COMBINED STRESSES AND

STRESS TRANSFORMATION

Objectives of This Chapter

General Case of Combined Stress

Stress Transformation
Mohr’s Circle and Tresca and von Mises Stresses
Mohr’s Circle Practice Problems
Mohr’s Circle for Special Stress Conditions
Analysis of Complex Loading Conditions

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 4–1 objectives of this Chapter

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Illustrate a variety of combined stresses on stress Elements.
2. Analyze a load-carrying member subjected to combined stress to determine the
principal stresses, the maximum normal stress and the maximum shear stress on any
given element.
3. Determine the coordinate system in which the principal stresses are aligned.
4. Determine the state of stress on an element in any specified coordinate system.
5. Draw the complete mohr’s circle as an aid in completing the analyses for the
maximum stresses.

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 4–2 GENERAL CASE OF COMBINED STRESS
To visualize the general case of combined stress, it is helpful to consider a small element
of the load-carrying member on which combined normal and shear stresses act

The most general representation of stress at a

point is three dimensional (triaxial), visualized
as a cube-like structure shown in Figure 4–3(a)
on an x-, y-, and z-axis system.

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The following characteristics describe the system of stresses that can act on the cubic
element.

1. Any of the six faces of the cube can be subjected to a normal stress, either
tension or compression. The normal stress vectors act in pairs on parallel opposite
faces to either pull or push on the sides of the cube.
2. Similarly, two shearing stresses can act on any face, perpendicular to each other.

a. Note that each shearing stress on a given face has an equal counterpart on the
parallel opposite face to create the shearing action.
b. The pairs of shearing stresses acting on perpendicular faces are numerically equal
but act in opposite directions in order to maintain equilibrium. Therefore, the set of
possible stresses acting on the element is

c. Since many combined-stress cases in the real world are in a two-dimensional stress
state (plane stress), as shown in Figures 4–3(b) and (c), we will consider a two-
dimensional stress condition in this discussion. The x- and y-axes are aligned with
corresponding axes on the member being analyzed. Only shearing stresses on the
visible faces are shown in part (b) of the figure.
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The normal stresses, s x and s y , could be due to a direct tensile force or due to bending.
All normal stresses are shown as tensile, positive vectors in

The shear stress could be due to direct shear, torsional shear, or vertical shear stress. The
double-subscript notation helps to orient the direction of shear stresses. For example, t
xy indicates the shear stress acting on the element face that is perpendicular to the x-
axis, and the direction of the shear stress is parallel to the y-axis

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 Sign Convention
A positive shear stress is one that tends to
rotate
the stress element clockwise.

Their magnitudes must be equal to maintain the element in equilibrium. It is necesary to

determine the magnitudes and the signs of each of these stresses in order to show them
properly on the stress element.

With the stress element defined, the objectives of the remaining analysis are to use stress
transformation techniques to determine the principal stresses, the maximum and
minimum normal stresses, the maximum shear stress, and the planes on which these
stresses occur.

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In mechanical design, we need to evaluate if the applied stresses would exceed the
capability of the selected material.

The capability of the material (e.g., yield strength) is typically obtained from one-
dimensional uniaxial tensile test.
We will need a methodology to reduce the complexity of the stress state to do the
comparison.
For static loading, for example, we will reduce these six stress components to one single
value and compare it to the yield strength of the material.

To achieve this objective, the first step is to perform stress transformation to find the
principal stresses.

The second step is to find the “effective stress,” a single value, from the three principal
stresses for the comparison. In this section, we show the following:

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  The process of reducing six stress components ( , , , , , and
) shown in part (a) of Figure 4–3, to three principal stresses
( , , and ) in a three-dimensional stress state is introduced.

  Similarly, for the two-dimensional plane-stress condition, in

part (b) of the figure, the three stress components ( , , and ),
are reduced to three principle stresses. Note that in this
case, one of the principal stresses is zero.

 It is important to note that the stress states before and after

the transformation are “equivalent.

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Considering a small two-dimensional stress element, the applied normal and shear
stresses, , , and ), in a given (x–y) coordinate system can be represented as a different set
of normal and shear stresses, , , and), in a different (x–y) coordinate system.

The stress components in the new coordinate system can be obtained from the stress
components in the original coordinate system through rotating the coordinate frame.

 The governing formulas for such plane-stress transformation follow. (See Reference 1
for the derivations.) Using as the angle of rotation of the coordinate system,

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Maximum and Minimum Principal Stresses
 The maximum and the minimum normal stresses can be obtained from differentiating
Equations (4–1) and (4–2) with respect to and setting the results to zero.
 Using for the rotation angle required to obtain the maximum and minimum normal stresses,
we get:

 
Solving for and substituting the result into Equations (4–1) and (4–2) leads to the
following:

These two stresses are also called the

maximum and the minimum principal
stresses, such that

Particularly in experimental stress analysis, it is important to know the orientation of the

principal stresses.
The angle of inclination of the planes on which the principal stresses act, called the principal
planes, can be found from Equation (4–4)
 
The angle is measured from the positive x-axis of the original stress element to the
maximum principal stress .

 
Then the minimum principal stress, , is on the
plane 90° from

 
When the stress element is oriented as
discussed so that the principal stresses
are acting on it, the shear stress is zero
(= = 0)

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Maximum Shear Stress
When the stress element is rotated to a different orientation, the maximum shear stress can
occur.

