HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

HARAMAYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (HiT)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Strength of Materials (CEng 2101)

Chapter 4 Torsion

Prepared by Etsub M.(MSc.) 1

 Chapter 4: Torsion

Introduction
Torsion (T):

 The twisting of an object caused by a moment acting about object’s longitudinal axis.

 Also known as Twisting moment or Torque.

Sign convention of torque :
 The direction of the moment is indicated by the right-hand rule
Directional representation of twisting moments :
 Curved arrow
 Double-headed arrow
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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsion of a Circular Shaft

Shaft :
 The machine elements

 which are used to transmit power in machine.

A member or shaft is said to be in pure torsion :

 When its cross sections are subjected to only torsional moments and

 Not accompanied by axial forces.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Assumptions
In the theory of pure torsion, the following assumptions are made: -

 The material is homogeneous and isotropic

 The stresses are within the elastic limit,

 Cross-sections which are plane before

applying twisting moment remain plane

 Radial lines remain radial or straight even

after applying torsional moment

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Shear Stress in Circular shaft

Now let consider a circular shaft under pure torsion: -
❑ The internal forces develop in the direction normal to
radial direction so as to counteract the torsional moment.
The distribution of the shear stresses acting on a circular cross section
To determine the shear stresses (τ) : -
❑ Let consider an element of area dA located at radial distance ρ
from the axis of the bar.

 dF = τ × dA

❑ Using similarity of triangle

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsional Deformations in a Circular Shaft

Angle of Twist in a Circular Shaft:
❑ Consider a prismatic bar of circular cross section twisted
by a torque ‘T’

 Due to the rotation, a straight longitudinal line pq on the

surface of the bar will become a helical curve pq', where

➢ q' is the position of the point q after the end cross section
has rotated through the angle 𝜙 (the angle of twist ).

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsional Deformations in a Circular Shaft

Angle of Twist in Circular Shaft:
 Consider an element of the bar between
two cross sections distance dx apart
𝒃𝒃′
▪ 𝜸𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝒂𝒃
,where

✓ 𝛾𝑚𝑎𝑥 is measured in radians,

✓bb' is the distance through which point b moves, and
✓ab is the length of the element (equal to dx).

❑ r𝜙 = 𝜸𝒎𝒂𝒙 L

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsional Deformations in a Circular Shaft

Angle of Twist in Circular Shaft:
𝑻𝒓
 Combining the equation ( r𝜙 =𝜸𝒎𝒂𝒙 L ) with the torsion formula ( 𝝉𝒎𝒂𝒙 = ),
𝑰𝒑

 The total angle of twist 𝜙 for a bar in pure in pure torsion,

𝑻𝑳
𝝓=
𝑮𝑰𝒑

 The angle of twist per unit length, or the rate of twist 𝜃:

𝑻
𝜽=
𝑮𝑰𝒑

❑ The product 𝐺𝐼𝑝 , known as torsional rigidity of the bar.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Transmission of power by circular shaft

 The power is transmitted through the rotary motion of the shaft.
Power transmitted : -
❑ The measure of the energy transmitted to other end of the shaft.

❑ Depends upon the magnitude of the torque (T) and the speed of rotation (𝜔).
Let us suppose that a motor driven is rotating at an angular speed ω, (rad/s): -
❑ ln general, the Work done by a torque
and the angle through which it rotates is

➢ 𝑾=𝑻𝝍

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsion of a thin-walled members

Approximate solutions can be developed for thin-walled tubes by using the following assumptions:

1) The wall tube is thin when compared to the tube radius

2) The thickness should be less than 10% of overall external dimension

3) The thickness does not need to be constant

4) The Tube does not have any cut or slice

5) The shear stresses are distributed across the wall thickness

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsion of a thin-walled members

Analysis of Shear Flow in Thin-Walled Tubes:

❑ When torque (T ) is applied to a thin-walled tube,

➢ Shear stress (τ) is distributed around the tube. But this

is a difficult value to deal with since it is not constant.

➢ A better value is the shear flow (q), which is simply

the stress multiplied by the changing thickness, t.

➢ q=τxt

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsion of a thin-walled members

The relationship between T, Ao, q and τ :

➢ q=τxt

T=2qAo , →Bredt-Batho theory

𝐓
𝛕𝐦𝐚𝐱 =
𝟐𝐀𝐨 𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsion of a thin-walled members

Angle of Twist in Thin-Walled Tubes:-

 The angle of twist for a closed thin tube can be developed

using energy methods.

 Strain energy is defined as the energy stored in a body due to

deformation. U=F•L

 First, start with a small element from a typical tube that is

undergoing deformation.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Torsion of a thin-walled members

Angle of Twist in Thin-Walled Tubes:

❑ Castigliano's Second Theorem, the angle of twist θ can be calculated by

𝝏𝑼
➢ 𝝓= , 𝝓= (𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠)
𝝏𝑻

 If the thickness t is constant, then the angle of twist per unit length becomes,

𝝓
➢ θ= , θ=
𝑳

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Examples

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

Examples

1. A solid circular section shaft of diameter d is subjected to a torque of

1000 N.m. If the maximum permissible shear stress in this shaft is limited
to 30 MPa, determine the minimum value of d.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

2. If the shaft in example 1 were to be replaced by a hollow shaft of external

diameter 𝑑2 and internal diameter 0.5𝑑2 . Determine the minimum value for
𝑑2 , the design condition being the same for both shafts. What percentage
saving in weight will result by replacing the solid shaft by the hollow one.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

3. What is the minimum diameter of a solid steel shaft that will not twist
through more than 3° in a 6m length when subjected to a torque of 12
kN.m ? What is the maximum shearing stress developed ? Use G= 83 GPa.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

4. A cantilever element with a hollow cross section with is subjected to 3

torques. Determine the rotation at the free end of the cantilever element
and the maximum shearing stress.
cross section: Ø = 120 mm, t = 6 mm
material: steel G = 81 000 N/mm²

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

5. A compound shaft consisting of a steel segment and an aluminum segment

is acted upon by two torques as shown in Figure. Determine the maximum
permissible value of T subject to the following conditions: 𝜏𝑠𝑡 = 83 MPa,
𝜏𝑎𝑙 = 55 MPa, and the angle of rotation of the free end is limited to 6°.
For steel, G = 83 GPa and for aluminum, G = 28 GPa.

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

6. Calculate the maximum intensity of shear stress induced and the angle of
two produced in degrees in solid shaft o 100 mm diameter, 10 m long,
transmitting 112.5 kw at 150 rpm. Take G= 82 kN/mm²

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

7. The thin-walled tube AB is fixed at end A with a torque applied at the

free end B. Determine the average shear stress develop at points C and
D. Also calculate the angle of twist 𝜙 at B. Use G=38 GPa

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 Chapter 4: Torsion

8. The beam of a bridge structure consists of a hollow trapezium section.

The structure is subjected to an unsymmetrical load situation causing a
torque. Determine the maximum shear stress due to torsion such as the
maximum angle of twist at the free end.

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