STRUCTURAL MECHANICS II

(CE 2102)

Dr. Thanuja Kulathunga

B.Sc.Eng. (Moratuwa), PhD (NUS)
TORSION
 Torsion
• Torsion refers to the twisting of a bar caused by
moments ( torques) about the longitudinal axis of
the bar

Use right hand rule to identify the

vector direction of the torque
 Shear Strain due to Torsion

dθ
Shear strain at the outer surfaces of the shaft
R
Similarly, shear strain at any internal point,

r – radial distance from the center to the point considered

R – radius of the shaft
– shear strain at a point r distance away from the center in the
radial direction
θ – angle of twist
 Shear Strain due to Torsion

• is constant for a certain bar subjected to a certain

torque
• Hence shear strain “ is linearly proportional to the
radial distance “r”
• Maximum shear strain occurs at the outer surface
• Minimum shear strain occurs at the center for a solid
shaft and at the inner surface for a hollow shaft
 Shear Stress due to Torsion
• For linearly elastic materials, from the Hooke’s
Law for shear,
G – shear modulus /
modulus of rigidity
 Shear Stress due to Torsion
• Due to the action of complementary shear,
torsion cause both transverse and longitudinal
shear which are equal in magnitude
 Elastic Torsion Formula
It can be proved that the following relationship
is true for elastic torsion.

T – Torque
J – Polar moment of inertia
τ – Shear stress at a distance r along the radius
G – Shear modulus
- Angle of twist per unit length
L – the length within which torque T is applied
 Elastic Torsion Formula
This formula is applicable only to,
• Circular shafts
• Made of homogeneous materials
• Behaves in a linear elastic manner
 Polar Moment of Inertia (J)
• Polar moment of inertia is a measure of objects’
resistance to torsion
• Polar moment of inertia is analogues to moment of
inertia which is a measure of objects’ resistance to
bending
• When the Polar moment of inertia is larger, the
twisting becomes lesser
• Moment of inertia is about a plane where as polar
moment of area is about an axis
For a solid circle,

is the distance along the radial line of the shaft

 Example 1
• 1.5 m long circular shaft having diameter of
100 mm is used to transmit a torque of 3500
Nm. If shear modulus is 80 GPa, calculate;
– Maximum shear stress
– angle of twist

Answers:
17.82 N/mm2
0.0067 radians
 Example 2
• A plastic bar of diameter 50 mm is to be
twisted until the angle of twisting between
the ends of the bar is 50. If the allowable shear
strain the plastic is 0.012 rad, what is the
minimum permissible length of the bar?

Ans: 182 mm
 Example 3
• A steel shaft is to be manufactured either as a solid
circular bar or as a circular tube. The shaft is required to
transmit a torque of 1200 NM without exceeding an
allowable shear stress of 40 MPa nor an allowable rate of
twist of 0.750/m. If G = 78 GPa,
– Determine the required diameter d0 of the solid shaft
– Determine the required outer diameter d2 of the
hollow shaft if the thickness t is specified as one tenth
of the outer diameter
– Determine the ratio of diameters (d2/d0) and the ratio
of weights of the hollow and solid shafts.

Ans: 53.5 mm, 58.8 mm, 63.7 mm, 67.1 mm, 1.14, 0.47
 Questions
1. Write the relationship between the shear strain and
angle of twist.

2. Draw the variation of shear strain and shear stress

of a solid bar subjected to twisting

3. Draw the variation of shear strain and shear stress

of a hollow bar subjected to twisting
Pure Torsion and Non-uniform Torsion
• Pure Torsion – Torsion of a prismatic bar (bar with
constant cross section) due to torques at the ends
only (same torsion throughout)
• Non-uniform Torsion – Torsion may act anywhere in
the bar. cross section may vary.

