Start » Exercises » Engineering Mechanics II » Stress vector and section plane

Stress vector and section plane

This exercise is about the determination of the stress vector and section plane for a given stress state and normal vector.

Task

The following stress tensor is given at a point in space in the cartesian coordinate system:

\[ \newcommand{\myvec}[1]{{\begin{bmatrix}#1\end{bmatrix}}} \]

\[ S = \myvec{1 & 2 & -2\\2 & 1 & 2\\-2 & 2 & 1} \cdot 100 \, Nmm^{-2} \]

Sought are

a) the stress vector to the plane described through the normal unit vector

\[ \newcommand{\myvec}[1]{{\begin{bmatrix}#1\end{bmatrix}}} \]

\[ \vec{n} = \frac{1}{3} \cdot \myvec{-2\\1\\2} \]

b) the absolute value of the stress vector calculated in a) and

c) the equation that determines the section plane given by the normal unit vector.

Solution

\[ \newcommand{\myvec}[1]{{\begin{bmatrix}#1\end{bmatrix}}} \]

a) Calculation of the stress vector

The stress vector is calculated with the Cauchy stress equation:

\[ \tag{1} \vec{S} = S \cdot \vec{n} \]

\[ \tag{2} \vec{S} = \myvec{1 & 2 & -2\\2 & 1 & 2\\-2 & 2 & 1} \cdot \myvec{-2\\1\\2} \cdot \frac{1}{3} \cdot 100 \, Nmm^{-2} \]

\[ \tag{3} \vec{S} = \myvec{-4\\1\\0} \cdot \frac{100}{3} Nmm^{-2} \]

\[ \newcommand{\myvec}[1]{{\begin{bmatrix}#1\end{bmatrix}}} \]

b) Absolute value of the stress vector

The absolute value of the stress vector follows from

\[ \tag{4} | \vec{S} | = \sqrt{S_x^2+S_y^2+S_z^2} \]

\[ \tag{5} | \vec{S} | = \sqrt{-4^2+1^2+0^2} \cdot \frac{100}{3} Nmm^{-2} \]

\[ \tag{6} | \vec{S} | = 137,4 \, Nmm^{-2} \]

\[ \newcommand{\myvec}[1]{{\begin{bmatrix}#1\end{bmatrix}}} \] \[ \require{cancel} \]

c) Equation for the plane from the normal vector

The general equation for a plane derived from a normal vector is

\[ \tag{7} a\cdot x + b\cdot y +c \cdot z = 0 \]

with the components of the normal vector (the given 1/3 can be neglected for the plane equation )

\[ \tag{8} \vec{n} = \myvec{a\\b\\c} \cdot \bcancel{\frac{1}{3}}\]

Thus the equation for the section plane is

\[ \tag{9} -2x + y + 2z = 0 \]

Normal vector and derived section plane
Normal vector and derived section plane

So the stress vector and section plane have been determined. Feel free to navigate through the other exercises as shown in the categories.