Department

DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of

Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

ASSIGNMENT AND PPT PRESENTATION ON

Theories of Failure
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

Theories of Failure
The material properties are usually determined by simple tension or

compression tests.

The mechanical members are subjected to biaxial or triaxial stresses.

To determine whether a component will fail or not, some failure

theories are proposed which are related to the properties of materials

obtained from uniaxial tension or compression tests.

Initially we will consider failure of a mechanical member subjected to

biaxial stresses
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

Ductile materials usually fail by

yielding and hence the limiting strength is
the yield strength of material as determined
from simple tension test which is assumed
the same in compression also.
For brittle materials limiting strength
of material is ultimate tensile strength in
tension or compression.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

Maximum principal stress

2
 x   y   x  y 
1         2xy
 2   2 
Minimum principal stress

2
 x   y   x   y 
 2         2xy
 2   2 

•For ductile materials

 S yt 
1 should not exceed in tension,  
 FOS  FOS=Factor of safety

•For brittle materials

 S ut 
1 should not exceed 
in tension 
 FOS 
This theory is basically applicable for brittle materials which are relatively stronger in
shear and not applicable to ductile materials which are relatively weak in shear.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

+σ2

Syt

-σ1 +σ1
o Syt
Syc

Syc

-σ2
Boundary for maximum – normal – stress theory under bi – axial stresses
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

2. Maximum Shear Stress theory (Guest’s or Tresca’s

theory):
•The failure or yielding is assumed to take place at a point in a member
where the max shear stress in a biaxial stress system reaches a value equal to
shear strength of the material obtained from simple tension test.
•In a biaxial stress case max shear stress developed is given by

 x  y  2  yt
 max  
2
  2
xy  max 
  FOS
S yt
where max =
2  FOS
This theory is mostly used for ductile materials.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

Assuming that σ1> σ2> σ3 and σ3 =0

CASE – 2 (Second quadrant)
σ1 is -ve and σ2 is +ve ,Then +σ2 CASE – 1 (First quadrant )
  (1 )  2  1 21 σ1 and σ2 are +ve
 max  2   1  3 1  0 1 S yt
2 2 2  max    
S yt Syt σ1=Syt 2 2 2 2
Then max  1 
2 i.e. 1  S yt

+σ1
-σ1 Syc o Syt

CASE – 3 (Third quadrant) CASE – 4 (Fourth quadrant)

σ1 is -ve and σ2 is more σ1 is +ve and σ2 is -ve ,Then
Syc
-ve ,Then
  (  2 ) 0   2 σ1=Syc   ( 2 ) 1   2 2
max  3   max  1  
2 2 2 2 2
 S -σ2 S yt
Then  max   yc Then  max   
2 2 2
i.e   S yc
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

3.Max. Distortion energy theory (Von Mises & Hencky’s

theory):

•It is assumed that failure or yielding occurs at a point

the member where the distortion strain energy (also
called shear strain energy) per unit volume in a biaxial
stress system reaches the limiting distortion energy
(distortion energy at yield point) per unit volume as
determined from a simple tension test.
•The maximum distortion energy is the difference
between the total strain energy and the strain energy due
to uniform stress.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

3.Max. Distortion energy theory (Von Mises & Hencky’s

theory):
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

S yt 
1
2

 1   2  2   2   3  2   3   1  2 

S yt
FOS

1
2

 1   2  2   2   3  2   3   1  2 
S yt
FOS

 1   2  1  2
2 2

 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.




X


Element subjected to pure shear stresses
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

From the figure, σ1 = -σ2 = and σ3=0

Substituting the values in the equation S yt
FOS

 1  2  1  2
2 2

We get
S yt  3

Replacing by Ssy, we get S yt

S sy   0.577 S yt
3
In the biaxial stress case, principal stress 1, 2 are
calculated based on x ,y & xy which in turn are used
to determine whether the left hand side is more than
right hand side, which indicates failure of the
component.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

4. Max. Strain energy theory (Heigh’s Thoery):

•Failure is assumed to take place at a point in a member where
strain energy per unit volume in a biaxial stress system reaches the
limiting strain energy that is strain energy at yield point per unit
volume as determined from a simple tension test.
• Strain energy per unit volume in a biaxial system is
1  2 2 2 1 2 
U1  1  2 
2E  m 
• The limiting strain energy per unit volume for yielding as
determined from simple tension test is 2
1  S yt 
U2   
2 E  FOS 
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

Equating the above two equations then we get

2
2 1  2  S yt 
  
2 2
1  2 
m  FOS 
In a biaxial case 1, 2 are calculated based as x, y & xy

It will be checked whether the Left Hand Side of

Equation is less than Right Hand Side of Equation or
not. This theory is used for ductile materials.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.

5.Max. Principal Strain theory (Saint Venant’s Theory):

•It is assumed that the failure or yielding occurs at a point in a member

where the maximum principal (normal) strain in a biaxial stress
exceeds limiting value of strain (strain at yield port) as obtained from
simple tension test.
• In a biaxial stress case σ1 σ 2 S yt
E max   
E mE FOS E
•One can calculate 1 & 2 given x , y & xy and check
whether the material fails or not, this theory is not used
in general as reliable results could not be detained in
variety of materials.
 Department
DME-I Semester-I [AY 2020-21] of
Presentation on Theories of failure Mechanical
by Mr. S. S. Kelkar [Roll No. 3300] Engg.