MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS

DEFINITIONS:

 Deforming force : The external force acting on a body on account of which

its size or shape or both change is defined as the
deforming force.

 Restoring force : The force which restores the size and shape of the body
when deformation forces are removed is called restoring
force.

( Note : Deforming force and restoring force are not action reaction pair.
Restoring force opposes the change in the size and shape of a
body. )

 Rigid body : A body whose shape and size cannot be changed however
large the applied force is called rigid body. There is no
perfectly rigid body in nature.

 Elasticity : The property of a body by virtue of which it regains its original

size and shape immediately after the deformation forces are
removed is called elasticity.
 Elasticity is a molecular phenomenon. When a solid body is deformed then
it's constituents i.e., atoms or molecules gets displaced from their equilibrium
position causing a change in interatomic or intermolecular distances.

 Again when the deforming forces are removed inter atomic forces drives
atoms or molecules back to their original equilibrium position. This way body
regains it's original shape and size.

 Elastic body : A body which shows elastic behaviour is called elastic body.
e.g. steel, rubber. Quartz is very nearly perfectly elastic body.

 Plastic body : A body which does not show elastic behaviour is called plastic
body. e.g. putty, clay, mud, wax, dough, chewing gum,
butter wax etc. Perfectly plastic body is putty.
Stress :

Stress is the restoring force applied per unit area set up inside the body
and is measured by the magnitude of deforming force acting on unit are
within the elastic limits of the body.
Thus,

where F is the force applied and A is the area of cross section of the body.

 S.I. unit of stress is Nm-2 or pascal (Pa). In C.G.S. system it's unit is dynescm-2.
 Dimensional formula for stress is [ML-1T-2].

Stress are of three types

(a) Longitudinal stress:- If elastic forces developed are perpendicular to the area
of cross section of the body then the stress developed is known as longitudinal
stress.

 The stress is always normal in case of change in length of wire as shown below
in figure

 The normal stress are of two types, tensile and compressive stress, accordingly
as there is a increase or decrease in length of body on application of force.

(b) Tangential or shearing stress:- Tangential or shearing stress develops in

 a body when elastic restoring forces are parallel to the cross-sectional area of
the body.

 Thus when deforming force acts tangentially over an area the body gets sheared
through a certain angle.

( c) Volume Stress (or ) Bulk Stress :- : If a body is subjected to equal

forces normally on all the faces, the stress involved is called bulk stress.
When a solid body is immersed in a fluid, the force at any point is normal to
the surface of the body and the magnitude of the force on any small area is
proportional to the area i.e., the body is under the action of a pressure P.

Bulk Stress = = Pressure

Strain

 When a body is under a system of forces in equilibrium then a change is

produced in the dimensions of the body. The ratio of the change in
dimension of a body to the original dimension is called strain.

 Strain is a dimensionless quantity.

Strain is of three types

(a) Longitudinal strain:- It is defined as the ratio of the change in length to the
original length. If l is the original length and Δl is the change in length then,

(b) Volume strain:- It is defined as the ratio of change in volume to the original
volume
 (c) Shearing strain:- If the deforming forces produce change in shape of the body
then the strain is called shear strain.

It can also be defined as the ratio of displacement x of a corner to the transverse

dimension l of a body. Thus

or,
Shear strain = tanθ
In practice since x is much smaller than l so, tanθ ≅ θ and the strain is simply the
angle θ(measured in radians).

Thus, shear strain is pure number without units as it is ratio of two lengths.

Hook's Law

 Hook's law is the fundamental law of elasticity and is stated as within

the elastic limit the stress imposed on a solid is directly proportional
to the strain produced.

Thus,
stress ∝ strain
or,
stress/strain = constant
This constant is known as modulus of elasticity of a given material.

 Hook's law is not valid for plastic materials.

 Units and dimension of the modulus of elasticity are same as those of stress.

Elastic Modulus

 Stress required to produce a given strain in a material body depends on the

nature of material under stress.
 Larger is the elastic modulus of a given material, greater would be the stress
needed to produce a given strain.
 There are three different types of modulus of elasticity- Young's Modulus of
elasticity Y, Bulk Modulus of elasticity G and Modulus of Rigidity η.
 All moduli of elasticity Y, G, η have same units and dimensions -> [M1L−1T−2] →
SI unit is Nm−2
 (a) Young's Modulus of Elasticity

 Young's Modulus of elasticity is the ratio of longitudinal stress to longitudinal

strain.
 It is denoted by Y.
 Young's Modulus of elasticity is given by

Consider a wire of length l having area of cross-section equal to A. If the force F acting
on the wire, stretches the wire by length Δ l then

and

From (1) and (2) we have Young's modulus of elasticity as

 Young's modulus of elasticity has dimensions of force/Area i.e. of pressure.
 Unit of Young's modulus is N/m2.
 If area of cross-section of a wire is given by A = πr2 then Young's modulus is

again if A = π r2 = 1cm2 and Δ l = l = 1cm then

Y=F
Thus, Young's modulus can also be defined as the force required to
double the length of a wire of unit length and unit area of cross-section.
 Y of a perfectly elastic material is infinite and that of a perfectly inelastic
material is zero.

