STRAIN

STRAIN
The total movement of a point with respect to a fixed
reference coordinates is called displacement.
The relative movement of a point with respect to another
point on the body is called deformation.
Consider an object in two situations: with and without a force
applied.

avg = (s s)/(s)

s (1 + ) s

Normal STRAIN
Normal Strain is a change in length of a line per unit
length
Normal strain is a measure of elongation or
contraction of a small line segment in the body
Let a force be applied along a dimension.
Let L0 be the length of the object along the
dimension when no force is applied.
Let L2 be the length when the force is applied.
Then the object's strain is defined to be
The symbol is usually used to denote strain.

av

L2 L0

L0
L0

Modulus of Elasticity (E) =

(Normal Stress)/ (Normal Strain)

Shear Strain

Shear strain is a measure of

the change in angle that
occurs between two small line
segments that are originally
perpendicular to one another
where the Greek letter alpha ()
designates the final angle
measured in radians (rad),
and the pi () = 3.14159 rad.
Decreases in angle ( < / 2)
result in positive shear strains.
Increases in angle ( > / 2)
result in negative shear

Cartesian Strain components

More on strain
We are assuming small strain analysis ( <<1)
It is useful to think of strain as gradient in
displacements (u,v,w are displacements in x, y
and z directions)
x u/x ; y v/y ; z w/z ;
xy u/y v/x;
xz u/z w/x
yz v/z w/y

More on strain

For small strains sin ; cos 1; tan

Units of strain length/length dimensionless
Strain is usually expressed as percentage
Example strain= 0.01 => 1% strain

Example
An air-filled rubber ball has a diameter of 6
in. If the air pressure within it is increased
until the balls diameter becomes 7 in.,
determine the average normal strain in the
rubber.

Example
A thin strip of rubber has an unstretched
length of 15 in. If it is stretched around a
pipe having an outer diameter of 5 in.,
determine the average normal strain in the
strip

Example
The rigid beam is supported by a pin at A
and wires BD and CE. If the load P on the
beam causes the end C to be displaced
10 mm downward, determine the normal
strain developed in wires CE and BD.

Example
The corners B and D of the square plate are
given the displacements indicated. Determine
the shear strains at A and B.

Shear Modulus of Elasticity (G)=

(Shear Stress)/ (Shear Strain)

Shear Stress-Strain
Normal strains causes a change in volume of a rectangular
element while shear

strain cause a change in its shape.

Hookes Law for Shear can be written as

2
Where
=Shear stress
=shear strain
G =Shear Modulus of Elasticity (Modulus of Rigidity)