STRAIN

• Whenever a force is applied to a body,

it will tend to change the body’s shape
and size.
• These changes are referred to as
deformation, and they may be highly
visible or practically unnoticeable.
• Deformation of a body can also occur
when the temperature of the body is
changed.
Normal Strain
• If an axial load P is applied to the bar, it will change the bar’s length L0 to a
length L.
• We will define the average normal strain ε (epsilon) of the bar as the change in
its length δ (delta) = L - L0 divided by its original length, that is
Example No. 1: Determine the average normal strains in the two wires if the ring at A
moves to A′.

𝒍𝑨𝑩 = 𝒍𝑨𝑪 = 𝟑𝟐 + 𝟒 𝟐 = 𝟓 𝒎

𝒍𝑨′𝑩 = 𝟑 𝒎 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟎 𝒎 𝟐 + 𝟒 𝒎 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐 𝒎 𝟐

= 𝟓. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟒 𝒎

𝒍𝑨′𝑪 = 𝟑 𝒎 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟎 𝒎 𝟐 + 𝟒 𝒎 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐 𝒎 𝟐

= 𝟓. 𝟎𝟐𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒎
𝑩 𝑨
𝒍𝑨𝑩 = 𝒍𝑨𝑪= 𝟓 𝒎
𝑩 𝑨′
𝒍𝑨′𝑩 = 𝟓. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟒 𝒎
𝑨’ 𝑪
𝒍𝑨′𝑪 = 𝟓. 𝟎𝟐𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒎
Example No. 1: Determine the average normal strains in the two wires if the ring at A
moves to A′.
Average Normal Strain.

𝑰 𝑨′𝑩 − 𝒍 𝑨𝑩 𝟓. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟒 𝒎 − 𝟓. 𝟎 𝒎
𝝐𝑨𝑩 = =
𝒍 𝑨𝑩 𝟓. 𝟎 𝒎
𝒎
𝝐𝑨𝑩 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟎𝟏
𝒎
𝑩 𝑨
𝑰 𝑨′𝑪 − 𝒍 𝑨𝑪 𝟓. 𝟎𝟐𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒎 − 𝟓. 𝟎 𝒎
𝒍𝑨𝑩 = 𝒍𝑨𝑪= 𝟓. 𝟎 𝒎 𝝐𝑨𝑪 = =
𝑩 𝑨′ 𝒍 𝑨𝑪 𝟓. 𝟎 𝒎
𝒍𝑨′𝑩 = 𝟓. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟒 𝒎 𝒎
𝑨’ 𝑪 𝝐𝑨𝑪 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟒𝟒
𝒍𝑨′𝑪 = 𝟓. 𝟎𝟐𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒎 𝒎
Shear Strain
• Deformations not only cause line segments to elongate or contract, but they
also cause them to change direction.
• If we select two line segments that are originally perpendicular to one another,
then the change in angle that occurs between them is referred to as shear strain
• The shear strain is denoted by γ (gamma) and is always measured in
radians (rad), which are dimensionless.
The 16-mm by 22-mm by 25-mm rubber blocks are used in a double-U shear mount to
isolate the vibration of a machine from its supports. An applied load of P = 690 N causes the
upper frame to be deflected downward by 7 mm. Determine the average shear strain and
the shear stress in the rubber blocks. 𝟕 𝒎𝒎
𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝜸 =
𝟏𝟔 𝒎𝒎
𝟐𝟐 𝒎𝒎 𝝅
𝜸 = 𝟐𝟑. 𝟔𝟑 𝒅𝒆𝒈.
𝟏𝟖𝟎 𝒅𝒆𝒈.
𝜸 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟏𝟐𝟒 𝒓𝒂𝒅.
𝟏𝟔 𝒎𝒎 𝟔𝟗𝟎 𝑵
𝑷 = 𝟐𝑽, 𝐕 = = 𝟑𝟒𝟓 𝑵
𝟐
𝜸 𝟕 𝒎𝒎
𝐀 = (𝟐𝟓 𝒎𝒎)(𝟐𝟐 𝒎𝒎)
𝑽 𝟑𝟒𝟓 𝑵 𝟏 𝑴𝑷𝒂
𝛕= = 𝑵
𝑽 𝑨 (𝟐𝟓 𝒎𝒎)(𝟐𝟐 𝒎𝒎) 𝟏
𝒎𝒎 𝟐
𝑽
𝛕 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟐𝟕 𝑴𝑷𝒂
Thermal Strain
• When unrestrained, most engineering materials expand when heated and
contract when cooled.
• The thermal strain caused by a one-degree (1°) change in temperature is
designated by the Greek letter α (alpha) and is known as the coefficient of
thermal expansion. The strain due to a temperature change of ∆T is

• The coefficient of thermal expansion is approximately constant for a considerable

range of temperatures and applies to all dimensions (i.e., all directions).
Total Strains
• Strains caused by temperature changes and strains caused by applied loads are
essentially independent.
• The total normal strain in a body acted on by both temperature changes and
applied load is given by
A steel bridge beam has a total length of 150 m. Over the course of a year, the bridge is
subjected to temperatures from -40°C to 40°C, and these temperature changes cause the
beam to expand and contract. Expansion joints between the bridge beam and the supports
at the ends of the bridge (called abutments) are installed to allow this length change to take
place without restraint. Determine the change in length that must be accommodated by the
expansion joints. Assume the coefficient of thermal expansion for steel is 11.9 x 10 -6 /°C.

−𝟔
𝟏𝟏. 𝟗𝒙𝟏𝟎
𝝐𝑻 = 𝟒𝟎 − −𝟒𝟎 ℃
℃
𝑳 − 𝑳𝟎 𝜹
𝛆T = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟓𝟐 = =
𝑳𝟎 𝑳𝟎
𝜹 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟓𝟐 𝑳𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟗𝟓𝟐(𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝒎)
𝜹 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟒𝟐𝟖 𝒎 = 𝟏𝟒𝟐. 𝟖 𝒎𝒎