5.

STRENGTH OF MATERIALS BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

To evaluate the stress, strains and displacements in a strength of materials problem, we must derive a series of basic equations. During the process of derivation, however, if we consider all the influential factors in an all-round way, the results obtained will be so complicated that practically no solutions can be found. Therefore, we have to make some basic assumptions about the properties of the body considered. Under such assumptions, we can neglect some of the influential factors of minor importance temporarily, thus simplifying the strength of materials calculus. In this text we shall comply with the following assumptions in classical strength of materials: 1. The body is continuous, i.e., the whole volume of the body is filled with continuous matter, without any void. Only under this assumption, can the physical quantities in the body, such as stresses, strains and displacements, be continuously distributed and thereby expressed by continuous functions of coordinates in space. In reality, all engineering materials are composed of elementary particles and do not accord with the assumption of continuity. However, it may be conceived that this assumption will lead to no significant errors so long as the dimensions of the body are very large in comparison with those of the particles and with the distances between neighboring particles. 2. The body is homogeneous: the properties are the same throughout the body. Under this assumption we may analyse an elementary volume isolated from the body and then apply the results of analysis to the entire body. 3. The body is isotropic so that the material properties are the same in all directions. Thus, the strength study will be independent of the orientation of coordinate axes. Most engineering materials do not satisfy the above last two assumptions completely. Structural steel, for instance, when studied with a microscope, is seen to consist of crystals of various kinds and various orientations. It seems that the material is far from being homogeneous and isotropic. However, since the dimensions of any single crystal are very small in comparison with those of the entire body, and since the crystals are orientated at random, the behavior of a piece of steel, on average, appears to justify the assumptions of homogeneity and isotropy. This is the reason

Strength of Materials

why the strength of materials calculus based on these assumptions can be applied to steel structures with very great accuracy so long as none of the members has been subjected to the process of rolling which may produce a definite orientation of the crystals. In contrast with steel, wood is definitely not isotropic, since the properties of wood in the direction of the grain differ greatly from those in the perpendicular directions. In assuming isotropic material, we shall of course exclude the treatment of wooden structures. 4. The displacements and strains are small , i.e., the displacement components of all points of the body during deformation are very small in comparison with its original dimensions and the strain components and the rotations of all line elements are much smaller than unity. Thus when we formulate the equilibrium equations relevant to the deformed state, we may use the lengths and angles of the body before deformation. In addition, when we formulate the geometrical equations involving strains and displacements, we may neglect the squares and products of small quantities. For example, when writing the moment given by the force P at point Fig. 5.1 A (Fig. 5.1) we choose the arm instead of , the difference between the two lengths being a very small quantity. This is why we may write all the equilibrium equations on the undeformed state of the body.

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Strength of Materials Basic Assumptions

a. Fig. 5.2

b.

Following the same idea, if the two members of Fig. 5.2a are subjected to a force P applied at B, within the context of the above mentioned assumption the angle made by each member with the vertical direction remains approximately equal to (Fig. 5.2b). A direct consequence of the small displacements and strains assumption is the method (principle) of superposition. 5. The body is perfectly elastic, i.e., it wholly obeys Hookes law of elasticity, which shows the linear relations between the stress components and the strain components (Fig. 5.3). Under this assumption, the elastic constants will be independent of the magnitudes of these components. The justifications for this assumption lies in the physical behavior of nearly all materials in engineering construction. In the other words, if the strains caused in a certain body by the application of a given load disappear when the load is removed, the material is said to behave elastically.

Fig. 5.3

The linear relations between stress and strain in their simplest way, may be expressed by Hookes law as follows :

=E

and

= G ,

(5.1)

where E is called the modulus of elasticity of the material involved (or Youngs modulus, after the English scientist Thomas Young (1773-1829) and G is called the modulus of rigidity or shear modulus of the material. For structural steel we have: E = 2,1105 MPa ; G = 8 104 MPa. Fig. 5.3 does also tell us that the involved material behaves linearly. 6. Saint-Venants principle: except in the immediate vicinity of the points of application of the loads, the stress distribution in a body may be assumed independent of the actual mode of application of the loads. This statement practically applies to any type of load.
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Strength of Materials

While Saint-Venants principle makes it possible to replace a given loading by a simpler one for the purpose of computing the stresses in a structural member, we should keep in mind two important points when applying this principle: a. The actual loading and the loading used to compute the stresses must be statically equivalent; b. Stresses cannot be computed in this manner in the immediate vicinity of the points of application of the loads. Advanced theoretical or experimental methods must be used to determine the distribution of stresses in these areas. Applying the above principle at a section K of a beam, for example, (where K is not placed in the immediate vicinity of the points of application of the loads), the effect occured at K is the same for both types of loading (Fig.5.4a,b).

a. Fig. 5.4

b.

7. Bernoullis hypothesis For structural members in tension or compression, the plane and parallel cross sections before the deformation of the members, remain plane and parallel after deformation (Fig.5.5). For beams (structural elements in bending), the plane sections, perpendicular to the beam axis before the deformation of the beam, remain plane and perpendicular to the beam axis after deformation (Fig.5.6).

Fig. 5.5

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Strength of Materials Basic Assumptions

Fig. 5.6

The above presented assumptions let us simplify the strength of materials calculus without loosing the accuracy in a fundamental manner.

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