Strength of Materials

Hook’s Law – Stress & Strain – Tensile Compressive

& Shear Forces – Material Failure due to tension,
compression, shear, fatigue – Examples
Units - 1.1 to 1.5
 Introduction
• Strength of materials is the study of the behaviour of a
structure (like a ship) and machinery members (like its
engines) under the action of external loads. These loads
create internal forces in the components which causes,
or attempts to cause, deformation.
• All components are initially in a state of equilibrium
meaning, the external force acting on it and the
reaction at the points of support, are equal and the
component maintains its shape and size.
• The internal force causing deformation is called stress
and the deformation suffered by the equipment is
called strain.
 Stress
• The external force on a member is termed the load on the
member. This force tends to deform the member and this
tendency is resisted by the internal forces of cohesion
between the particles of the material itself.
• The simplest type of load suffered are a direct pull
(causing tension) or push (causing compression).
• An example of tension is in force on the rope attached to a
crane hook, with the load being lifted at one end and the
pull of the crane winch at the other. An example of
compression is the force on the legs of a table, where
there is a weight on top of the table pushing downward
and the reaction of the ground pushing upward. Both
trying to compress the member.
In the ship’s structural framework all
members will experience some form of
stress – some compression and some
tension. If the member is in motion – like
the connecting rod of a diesel engine – these
forces become dynamic and are additionally
affected by another force called a inertia
force.
 Hooke’s Law

• Stress: When a load acts on a member it gets

distributed among the internal forces in the material
causing cohesion, these are called stresses. Stresses
which are perpendicular to the plane on which they act
are called direct stresses and can either be tensile or
compressive.
• Strain is a measure of the deformation produced in a
member by the load. Direct stress produces a change in
length in the direction of the stress. Tensile strains are
considered positive while compressive strains are
negative.
Hooke’s Law states that the strain suffered by a
member is proportional to the stress producing it. It
applies to all engineering materials, within certain
limits, and if all deformations are proportional to the
load the material is said to be elastic.
The modulus of elasticity is a ratio of the direct stress
to the strain within the limits for which Hooke’s Law is
obeyed.
 Tensile Test
• This is a test carried out to this on a material to
determine its behaviour under a tensile load, the most
common material used in marine engineering is Mild
Steel and this test mainly applies to this material.

• The test specimen is a circular bar of uniform cross-

section. This is held at one end and stretched by the
testing machine from the free end. The bar has two
marks placed at a fixed distance from each other – this
When a load is applied at the free end the bar tends to
elongate, this is measured by an increase in the gauge
length with the help of an instrument called a strain gauge.
The load is gradually increased and the increase in length is
measured at each increase. It will be found that initially the
material follows Hooke’s Law, in that the elongation (strain)
will be proportional to the load applied (and hence the
stress). This relationship holds upto a certain value of the
stress known as the Limit of Proportionality – Point A in the
diagram.
 .

• Hooke’s Law ceases to be obeyed beyond this point,

the material may still be in the ‘elastic’ state, that is
if the load is removed the strain or elongation will
return to zero. This is a very small phase till the
material’s elastic limit is reached. Point B

• If the material is stretched beyond this point some

plastic deformation will occur which means the
strain is not recoverable if the load is removed.
The next important point is the yield point Point C, here
the material will show appreciable strain even without
an addition in load. Now strain (elongation)
measurements can be made using a scale as the values
will be pretty high.
After the yield point further straining can be achieved
only by increasing the load. The strain continues to rise
very rapidly till a point, D, when the test piece starts
reducing in diameter, forming a ‘neck’ and continues till
fracture occurs at E.
 This test is used to calculate the ultimate tensile
strength that the material possesses. This useful in
designing engine components to withstand the stresses that
occur during operation. In actual design the material will be
used only in the range O to A, the other properties that
emerge from the test are useful in understanding the
material’s ability to withstand the load applied
The stress-strain curve shown below completely depicts the
behaviour of the material under tensile and compressive
stress.
Tensile Compressive & Shear Forces
.
Principal shipbuilding material is steel.
Some of the key information regarding steel are:
Steel is an iron-carbon alloy.
However, if carbon content is < 0.005%, then it is
considered as pure iron, which is soft, ductile and
relatively weak.
Carbon content from 0.06% to 2% qualifies as steel.
Carbon content > 2% is cast iron, since casting
is the only method by which it can be given a
desired shape.