Bars subjected to non-uniform torsion can be divided to

elements with pure torsion and analyze.
Always draw the torsion vector away from the cut and consider
equilibrium.
 Non-uniform Torsion
• 3 cases of non-uniform torsion
– Bars made of segments with different cross
sections
– Bars with continuously varying cross sections but
constant torque
– Bars with continuously varying cross section and
torque
Torsion formula was derived for prismatic bars and hence
that formula can be applied only when the change in
diameter is gradual and small (angle of taper is less than 100).
 Sign Convention
• Sign convention to identify the positive torque is
necessary.
• As per the most common sign convention, the positive
torque is taken as the torque with the vector points
away from the cut (anticlockwise torque).
• However, if the vector points inwards at the cut, the
stress block creates a positive shear. Therefore, with
that argument, clockwise torque can also be taken as
positive.
• Therefore, either ways can be considered as the sign
convention, however, once defined, the same sign
convention needs to be used throughout the problem.
 Example 4
A solid steel shaft having diameter 30 mm turns freely
in bearings at A and E. The shaft is driven by a gear at C
while gears at B and D are driven by the shaft
producing resisting torques as shown in the figure.
T1=275 Nm, T2=450 Nm, T3=175 Nm, LBC=500 mm,
LCD=400 mm, G=80GPa
Determine the maximum shear stress in each part of
the shaft and angle of twist between B and D.

Answers:
51.9 MPa
33 Mpa
-0.0216 rad
0.0110 rad
 Example 5
1 m long steel shaft shown in Figure Q4 below is hollow
from A to B and solid from B to C. B is the center of the
span AC. The shaft is held against twisting at end C. It
has an outer diameter of 80 mm and the thickness of
the wall of the hollow segment is 10 mm. Shear
modulus of steel is 80 GPa. Determine the maximum
shear stress and maximum angle of twist.
 Example 6
• A shaft connected to a rigid support at one end, is 3 m
long and has an outer diameter of 100 mm. It transmits a
torque of 5600 Nm and has a shear modulus of 80 GPa.
For 1 m of its length (starting from free end) the shaft is
hollow with an internal diameter of 50 mm whilst for the
other 2 m, the shaft is solid. Calculate;
– The maximum shear stress in the solid part of the shaft
– The maximum shear stress in the hollow part of the shaft
– The total angle of twist

Answers:
28.51 MPa, 30.4 MPa,
 Example 7
(Mechanics of Materials, Timoshenko and Gere)
 Statically Indeterminate Torsional
members
• Reactions and internal torques cannot be
found using equilibrium equations alone.
• Compatibility equations pertaining to the
rotational displacement are necessary to solve
such problems.
 Example 8
A solid steel bar of diameter d1 = 25 mm is enclosed
by a steel tube of outer diameter d3 = 37.5 mm and
inner diameter d2 = 30 mm. Both bar and tube has
been held rigid by support at end A and joint
securely to a plate at end B. The composite bar
which has length L = 550 mm is subjected to a
torque 400 Nm acting on the end plate.
1. Determine the maximum shear stresses in bar
and the tube.
2. Determine the angle of rotation of the end plate
in degrees. Shear modulus in steel is 80 GPa
Example 8 (contd.)
 Example 9
(Mechanics of Materials, Timoshenko & Gere, 3.8-4)
A hollow steel shaft ACB of outer diameter 50
mm and inner diameter 40 mm is held against
rotations at the ends A and B. Horizontal forces
P are applied at the ends of a vertical arm
welded at point C. Determine the allowable
value of force P if the maximum permissible
shear stress in the shaft is 45 MPa.