This can be derived by differentiating Equation (4–3) and setting the result equal to zero
to obtain
 
where is the rotation angle to obtain the maximum
shear stress.
Substituting into Equation (4–3) results in the
following:
The angle of inclination of the element
on which the maximum shear stress
occurs is computed from Equation (4–8):

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 The angle between the principal stress
element and the maximum shear stress
element is always 45°.

On the maximum shear stress element, there will be normal stresses of equal magnitude
acting perpendicular to the planes on which the maximum shear stresses are acting.

These normal stresses have the following value:

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Note that this is the average of the two applied normal stresses.
The resulting maximum shear stress element is shown in Figure 4–5.

Note, as stated above, that the angle between

the principal stress element and the maximum
shear stress element is always 45°.

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Three-Dimensional Stress Transformation
 
The most general state of a stress element has three normal and three shear stress
components: , , , , , and .

 
The three-dimensional stress element can be rotated in three dimensions to a certain
configuration such that there are three principal stresses, , and (and no shear stress)
acting on the stress element.

The derivation of the three-dimensional stress transformation is not presented here.

The three principal stresses, however, can be determined by finding the roots of the
following cubic equation:

For design decision making the

principal stresses are typically ranked
such that
Summary and General Procedure for Analyzing Combined
Stresses

GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR COMPUTING PRINCIPAL STRESSES AND

MAXIMUM SHEAR STRESSES

1. Decide for which point you want to compute the stresses.

2. Clearly specify the coordinate system for the object, the free-body diagram, and
the magnitude and direction of forces.
3. Compute the stresses on the selected point due to the applied forces, and show the
stresses acting on a stress element at the desired point with careful attention to
directions. Figure 4–3 is a model for how to show these stresses.
4. Compute the principal stresses on the point and the directions in which they act.
Use Equations (4–5) to (4–7).
5. Draw the stress element on which the principal stresses act, and show its
orientation relative to the original x-axis

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 GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR COMPUTING PRINCIPAL STRESSES AND
MAXIMUM SHEAR STRESSES
1. Decide for which point you want to compute the stresses.
2. Clearly specify the coordinate system for the object, the free-body diagram, and the
magnitude and direction of forces.
3. Compute the stresses on the selected point due to the applied forces, and show the
stresses acting on a stress element at the desired point with careful attention to directions.
Figure 4–3 is a model for how to show these stresses.
4. Compute the principal stresses on the point and the directions in which they act. Use
Equations (4–5) to (4–7).
5. Draw the stress element on which the principal stresses act, and show its orientation
relative to the original x-axis It is recommended that the principal stress element be
drawn beside the original stress element to illustrate the relationship between them.
6. Compute the maximum shear stress on the element and the orientation of the plane on
which it acts. Also, compute the normal stress that acts on the maximum shear stress
element. Use Equations (4–9) to (4–11).
7. Draw the stress element on which the maximum shear stress acts, and show its
orientation to the original x-axis. It is recommended that the maximum shear stress
element be drawn beside the maximum principal stress element to illustrate the
8. relationship
The resultingbetween them.
set of three stress elements will appear as shown in Figure 4–6.
FIGURE 4–6 Relationships among original stress element, principal stress element, and
maximum shear stress element for a given loading
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4–4 MOHR’S CIRCLE
The process of computing the principal stresses and the maximum shear stress shown in
Example Problem 4–1 may seem somewhat abstract.
These same results can be obtained using a method called Mohr’s circle, which
This method uses a combination of a graphical aid and simple calculations.

In addition, it provides a streamlined approach to determining the stress condition on

any plane of interest.

Because of the many terms and signs involved, and the many calculations required in the
computation of the principal stresses and the maximum shear stress, there is a rather high
probability of error.

Using the graphic aid Mohr’s circle helps to minimize errors and gives a better “feel” for
the stress condition at the point of interest

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After Mohr’s circle is constructed, it can be used for the following:
1. Finding the maximum and minimum principal stresses and the directions in which they
act.
2. Finding the maximum shear stresses and the orientation of the planes on which they act.

3. Finding the value of the normal stresses that act on the planes where the maximum
shear stresses act.
4. Finding the values of the normal and shear stresses that act on an element with any
orientation.
The data needed to construct Mohr’s circle are, of course, the same as those needed to
compute the preceding values, because the graphical approach is an exact analogy
to the computations
If the normal and shear stresses that act on any two mutually perpendicular planes of an
element are known, the circle can be constructed and any of items 1 through 4 can be
found.
Mohr’s circle is actually a plot of the combinations of normal and shearing stresses that exist
on a stress element for all possible angles of orientation of the element.

This method is particularly valuable in experimental stress analysis work because the results
obtained from many types of standard strain gage instrumentation techniques give the
necessary inputs for the creation of Mohr’s circle.
The following Procedure for Constructing Mohr’s Circle first focuses on given stresses
in a 2D plane only.
Finding the principal stresses 1 and 2 are the primary goal along with the maximum shear
stress and pertinent angles.
After this procedure is developed, an additional section called Mohr’s Circles for Three-
Dimensional Stresses describes how the more general 3D stress system can be analyzed.

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