Cast iron is brittle and hence rolling, forming,

shearing etc., which can be used for steel,
cannot be used for cast iron.
 Metal Properties
• Mechanical properties of metals
• The following are the mechanical properties used as
measurements of how metals behave under load:
• Strength,
• hardness,
• toughness,
• elasticity,
• plasticity,
• brittleness,
• ductility and malleability

These properties are described in terms of the types of force or

stress that the metal must withstand and how these are
 Stresses on Metals

Types of force/stress
• Common types of stress are :

• compression,
• tension,
• shear,
• torsion,
• impact,
• or a combination of these stresses, such as fatigue.
Stress - Compression

Compression stresses develop within a material

when forces compress or crush the material.

A column that supports an overhead beam is in

compression, and the internal stresses that develop

within the column are compressive stresses.

Examples of Compression stress in ships:
1. Structural parts of a ship that are subjected to
bending will have a compression stress induced in
one direction.
2. Hogging and Sagging that occurs when a ship is
underway in heavy seas causing bending.
3. Heavy engine components have a compressive
stress on their foundations.
4. Heavy machinery bolted to decks and tanktops.
 .

• Tensile stresses

• Tension (or tensile) stresses develop when a material

is subject to a pulling load; for example, when using a
wire rope to lift a load or when using it as a guy to
anchor an antenna.

• "Tensile strength" is defined as resistance to

longitudinal stress or pull and can be measured in
Newtons per square cm of cross section.
Examples of Tensile stress in ships:
1. Structural parts of a ship that are subjected to
bending will have a tensile stress induced in one
direction.
2. Hogging and Sagging that occurs when a ship is
underway in heavy seas causing bending.
3. Reciprocating machinery
4. Wires and ropes used for lifting loads
5. Braces used in engines and boilers.
6. All bolts and fasteners used in machinery spaces.
Shearing force
Shearing stresses occur within a material when
external forces are applied along parallel lines in
opposite directions.

Shearing forces can separate material by sliding

part of it in one direction and the rest in the
opposite direction.
Examples of Shearing force in ships:
1. When a ship is being loaded with cargo the ship
experiences a shearing force at the point where
the load acts. A ship’s tanktops are specially
strengthened to withstand this effect.
2. The pitching motion of a ship induces a shearing
force on areas where heavy weights are resting.
The ship’s keel is one of the principal parts
subjected to this force.
Failure of materials under Tension
Compression Shear & Fatigue
.
• Failures due to tension in materials is one the most
.

common failures that occur on ships.

• They can take place due to two main reasons.

• If the component or structure gets weakened by

corrosion their ability to withstand the stress is greatly
reduced which will eventually lead to failure.
• Another reason could be overloading. If the component
or structure is loaded beyond its capacity then there will
be failure.
• Tensile failures usually result in stretching of
the component and shearing at the weakest
point or the development of cracks which if
pass unnoticed will eventually cause the
material to completely break off.
• Failures due to compression are probably the next
.

variety of failures that occur on ships.

• A compressive failure is more like a crushing damage

that occurs to components and structures that are
bearing heavy loads. This becomes more acute when
the ship is experiencing heavy weather and specially
when it is pitching due to high waves.

• Common areas are tank-tops on container ships and

machinery foundations.
 Stresses on metals
Fatigue
• A material that is stressed repeatedly usually fails at a
point considerably below its maximum strength in
tension, compression, or shear.
• For example, a thin steel rod can be broken by hand by
bending it back and forth several times in the same
place; however, if the same force is applied in a steady
motion (not bent back and forth), the rod cannot be
broken.
• The tendency of a material to fail after repeated
bending at the same point is known as fatigue.
Strength

Strength is the property that enables a metal to

resist deformation under load.
The ultimate strength is the maximum strain a
material can withstand.
Tensile strength is a measurement of the resistance
to being pulled apart when placed in a tensile load.
 Metal’s behaviour under stress

Strain Hardening of Metals

• Strain hardening is the phenomenon that makes a

ductile metal harder and stronger as it is plastically
deformed. It is also called work hardening or cold
working. The effect of strain hardening may be
removed by an annealing heat treatment.
 Effect of Temperature

• The modulus of elasticity, yield and tensile strengths

decrease with an increase in temperature.

• However, ductility generally increases with an

increase in temperature.
Ductile Failure - stages

(a) Necking,

(b) Cavity formation,

(c) Cavity coalescence to form a crack,

(d) Crack propogation,

(e) Fracture
 Fractures
• Brittle fracture takes place without any appreciable
deformation, and by rapid crack propagation. The
direction of cracking is generally perpendicular to
the direction of applied tensile stress, and yields a
relatively flat fracture surface. In many materials
the failure mode changes from ductile to brittle as
the temperature decreases. Normally this transition
occurs over a range of temperatures.

