Assignment

Of
Concept of Stress and Strain
Submitted in partial fulfillment of
The degree of Master of Science
In Geology
By
GANDHI BIRWA A.
M.Sc. Semester - I
PAPER 402
Under the supervision of
DR. P.M. SOLANKI SIR

Geology Department
M.G. Science Institute
Affiliated to Gujarat University
Navarangpura, Ahmedabad-380009
Gujarat, India.
 Concept of Stress and Strain

CONTENTS:

o Force
o Stress
o Deformation
o Strain
o Relationship between stress
and strain
o References

Force :
A force is a physical entity which tends to either change the state
of rest or the uniform motion in a straight line of a body. A force
is described by a vector, its SI unit is the Newton (N). Its
magnitude is equal to the rate of change of momentum of the
body.
 Source: www.slideshare.net

There are two types of forces:

Forces that result from the action of field at every point within
the body are called body forces. The magnitude of body forces
is proportional to the mass of the body. They are often called
internal forces. They are often called external forces.
Forces that act on a specific surface area in a body are called
surface force. The magnitude of surface forces is proportional
to the area of the surface.

Source: adaptivemap.ma.psu.edu

Stress :
Every particle of matter of which the Earth is comprised is
experiencing stress. This stress is not of one type but of many
which collaboratively act upon every body of matter
continuously, perpetually, and without respite.
By definition, Stress is defined as the ratio of the amount of
force acting on an object to the area across which the force is
acting i.e. Stress (𝝈) is the force per unit area or 𝝈 = F/A.
It can also be considered as intensity of force or a measure of
how concentrated the force is. A given force acting on a small
area(the pointed hammer) will have a greater intensity than that
same force acting on a larger area (a flat-headed hammer),
because the stress associated with the small area is greater.

The corresponding unit of stress is kg.m-1s-2 which is called

pascal (Pa).
1 bar = 105 Pa ≈ 1 atmosphere
In geology you will generally encounter their larger equivalents,
the kilobar (kbar) and the megapascal (MPa)
1 kbar = 1000 bar = 108 Pa = 100 MPa
The unit gigapascal is used to describe the very high pressures
that occur deep in the Earth.

Types of Stress :
Stress is the pressure applied to rock and hence rock can be
subject to several different kinds of stress. Stresses are classified
on the basis of the directions in which they act on a particular
object.
Lithostatic stress : Rock beneath the earth surface experiences
equal pressure exerted on it by the weight of the overlying rock
such stresses are called lithostatic stress or confining stress or
uniform stress.
This type of stress is uniform, which means the force applies
equally on all sides of a body of rock.

Source : http://www.columbia.edu

and
Differential (deviatoric) stress : In most of the cases rocks
experience unequal pressure due to tectonic forces such are
called differential or non-uniform stresses.

Source : http://www.columbia.edu

Rocks are also subjected to the three types of directed (non-

uniform) stress - Tension, Compression, Shearing and a
combination of these stresses like Torsional.

Tensional Stress : Stresses which act outwards from a

body are referred to as tensile. As the name implies, tensile
stresses result in a body experiencing tension, that is, being
pulled apart.
Tension is a directed (non-uniform) stress that pulls rock apart
in opposite directions. The tensional (also called extensional)
forces pull away from each other.

Source : www.slideplayer.com

The rocks become longer in a lateral direction and thinner in a

vertical direction. Rocks under tension lengthen or break apart.

Source : www.jblearning.com

This is an undeformed strata. Horizontal tensile stress causes it to lengthen horizontally

and thin vertically.

Tension is the major type of stress at divergent plate boundaries.

A normal fault is an example of a structure typically caused by
tension.

Compressional Stress : Stresses which act inwards

towards a body are referred to as compressive. Similarly,
compressive stresses result in a body experiencing compression,
that is, being pushed (or squeezed) together.
Compression is a directed (non-uniform) stress that pushes
rocks together. The compressional forces push towards each
other.
 Source : www.slideplayer.com

When the maximum compressive stress is in a horizontal

orientation, shortening and thickening of that portion of the
rocks occurs whereas when the maximum compressive stress is
vertical, horizontally extending and vertically thinning of the
given layer of rock occurs.

Source : www.jblearning.com

This is an undeformed strata. Horizontal compressive stress causes it to shorten

horizontally and thicken vertically.

Compression is the most common stress at convergent plate

boundaries.
Compression squeezes rocks together, causing rocks to fold or
fracture (break). A reverse fault is an example of a structure
typically caused by compression.

Shearing Stress : Stresses which act in opposite directions

parallel to the plane of their contact are referred as shearing.
Shear is a directed (non-uniform) stress that pushes one side of a
body of rock in one direction, and the opposite side of the body
of rock in the opposite direction. The shear forces are pushing in
opposite ways.

Source : https://earthquake.usgs.gov

The tangentially component is called shearing stress.

Pushes one side of the body of rock in one direction and
opposite side of the body of rock in opposite direction.

