BN2204

Mechanics of Deformable Bodies

– Part 2
Raye Yeow, PhD
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Advanced Robotics Center (ARC)

Office E1-08-16, bieych@nus.edu.sg

 Pre-Lecture Quiz

Given that the long circular hollow shaft of the suture passer has an outer diameter of
6mm and an inner diameter of 4mm, calculate its area moment of inertia.

(A) 6.36 x 10-11 m4

(B) 1.08 x 10-10 m4

(C) 5.11 x 10-11 m4

 Learning Outcomes
• Understand effects of
bending

• Identify different types

of distributed loading

• Describe behaviors of
elastic and viscoelastic
materials
Bending

Three-Point Bending Test Four-Point Bending Test

What’s the difference?

Bending

• Long bones of human body are slender,

slightly curved and are loaded
primarily by compressive forces
applied at the joints
• E.g. during standing, a pair of
compressive forces are applied on
femur through hip and knee joints
Bending
• Due to curved shape, the femur is not only
subjected to compressive loading but also
to bending
• Compressive forces applied at the joints
tend to elongate the convex surface of the
femur, while shortening its concave
surface
• Elongation is associated with tensile
stresses, whereas shortening indicates
compressive stresses
Bending & Normal Stresses
• Bending causes compression of material in upper portion of
beam and stretching (tension) in lower portion
Bending & Normal Stresses
• Between the two zones lies a plane where no tension or
compression occurs; this is referred to as NEUTRAL AXIS
(NA) or NEUTRAL SURFACE
Bending & Normal Stresses
• For a beam subjected to bending
moment M:

• Stress σx is called the flexural

stress. y is vertical distance from
NA, and I is second moment of
area (area moment of inertia) of
the cross-section of beam
 Bending & Normal Stresses

Assumptions:
(1) Bending occurs only in the plane of bending moment
(2) Planar cross-sections remain planar after bending
(3) There is no resultant force in the axial direction
(4) Young’s Modulus is the same in both tension and compression
Bending – Area Moment of Inertia
 Distributed Loading
• Consider how your ears feel as you go deeper
into a swimming pool
• The deeper you go, the greater the pressure on
your ears
• If we consider how this pressure acts on the walls
of the pool, we would have to consider a force
(generated by the pressure) that was small at the
top and increased as we went down
• This is known as a distributed force or a
distributed load
Distributed Loading
a. Uniformly distributed load

w0

½L ½L

• Intensity = force per length = w0 (unit: N/m)

• For UDL, total force = intensity x length = w0L

• Magnitude = area under the loading diagram
• If replace this distributed load (blue arrows) with a point load (red arrow),
the location of the point load would be in the center of the rectangle
Distributed Loading
b. Triangular load

w0

2/3 L 1/3 L

• Magnitude = area under the loading diagram

• Therefore total force = area of the triangle = w0L/2
• If replace this distributed load (blue arrows) with a point load (red arrow),
the location of the point load would be 2/3 of the distance from 0 in the
loading diagram
Distributed Loading
c. Trapezoidal load

w2
w1

kL (1-k) L

• Magnitude = area under the loading diagram

• Therefore total force = area of the trapezoid = (w1+w2)L/2
• Position of the equivalent point load (red arrow) ? k = ?
• General rule: location of resultant force is at center of mass of
distributed load
Distributed Loading
c. Trapezoidal load = UDL + Triangular load

w2-w1

w1 w1

L
Distributed Loading
d. General distributed load

w(x)
y

x l1 l2

xc

• Magnitude = area under the loading diagram

Distributed Loading
d. General distributed load

w(x)
y

x l1 l2

xc

• Location of resultant force is at center of mass of distributed load

 Mechanics of
Deformable Bodies
Practice

20
Elderly Falls
Stump-Socket Interface
Tendon Injury
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Elastic: Material deforms under stress but return to its original size and
shape when stress or load is released. There is no permanent deformation.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Brittle: Materials deforms by fracture and exhibits
little deformation (i.e. no necking of cross-section)
before rupture, e.g. glass, ceramics.
• Ductile: Materials deforms without breaking and can
undergo large strains prior to fracture. Metals are
ductile e.g. Al, Steel.
• Plastic: Plasticity implies permanent deformations.
Total recovery of the size and shape does not occur
when the stress or load is released.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Viscoelastic: Material behavior is time dependent; combines both elastic
and viscous behavior. Examples: polymer plastics, all biological materials,
metals at high temperature.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Unlike elastic materials, viscoelastic materials exhibit gradual deformation
and recovery when subjected to loading and unloading. The response of
viscoelastic materials is dependent on how quickly the load is applied or
removed.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Figures below show a creep and recovery test conducted by applying a
load on the material, maintaining the load at a constant level for a while,
and then suddenly removing load
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Figures below show a creep and recovery test conducted by applying a
load on the material, maintaining the load at a constant level for a while,
and then suddenly removing load

elastic viscoelastic
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• An elastic material will respond with an instantaneous strain that would
remain at a constant level until the load is removed. At the instant when the
load is removed, the deformation will instantly and completely recover.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• A viscoelastic material will respond with a strain increasing and decreasing
gradually. The recovery will eventually be complete.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Figures below show a stress relaxation experiment conducted by straining
the material to a level while observing the stress response of the material.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Figures below show a stress relaxation experiment conducted by straining
the material to a level while observing the stress response of the material.

elastic viscoelastic
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• An elastic material will respond with a stress developed instantly and
maintained at a constant level. There is no stress relaxation.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
• Conversely, a viscoelastic material will respond with an initial high stress
level that will decrease over time. The stress level will not reduce to zero.
 Behavior of Elastic
& Viscoelastic Materials
In general, the mechanical
behavior of biological tissues can
be described as viscoelastic.

A viscoelastic model comprises:

• A spring to model the elastic
behavior, and
• A dashpot to model the time
dependent behavior.
Summary
• Understand effects of
bending

• Identify different types

of distributed loading

• Describe behaviors of
elastic and viscoelastic
materials