1

Concept of Stress
Dr Atul JAIN
Mechanical Engineering Department
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Too much stress!
We are NOT discussing this stress!

2
 3

Outline

Part I Introduction to – Normal and shear stress

Part II Practical examples – identification of
normal, shear and bearing stress
Part III Stress along oblique planes
Part IV Theoretical definition of stress, equality of
cross-shear, Factor of safety
Part V Sample problems
Part I Introduction to – Normal
and shear stress

4
 5

Prior knowledge requirement

Before, learning about concepts of stress, you should have prior knowledge of
- Equilibrium of bodies
 6

Story so far …..

We have discussed forces, equilibrium and how to calculate the forces in different
members

Flm = 2880 kN (T)

Flp = 1050 kN (C)
Fkp = 3933 kN (T)

It is not enough to calculate the reactions in individual members…

There must be more to it…
Intuitively, we know the structure out of wood and steel will not react similarly to
the same load
Or the cross sectional area should play a major role
 7

Normal stresses

F= 1050 kN
Area = A

𝐹
Stress = N/m2 P
𝐴
• Unit is Pascal,
1 N/m2 = 1 Pa
1 N/mm2 = 1 MPa {Most commonly used unit}
• Denoted by Greek letter, sigma σ
• Normal stress can tensile or compressive depending on the nature of
force
 8

Stress at a point

∆𝐹
𝜎 = lim
∆𝐴→0 ∆𝐴

• Stress across the section is usually not uniform

• Finding the stress distribution is usually
impossible (statically indeterminate)
• Average is taken
 9

Problem 1

C A B
D=10 mm

P P
25 mm
C A B

A 10 mm thick steel plate shaped as shown is subjected to a

uniformly distributed tensile force P of 25 kN. The hole diameter
is 5 mm. Find the average stress at the sections AA, BB and
CC
A 10 mm thick steel plate shaped as shown is subjected to a uniformly
distributed tensile force P of 25 kN. The hole diameter is 5 mm. Find the
average stress at the sections AA, BB and CC
C A B
D=10 mm

P P
25 mm

Solution C A B

25  103
 AA   1.25  108
Pa  125MPa
 3
 
20  10  10  10 3

25  103
 BB   1.0  108
Pa  100MPa
 3
 
25  10  10  10 3

25  103
 CC   1.25  108
Pa  125MPa
 3
 
20  10  10  10 3

10
 11

What about tangential forces?

𝐹
𝜎𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 =
𝐴

The plate and the bolt suffer different kinds of

loads
𝜎𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡 =? ? ?
 12

Shear stress

Bolt suffers from shear stress

Shear stress is denoted by Greek Letter, tau τ
Unit of shear and normal stress are the same
Shear stress is when the reaction force is parallel to the cross-sectional area

Area A’

𝐹
𝜏= ′
𝐴
 13

Shear stress

𝑃
𝜏=
𝐴
 14

Bearing stresses
The bolt exerts on plate A a force P
equal and opposite to the force F
exerted by the plate on the bolt
𝑃
𝜎𝑏 = 𝐴; A = dt

Bearing stress can be imagined as special

case of compressive stress
 15

Bearing Stress

Bearing Stress is not

necessarily due to pins only

In this example, the wooden

block also leads to bearing
stress on the concrete floor

40,000
𝜎𝑏 = MPa
120×100