Mohr's Circle for 2-D Stress

Analysis
If you want to know the principal stresses and maximum shear stresses, you can simply make it
through 2-D or 3-D Mohr's circles!

You can know about the theory of Mohr’s circles from any text books of Mechanics of Materials.
The following two are good references, for examples.

1. Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnson, Jr, "Mechanics of Materials", Second Edition,
McGraw-Hill, Inc, 1992.
2 . James M. Gere and Stephen P. Timoshenko, "Mechanics of Materials", Third Edition, PWS-
KENT Publishing Company, Boston, 1990.

The 2-D stresses, so called plane stress problem, are usually given by the three stress components
σ x , σ y , and τ xy , which consist in a two-by-two symmetric matrix (stress tensor):

(1)
What people usually are interested in more are the two principal stresses σ 1 and σ 2, which are
the two eigenvalues of the two-by-two symmetric matrix of Eqn (1), and the maximum shear stress
τ max , which can be calculated from σ 1 and σ 2 . Now, see the Fig. 1 below, which represents
that a state of plane stress exists at point O and that it is defined by the stress components σ x , σ y

, and τ xy associated with the left element in the Fig. 1. We propose to determine the stress
components σ xθ , σ yθ , and τ xyθ associated with the right element after it has been rotated
through an angle θ about the z axis.
 Fig. 1 Plane stresses in different orientations

Then, we have the following relationship:

σ xθ = σ x cos 2 θ + σ y sin2 θ + 2 τ xy sin θ cos θ

(2)
and

τ xyθ = - (σ x − σ y ) cos2 θ + τ xy (cos2 θ − sin2

θ)
(3)
Equivalently, the above two equations can be rewritten as follows:

σ xθ = (σ x + σ y)/2 + (σ x − σ y)/2 cos 2θ + τ xy sin

2θ
(4)
and

τ xyθ = - (σ x − σ y)/2 sin 2θ + τ xy cos 2θ

(5)
The expression for the normal stress σ yθ may be obtained by replacing �θ in the relation for

σ xθ + 90 , it turns out to be
in Eqn. 3 by θ ο

σ yθ = (σ x + σ y)/2 − (σ x − σ y)/2 cos 2θ − τ xy

sin 2θ
(6)
From the relations for σ xθ and σ yθ , one obtains the circle equation:

(σ xθ −σ ) + τ ave
2 2
xyθ = R 2
m
(7)
where

σ ave = (σ x + σ y)/2 = (σ xθ + σ yθ )/2 ; Rm

= [(σ x − σ y) 2 / 4 + τ 2 1/2
xy]

(8)
This circle is with radius Rm and centered at C = (σ ave , 0) if let σ = σ xθ and
τ = −τ xyθ as shown in Fig. 2 below - that is right the Mohr's Circle for plane stress
problem or 2-D stress problem!
 Fig. 2 Mohr’s circle for plane (2-D) stresses

In fact, Eqns. 4 and 5 are the parametric equations for the Mohr's circle! In Fig. 2, one
reads that the point

X = ( σ x , -τ xy )
(9)
which corresponds to the point at which θ = 0 and the point

A = (σ 1 , 0)
(10)
which corresponds to the point at which θ = θ p that gives the principal stress σ 1 ! Note that

tan 2θ p= 2 τ xy /(σ x − σ y)
(11)
and the point

Y = (σ y , τ xy )
(12)
which corresponds to the point at which θ = 9 0 ο
and the point
 B = (σ 2 , 0)
(13)
which corresponds to the point at which θ = θ p + 90ο that gives the principal stress σ 2 ! To
this end, one can pick the maximum normal stresses as

σ max = max (σ 1 ,σ 2 ), σ min = min (σ 1 ,σ 2 )

(14)
Besides, finally one can also read the maximum shear stress as

τ max = Rm = [(σ x − σ y) / 4 + τ
2 2
xy]1/2
(15)
which corresponds to the apex of the Mohr's circle at which θ = θ p + 45 !
ο

(The end.)

Mohr's Circles for 3-D Stress

Analysis
The 3-D stresses, so called spatial stress problem, are usually given by the six stress components
σ , σ y , σ z , τ xy , τ yz , and τ
x zx , (see Fig. 3) which consist in a three-by-three
symmetric matrix (stress tensor):

(16)
What people usually are interested in more are the three principal stresses σ 1 , σ 2 , and σ 3 ,
which are eigenvalues of the three-by-three symmetric matrix of Eqn (16) , and the three
maximum shear stresses τ max1 ,τ max2 , and τ max3 , which can be calculated from σ 1 ,σ 2 ,
and σ 3 .
 Fig. 3 3-D stress state represented by axes parallel to X-Y-Z
Imagine that there is a plane cut through the cube in Fig. 3, and the unit normal vector ν of the
cut plane has the direction cosines vx , vy , and vz , that is

