Shear Strength

In engineering, shear strength is the strength of a material or component against the type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails in shear. A shear load is a force that tends to produce a sliding failure on a material along a plane that is parallel to the direction of the force. When a paper is cut with scissors, the paper fails in shear. In structural and mechanical engineering the shear strength of a component is important for designing the dimensions and materials to be used for the manufacture/construction of the component (e.g. beams, plates, or bolts) In a reinforced concrete beam, the main purpose of stirrups are to increase the shear strength. For shear stress applies

where is major principal stress is minor principal stress In general: ductile materials fail in shear (ex. aluminium), whereas brittle materials (ex. cast iron) fail in tension. See tensile strength. To calculate: Given total force at failure and the force-resisting area (e.g. the cross-section of a bolt loaded in shear), shear strength is:

Shearing forces are unaligned forces pushing one part of a body in one direction, and another part the body in the opposite direction. When the forces are aligned into each other, they are called compression forces. An example is a deck of cards being pushed one way on the top, and the other at the bottom, causing the cards to slide. Another example is when wind blows at the side of a peaked roof of a home - the side walls experience a force at their top pushing in the direction of the wind, and their bottom in the opposite direction, from the ground or foundation. William A. Nash defines

shear force thus: "If a plane is passed through a body, a force acting along this plane is called shear force or shearing force.

Bearing capacity
In geotechnical engineering, bearing capacity is the capacity of soil to support the loads applied to the ground. The bearing capacity of soil is the maximum average contact pressure between the foundation and the soil which should not produce shear failure in the soil. Ultimate bearing capacity is the theoretical maximum pressure which can be supported without failure; allowable bearing capacity is the ultimate bearing capacity divided by a factor of safety. Sometimes, on soft soil sites, large settlements may occur under loaded foundations without actual shear failure occurring; in such cases, the allowable bearing capacity is based on the maximum allowable settlement.