(b) Bulk Modulus of Elasticity

 The ratio of normal stress to volume strain within elastic limits is called Bulk
Modulus of elasticity of a given material.
 It is denoted by G.
 Suppose a force F is applied normal to a surface of a body having cross-sectional
area equal to A.
If applied force bring about a change ΔV in the volume of the body and V is the
original volume of the body then,

and

So, Bulk Modulus of elasticity would be,

 For gases and liquids the normal stress is caused by change in pressure i. e.,
normal stress = change in pressure ΔP.
Thus, bulk Modulus is

here negative sign indicates that the volume decreases if pressure increases and
vice-versa.
 For extremely small changes in pressure and volume, the Bulk Modulus is given
by

 Reciprocal of Bulk Modulus is called compressibility of substance. Thus,

(c) Modulus of Rigidity ( Shear Modulus )

When a body is sheared, the ratio of tangential stress to the shearing strain
within elastic limits is called the Modulus of Rigidity.

 If lower face of the rectangular block shown below in the figure, is fixed and
tangential force is applied at the upper face of area A, then shape of rectangular
block changes.

So,
shearing strain = θ ≅ tanθ =∆x / l
or,
 Thus,

 If η is low for a wire, it can be twisted very easily.

 Since phosphor-bronze has very low rigidity modulus, it is used as a
suspension fiber in moving coil galvanometers.
Note :
1. Solids possess Y, G and η .
2. Liquids and gases possess only G .
3. Bulk modulus of gases is very low, while that of liquids and
solids is very high.
4. For incompressible substances K = 0, G =∞

Poisson's Ratio

 When two equal and opposite forces are applied to a body in a certain direction,
the body extends along that direction and at the same time it contracts along the
perpendicular direction.
 The fractional change in length of the body in the direction of the applied forces
is longitudinal strain and fractional change in the perpendicular direction of the
force applied is called lateral strain.
 The ratio of lateral strain to the longitudinal strain is called Poisson’s
ratio which is constant for material of that body.

So when a body is subjected to strain, say an elongation, it also suffers

contraction in perpendicular direction as shown in figure below:
  Within elastic limits, lateral strain β is proportional to longitudinal strain α.hence

since,

σ= -β

α
Δl
and Longitudinal strain = α =
l

ΔD
lateral strain = β =
D

Hence

Poisson’s ratio is

A negative sign is needed to show that the

L ΔD
σ= -
changes are usually of opposite type ( extension,
D Δl
vs. contraction).

Note :

(i) Poisson’s ratio has no units and no dimension.

ii) Theoretical limits of σ = − 1 to 0.5

Practical limits of σ = 0 to 0.5

Stress-Strain Diagram

 In case of solids if we go on increasing stress continually then a point is reached

at which strain increases more and more rapidly and Hook's law is no longer
obeyed.
 Thus, the stress at which linear relationship between stress and strain ceases to
hold is referred as elastic limit of material for the stress applied.
 If the elastic limit of material is exceeded it will fail to recover its original shape
or size on removal of stress and would acquire a permanent set.
 Any type of stress can be plotted against appropriate strain and the shape of
resulting stress- strain diagrams would have shapes, depending on the kind of
material.
Simple stress- strain diagram for a bar or wire is shown below in the figure.

(i). Portion OA is the straight line which clearly shows that stress produced is
directly proportional to strain i.e., Hook's law is perfectly obeyed up to A and on
removal of stress wire or bar will recover its original condition. Point A is called
Proportionality limit

(ii). As soon as proportionality limit is crossed beyond point A, the strain

increases more rapidly than stress and curve AB in graph shows that extension
of wire in this limit is partly elastic and partly plastic and point B is the elastic
limit of the material. If the wire is loaded beyond ‘B’, the wire deforms
permanently. It is called permanent set Thus if we start decreasing load from
point B the graph does not come to O via path BAO instead it traces straight line
BG. So that there remains a residual strain. This is called permanent set.

(iii). If we continue to increases the stress beyond point B then for little or no
increase in stress the strain increases rapidly up to point C. Beyond ‘C’, the
extension in the wire increases rapidly without an increase in the load. This is
called yielding point.

(iv). Further increase of stress beyond point C produces a large increase in strain
until a point E is reached at which fracture takes place and from B to D material
is said to undergo plastic flow which is irreversible.

(v). Maximum stress required to break the wire is called ultimate tensile
strength.
 (vi). The capacity of a material to withstand large stresses without permanent
set is called resilience

Conclusion :

1. The wire exhibits elasticity from O to B and plasticity from B to D.

If the distance between B and D is more, then the metal is ductile.
If the distance between B and D is small, then metal is brittle.
2. The substances which break as soon as the stress is increased beyond
elastic limit are called brittle substances e.g. : glass, cast iron, high
carbon steel.
3. The substances which have a large plastic range are called ductile
substances. e.g. : copper, lead, gold, silver, iron, aluminium. Ductile
materials can be drawn into wires. Malleable materials can be hammered
into thin sheets. e.g. : gold, silver, lead.