ν = (vx , vy , vz)
(17)
Then the normal stress on this plane can be represented by

σ ν = σ xv x + σ yv y + σ zv z + 2 τ
2 2 2
xy vxvy + 2 τ yzvyvz
+ 2 τ xzvxvz
(18)
There exist three sets of direction cosines, ν 1, ν 2, and ν 3 - the three principal axes, which make
σ νachieve extreme values σ 1 , σ 2 , and σ 3 - the three principal stresses, and on the
corresponding cut planes, the shear stresses vanish! The problem of finding the principal stresses
and their associated axes is equivalent to finding the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the following
problem:

(σ Ι 3 − Τ )ν = 0
3

(19)
The three eigenvalues of Eqn (19) are the roots of the following characteristic polynomial
equation:

det(σ Ι 3 − Τ 3) = σ 3
− Aσ 2
+ Bσ − C = 0
(20)
where

Α = σ x + σ y+ σ z
(21)
B = σ xσ y + σ yσ z + σ xσ z − τ 2
xy − τ 2
yz − τ 2
xz

(22)
C = σ xσ yσ z
+ 2 τ xyτ yzτ xz − σ xτ 2 − σ yτ yz
2
xz − σ zτ 2
xy

(23)
In fact, the coefficients A, B, and C in Eqn (20) are invariants as long as the stress state is
prescribed (see e.g. Ref. 2) . Therefore, if the three roots of Eqn (20) are σ 1, σ 2 , and σ 3 , one
has the following equations:

σ 1+ σ 2+ σ 3= A
(24)
σ 1σ 2 + σ 2σ 3 + σ 1σ 3 = B
(25)
σ 1σ 2σ 3 = C
(26)
Numerically, one can always find one of the three roots of Eqn (20), e.g. σ 1 , using line search
algorithm, e.g. bisection algorithm. Then combining Eqns (24)and (25), one obtains a simple
quadratic equations and therefore obtains two other roots of Eqn (20), e.g. σ 2 and σ 3. To this
end, one can re-order the three roots and obtains the three principal stresses, e.g.

σ 1 = max (σ 1, σ 2, σ 3)
(27)
σ 3 = min (σ 1, σ 2, σ 3)
(28)
σ 2 = �(A − σ 1 − σ 2 )
(29)
Now, substituting σ 1 , σ 2 , or σ 3 into Eqn (19), one can obtains the unit vectors ν 1, ν 2, or
ν 3, respectively, of the corresponding principal axes.

Similar to Fig. 3, one can imagine a cube with their faces normal to ν 1, ν 2, or ν 3. For example,
one can do so in Fig. 3 by replacing the axes X,Y, and Z with ν 1, ν 2, and ν 3 , respectively,
replacing the normal stresses σ x ,σ y , and σ z with the principal stresses σ 1 ,σ 2 , and
σ 3 , respectively, and removing the shear stresses τ xy ,τ yz , and τ zx .

Now, pay attention to the new cube with axes ν 1, ν 2, and ν 3. Let the cube be rotated about the
axis ν 3, and then the corresponding transformation of stress may be analyzed by means of Mohr's
circle as if it were a transformation of plane stress. Indeed, the shear stresses exerted on the faces
normal to the ν 3 axis remain equal to zero, and the normal stress σ 3 is perpendicular to the plane
spanned by ν 1 and ν 2 in which the transformation takes place and thus, does not affect this
transformation. One may therefore use the circle of diameter AB to determine the normal and shear
stresses exerted on the faces of the cube as it is rotated about the ν 3 axis (see Fig. 4). Similarly, the
circles of diameter BC and CA may be used to determine the stresses on the cube as it is rotated
about the ν 1 and ν 2 axes, respectively.

Fig. 4 Mohr’s circles for spatial (3-D) stresses

What if the rotations are about the axes rather than principal axes? It can be shown that any other
transformation of axes would lead to stresses represented in Fig. 4 by a point located within the
area which is bounded by the biggest circle with the other two circles removed!

Therefore, one can obtain the maximum/minimum normal and shear stresses from Mohr's circles
for 3-D stress as shown in Fig. 4!

Note the notations above (which may be different from other references), one obtains that

σ max = σ 1
(30)
σ min = σ 3
(31)
τ max = ( σ 1 − σ 3)/2 = τ max2
(32)
Note that in Fig. 4, τ max1 , τ max2 , and τ max3 are the maximum shear stresses obtained while the
rotation is about ν 1, ν 2, and ν 3 , respectively.
(The end.)

Mohr's Circles for Strain and for

Moments and Products of Inertia
Mohr's circle(s) can be used for strain analysis, the moments and products of inertia, and other
quantities as long as they can be represented by two-by-two or three-by-three symmetric matrices
(tensors).

(The end.)