• Surface treatment is the most important method

used to protect against fracture in brittle materials.
 Failure types
Fatigue Failure
• Fatigue is a type of failure that occurs in structures
subjected to dynamic fluctuating stresses (e.g., bridges,
aircraft and machine components).
• Under these circumstances it is possible for failure to
occur at a stress level lower than the tensile or yield
strength for a static load.
• Fatigue failure is brittle in nature even in ductile metals,
with little plastic deformation associated with failure.
The process of fatigue failure has three stages:

(1) crack initiation where a tiny crack forms at

some point of high stress concentration,

(2) crack propagation, where the crack advances

incrementally during each loading cycle,

(3) final failure, which occurs rapidly once the crack

has reached a critical size.

 Creep

• Creep is the permanent deformation of a material

under load as a function of time. It is also known as

static fatigue.

• The temperature and time dependence of creep

indicates that it is a thermally activated process.

Creep failure results whenever the plastic deformation

in a machine member builds up over a period of time

under the influence of stress and temperature until

the accumulated dimensional changes interfere with

the ability of the machine part to satisfactorily

perform the intended function.

Three stages of creep are often observed :
(i) primary creep during which time the rate of strain
decreases;
(ii) secondary or steady state creep during which time
the rate of strain is virtually constant;
(iii) tertiary creep, during which time the creep strain
rate increases, often rapidly, until rupture occurs.
This terminal rupture is often called creep rupture
and may or may not occur.
Examples

.
 .

• Importance of Strength of Materials in Marine

Engineering
• Marine machineries are manufactured by three main
processes - casting, forging, and fabrication.
• Each of these three mechanisms are adopted with
respect to the type of duty they are meant to perform.
• Marine machineries are subjected to a variety of
stresses and the fact that they are to perform in a
hostile environment makes them prone to damage
faster than normal installations hence their design and
choice of materials must reflect this.
 Castings

• The use of molten metal poured into a mould of the

desired shape is called casting. A wooden pattern,
slightly larger in dimensions than the desired item,
to allow for shrinkage, may be used to form a mould
in sand. Entry and exit holes, are provided for the
metal in the sand mould.
Alternatively a permanent metal mould or 'die'
may be made in two parts and used to make
large quantities of the item. This method is called
'die casting'. The molten metal may be poured
into the dies or forced in under pressure.
Molten metal Sand Casting
 Forging

• Forging involves shaping the metal when it is hot

but not molten. In the manufacturing process of
forging a pair of die blocks have the hot metal
forced into them. This is usually achieved by placing
the metal on the lower half die and forcing the top
half down by a hydraulic press.
We use castings for a wide range of wear parts and
components that are too large, complicated,
intricate or otherwise unsuitable for the forging
process. We can forge parts up to 50kgs but the
sheer energy required to forge larger items make
casting a much more viable alternative.
We can cast components upto 5000 kg or 5 tonnes.

The casting process better lends itself to making

parts where internal cavities are required.
The advantages of casting include:
• No real upper size limit in casting weight
• Large range of alloy choices
• As forgings remain solid, custom alloys are far more
difficult to get into production whereas with
casting, alloys including Chrome, Nickel, and
Molybdenum can be added at the molten stage.
• Tooling is often less expensive than forge dies
• Complicated/complex parts are no problem
Forged steel is generally stronger and

more reliable than castings and plate

steel due to the fact that the grain flows

of the steel are altered, conforming to

the shape of the part.

The advantages of forging include:
• Generally tougher than alternatives
• Will handle impact better than castings
• The nature of forging excludes the occurrence of
porosity, shrinkage, cavities and cold pour issues.
• The tight grain structure of forgings makes it
mechanically strong. There is less need for expensive
alloys to attain high strength components. The tight
grain structure offers great wear resistance to wear
Open Forging
 Fabrication

• This is the way all the structural parts of a ship are

made.
• It involves using flat plates that are joined by welding
and shaping to conform to the required shape needed.
• This is how the hull, decks, bulkheads, etc of a ship are
constructed.
• Since plates are relatively thin they are prone to being
dented due both to external contact as well as due to
the hydrostatic pressure applied by the sea.
• To ensure that this does not happen the plates
forming the structure are strengthened by steel
members called stiffeners that are welding to the
hull plating on the inside to provide the necessary
strength.
• Plates are prone to thinning due to corrosion as
the ship operates in a hostile enviornment where
the salty air and heat are an ideal combination
that promote corrosion or rusting.
• A thinned down plate will cause loss of strength
and therefore these need to be checked and
renewed as the ship ages.