Define strain energy and derive the expression for the same.

Strain Energy:

The work done in deforming a body is stored as potential energy called strain
energy.

Strain energy = ½ x stress x strain x volume

Derivation:

Let a deformation force ‘F’ is applied on a wire of length ‘L’ and area of cross section

‘A’. Let ‘x’ is the elongation produced. Then Young’s modulus Y = FL / xA

𝑌𝐴𝑋
Therefore F =
𝐿

The work done for the elongation dx is given by

𝑌𝐴
dW = F.d x ⇒ dW = ( ) xdx
𝐿

𝑥 𝑌𝐴
The total work done for the elongation ‘x’ is given by ∫dw = ∫0 𝑥𝑑𝑥
𝐿
 𝑌𝐴 𝑥
W=
𝐿
∫0 𝑥𝑑𝑥
𝑌𝐴
This work done will be stored in the form of strain energy W = 𝑥2 ------------- ( 1)
2𝐿

𝑌𝐴𝑥
strain energy W =
1
2
x
𝐿
x x x
𝐴𝐿
𝐴𝐿

[ multiply and divide equation (1) by AL ]

[After canceling A & grouping terms ]

𝟏 𝒀𝒙 𝒙
strain energy W = x x 𝑳 x AL
𝟐 𝑳

𝟏
Strain energy = x stress x 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 x volume
𝟐

Strain energy density = work /volume

= ½ x strain x stress

Applications of Elasticity

Mechanical properties like strength, stiffness (Rigidity), ductility, malleability and

brittleness have to be carefully studied to select a material for a particular job.

1. The metallic parts of machines should not be subjected to stress beyond the
elastic limit otherwise they will be deformed.

2. Beams are the simplest and most common parts of large structures. When
beams are subjected to stress, the different parts are strained in different
way as shown in the diagram below. For this purpose, the beam's cross-
section is I in shape, where there is advantage of lightness. The flanges are
able to withstand the compression and tension force due to loading.
3. In an arched stone bridge, the stone is compressed and this makes the stone
weak. Hence, steel arch is used instead, as steel arch is stronger than the
stone arched bridge.

4. The thickness of the metallic rope needed to lift a given load is decided using
the knowledge of elastic limit of the material of the rope and the factor of
safety.

5. Electric poles are made hollow

6. A hollow shaft is found to be stronger than a solid one because the torque
required to twist a hollow cylinder is greater than the torque required to twist
a solid cylinder of same length & radius.

7. Maximum height of a mountain at any place along its length, can be

estimated from the elastic behaviour of earth.

Elastic after effect : The delay in regaining the original state by a body after
the removal of the deforming force is called elastic after effect .

Elastic hysteresis: As the consequence of elastic after-effect, the strain

persists even after the stress is removed. The lagging of strain is called elastic
hysteresis. The area of the loop indicates the energy dissipated by the material
in some form.
 Elastic Fatigue: The state of temporary loss of elastic nature due to
continuous strain is called elastic fatigue.

Due to elastic fatigue :

o a wire can be broken within the elastic limit

o a wire can be cut into pieces without using instruments
o railway tracks and bridges are declared unsafe after long use
o spring balances show wrong readings after long use.

Elastic property of Rubber :

In rubber, a different type of stress – strain relationship is found. Rubber can be

pulled to several times its length and still return to its original length .There is no
well- defined plastic flow region. Also, rubber breaks when pulled beyond a certain
limit.

The young’s modulus for rubber is very small, about 3 x 105Nm-2. Though the
elastic region is very large, rubber does not obey Hooke’s law as shown in figure
below

Such materials which can be elastically stretched to large values of strain

are called elastomers.

The elastic tissue of aorta, which carries blood from the heart is an example of an
elastomer.

FACTORS EFFECTING ELASTICITY :

a. Effect of temperature : In general as the temperature increases the elastic

property of a material decreases.

b. Effect of impurities : Addition of impurity to metal may increase or decrease

the elasticity. If the impurity has more elasticity than the material to which it is
added, it increases the elasticity. If the impurity is less elastic than the material
it decreases the elasticity.
c. By the process of hammering or rolling the body elasticity increases.

d. By the process of annealing, the elastic property of a body is reduced.

(Annealing is a process where metal or glass is heated and allowed

to cool slowly, in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it.)

Q. Two identical balls, one ivory and the other of wet- clay are dropped from the
same height onto the floor. Which one will rise to a greater height after
striking the floor and why?

A. Let two identical balls, one ivory and the other of wet- clay are dropped from
the same height onto the floor. Ivory is more elastic than wet-clay. The ball
which more elastic will rise to a greater height. Hence Ivory ball will rise to a
greater height.

Q. Explain why steel is preferred to copper, brass, aluminium in heavy-duty

machines and in structural designs?

A. The Young’s modulus of steel is 2 x 1011 Nm-2. But for copper, brass and
aluminum, these values are less than for steel i.e. Y for steel is more than
that of copper, brass and Aluminium .Hence steel is preferred to copper,
brass, Aluminium in heavy-duty machines and in structural designs.