Ans: 2720 N
Example 9 (contd.)
 Torsion of Non-circular Sections
• Circular section is the most efficient shape for
resisting torsion
• However, in air crafts and space crafts, thin-
walled non-circular sections subjected to
torsion can also be found.
• The torsion formula mentioned above can
only be used to circular sections.
• Hence, different approach is needed for non-
circular sections.
 Torsion of Thin-walled Non-circular
Sections
Consider a thin-walled section with non-circular cross
section as shown below. (wall thickness is not uniform)
 Torsion of Thin-walled Non-circular
Sections

Resultant forces can be expressed as below

For force equilibrium in x direction,

Here, f is named as shear flow

Torsion Formula for Thin-walled Non-
circular Sections
• Consider cross section of the same tube.
• Resultant torque at the cross section is the
addition of torque created by the shear
force acting on small elements.

Where,
Torsion Formula for Thin-walled Non-
Circular Sections
Based on the above derivation, the
following formula can be obtained

Median line

Am - area enclosed by the median line of the cross section

Lm - length of median line
t - thickness
Torsion Formula for Thin-walled Non-
circular Sections
Similarly, by using energy approach, the
following equation can be derived for
angle of twist

where,
Ix - Torsion constant

For sections with constant thickness

 Example

Ans: 0.79, 0.62

 Exam Question
A steel tube having non-circular cross section given in
the figure below is subjected to pure torsion of 10
kNm. Calculate the shear stress and the angle of twist
per unit length.

Answers:
35 Mpa
0.0063 radian
 Torsion of Non-circular Solid Sections
• Torsion of non-circular solid sections are complicated
to solve analytically, hence, will not be discussed
here.
• However, the results obtained through detailed
analysis (quoted from “Mechanics of Materials” by
RC Hibbler) for some sections are given in the next
slide.
• It can be shown that circular section is the most
effective section in torsion, as circular sections have
smallest shear stress and angle of twist compared to
other sections.
Torsion of Non-circular Solid Sections

( Mechanics of Materials,
RC Hibbler)
Plastic Torsion
 Stress – Strain Relationship
Stress- strain
diagram of a ductile
material
 Perfectly plastic Material
Mechanical behavior of some materials can be
approximately denoted by the diagram shown below.

Such materials are called perfectly plastic (elastic-

plastic) materials.
 Plastic Torsion
Torsion formula discussed previously in this chapter is
applicable only in the elastic region.

What happened in the plastic region?

Applied torque is greater than the maximum elastic torque

(Ty)

Shear strain varies linearly but shear stress does not.

 Plastic Torsion
In the plastic region,

Shear strain varies Shear stress does not vary

linearly linearly
 Plastic Torsion
Following relationship between torque (T) and
shear stress ( ) is valid for both elastic and
plastic region.
 Torsion of Elastic-plastic Materials
Elastic-plastic material has the stress strain curve shown in the
figure below.

τY - maximum elastic shear stress

Torsion of Elastic-plastic Materials
• TY is the maximum elastic torque and φY is the
angle of twist at the elastic limit
• Hence torsion formula can be used within elastic
region,

- shear strain at
elastic limit
Torsion of Elastic-Plastic Materials

Shear stress @ Shear stress @ Shear stress @

elastic region plastic region fully plastic state

Use this formula to find

the torque at any state
Torsion of Elastic-Plastic Materials

When the applied torque is

greater than the maximum
elastic torque and less than the
fully plastic torque

rY
 Example
(Mechanics of Materials, RC Hibbeler)
The solid shaft is made of elastic-plastic material as
shown. Determine the torque needed to form an elastic
core of radius 20 mm in the shaft.
 Types of Torsion Failure
• Two types of failure due to torsion can be identified
– Ductile failure due to shear stresses

– Brittle failure due to tensile stresses

 Torsion Failure
Recall what you learnt regarding the stress transformation

For a stress block under pure shear (as in the case of torsion),
maximum normal stress occurs when θ = π/4;

Therefore, if the stress at a point reach σx1

allowable shear stress before the τx1y1
allowable tensile stress, failure will be
shear failure.
Otherwise, it will be a tensile failure
 References
• Timoshenko and Gere, Mechanics of
Materials, 3rd edition
• R C Hibbeler, Mechanics of Materials, 8th
edition