Source : www.jblearning.com

There is an undeformed strata. Shear stress causes displacement along fault zones.
Shear stress is the most common stress at transform plate
boundaries.

Torsional Stress : Torsion is resulted from twisting. The

two end of the rods are turned in opposite direction then rod is
said to be under torsion.
 Source : Structural Geology by Billings

A plate undergoes torsion, if two diagonally opposite corners are

subjected to forces acting in one direction while the other two
corners are subjected to forces acting in opposite direction.

a) shear stress along and transverse b) compressive stress (A) and tensile
stress (B) in perpendicular plane

Hence in this type of stress axes of torsion is developed through

the bar and surrounding it there develop a complex combination
of tension, compression and shearing.

Deformation :
Any change in the shape, orientation or position of body due to
the action of differential stresses is called deformation.
Deformation consists of three components:
(1) A Rotation, which is the pivoting of a body around a fixed
axis,
(2) A Translation, which is a change in the position of a body,
and
(3) A Strain, which is a distortion or change in shape of a body.

For example, a rigid body of rock that has moved along a fault
plane clearly has been translated relative to the opposing side
of the fault, and a fault block in which strata are inclined relative
to horizontal strata on the opposing wall of the fault has clearly
been rotated. (as shown in the below figure)

Rotation

Translation

Strain
Source : Earth structure by Stephen Marshak

Strain :
Strain is a deformation caused by stresses. Strain is change in
rock body due to stress.
Strain maybe dilation (change in volume) or distortion (change
in form) or both.
 Depending upon orientation of strain it can be divided into:
Homogenous strain : Homogeneous strain affects non-rigid
rock bodies in a regular, uniform manner. That is the strain
exhibited at one point in the body is the same as the strain at all
other points in the body.
During homogeneous strain parallel lines before strain remain
parallel after strain as a result cubes or squares are distorted into
prisms and parallelograms respectively, while spheres and circles
are transformed into ellipsoids and ellipses respectively. For
these generalizations to hold true, the strain must be systematic
and uniform across the body that has been deformed.

Source : sci.sdsu.edu

Heterogenous strain : Heterogeneous strain affects non-rigid

bodies in an irregular, non-uniform manner and is sometimes
referred to as non-homogeneous strain. Meaning that the strain
is not equal throughout the body.
During heterogeneous strain parallel lines before strain are not
parallel after strain, while circles and squares or their three-
dimensional counter parts cubes and spheres are distorted into
complex forms.
 Source : sci.sdsu.edu

 In response to stress, rock may undergo three different

types of strain –
Elastic Strain : Elastic strain is reversible. Rock that has
undergone only elastic strain will go back to its original shape if
the stress is released.

Source : https://courses.lumenlearning.com

Ductile Strain : Ductile strain is irreversible. A rock that has

undergone ductile strain will remain deformed even if the stress
stops. Another term for ductile strain is plastic deformation.
 Source : https://courses.lumenlearning.com

Fracture or Rupture : Fracture is also called rupture. A rock

that has ruptured has abruptly broken into distinct pieces. If the
pieces are offset—shifted in opposite directions from each
other—the fracture is a fault.

Source : https://courses.lumenlearning.com

We can divide materials into two classes that depend on their

relative behaviour under stress.
Brittle materials have a small or large region of elastic behaviour
but only a small region of ductile behaviour before they fracture.
Ductile materials have a small region of elastic behaviour and a
large region of ductile behaviour before they fracture.
Relationship between Stress
and Strain :
If a body is being stressed, it is always possible to locate the
stresses along three planes perpendicular to one another and
intersecting in a given point, such that the resultant strain in any
one of them is perpendicular to it.

Smaller forces

Greater forces Greater forces

Smaller forces

B B’ C’

C
A A A’ A’
B’ C

B
Stress Axes Strain Axes C’ B’

The three direction along which these planes intersect are called
principal axes of stress and the stresses acting on them are
called principal stress.
The varying types of response of geological materials to stress.
In this the stress is plotted on y- axis and its corresponding
strain on the x-axis. After plotting the stress and its
corresponding strain on the graph, we get a curve, and this curve
is called stress strain curve or stress strain diagram.

Source : https://opentextbc.ca

The straight dashed parts are elastic strain and the curved parts
are plastic strain. In each case the X marks where the material
fractures. A, the strongest material, deforms relatively little and
breaks at a high stress level. B, strong but brittle, shows no
plastic deformation and breaks after relatively little elastic
deformation. C, the most deformable, breaks only after
significant elastic and plastic strain. The three deformation
diagrams on the right show A and C before breaking and B after
breaking.
Rock structures caused by various types of strain within rocks
that have been stressed.
Stress causes strain and strain results in structure.

Source : https://serc.carleton.edu
 References :

 Structural Geology by Marland Billings

 Earth Structure by Van Der Pluijm and Stephen
Marshak
 https://courses.lumenlearning.com
 https://opentextbc.ca/geology
 https://earthphysicsteaching.homestead.com
 https://www.toppr.com
 http://www.sci.sdsu.edu