝑦𝑧
𝜀𝑦 = [𝜎𝑦 − 𝜐(𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑧 )],⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝛾𝑦𝑧 = (10)
𝐸 𝐺
1 𝜏𝑥𝑧
𝜀𝑧 = [𝜎𝑧 − 𝜐(𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑦 )],⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝛾𝑥𝑧 =
𝐸 𝐺

It is demonstrated next that the elastic constants E, v, and G are related, serving to
reduce the number of independent constants in Eq. (10) to two. As mentioned
previously, a pure shearing stress 𝜏𝑥𝑦 can be expressed in terms of the principal stresses
acting on planes (in the x' and y' directions) making an angle of 45º with the shear
planes: 𝜎𝑥´ = 𝜏𝑥𝑦 and 𝜎𝑦´ = −𝜏𝑥𝑦 . Then, applying Hooke’s law, we find that

y ⁡𝜎𝑥
⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡
𝐸
⁡𝜎𝑦
𝜐 ⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡
𝐸
x x

1
𝜀𝑥 = [𝜎 − 𝜐⁡𝜎𝑦 ]⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡
𝐸 𝑥
y
Figure 3. Element deformations caused by biaxial stresses.
1 𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝜀𝑥′ = [𝜎𝑥′ − 𝜐𝜎𝑦′ ] = (𝟏 + 𝜐) (c)
𝐸 𝐸

On the other hand, because 𝜀𝑥 =𝜀𝑥 = 0⁡ for pure shear, Eq. (11) (strain lecture notes)
yields, for =45°,⁡𝜀𝑥′ = 𝛾𝑥𝑦 /2, or
𝜏𝑥𝑦
𝜀𝑥′ = (d)
2𝐺

Equating Eqs. (c) and (d), we find that

𝐸
𝐺= (11)
𝟐(𝟏+𝜐)

It is seen that, when any two of the constants v, E, and G are determined experimentally,
the third may be found from Eq. (11). From Eq. (10) together with Eq. (11), we obtain
the following stress-strain relationships:

𝜎𝑥 = 2𝐺𝜀𝑥 + 𝜆⁡𝑒,⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝜏𝑥𝑦 = 𝐺⁡𝛾𝑥𝑦

𝜎𝑦 = 2𝐺𝜀𝑦 + 𝜆⁡𝑒,⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝜏𝑦𝑧 = 𝐺⁡𝛾𝑦𝑧 (12)
7

𝜎𝑧 = 2𝐺𝜀𝑧 + 𝜆⁡𝑒,⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡𝜏𝑥𝑧 = 𝐺⁡𝛾𝑥𝑧

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah
 Lecture Title: Stress-Strain Relations University of Technology
Lecture Notes on Advanced Elasticity (2017-2018) Mechanical Engineering Department

Here
1−2𝑣
𝑒 = 𝜀𝑥 + 𝜀𝑦 + 𝜀𝑧 = (𝜎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑧 ) (13)
𝐸

And

𝑣⁡𝐸
𝜆 = (1+𝑣)(1−2𝑣) (14)

The bulk modulus of elasticity is another important constant. The physical

significance of this quantity is observed by considering, for example, the case of a
cubic element subjected to hydrostatic pressure p. Because the stress field is described
by 𝜎𝑥 = 𝜎𝑦 = 𝜎𝑧 = −𝑝 and 𝜏𝑥𝑦 = 𝜏𝑦𝑧 = 𝜏𝑥𝑧 = 0, Eq. (13) reduces to 𝑒 =
−3(1 − 2𝑣)𝑝/𝐸. The foregoing may be written in the form
𝑝 ⁡𝐸
𝐾=− = (15)
𝑒 3(1−2𝑣)

where K is the modulus of volumetric expansion or bulk modulus of elasticity. It is seen

that the unit volume contraction is proportional to the pressure and inversely
proportional to K. Equation (15) also indicates that for incompressible materials, for
which e = 0, Poisson's ratio is 0.5. For all common materials, however, v < 1/2, since
they demonstrate some change in volume, 𝑒 ≠ 0.

Ver. 1.4, November 2, 2015

8

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohsin Noori Hamzah