CONCHA, JAMES LLOYD ANTHONY

Strength of Materials

NORMAL STRESS

A normal stress is a stress that occurs when a member is loaded by an axial force.
The value of the normal force for any prismatic section is simply the force divided by
the cross sectional area.

Stress is defined as the strength of a material per unit area or unit strength. It is the
force on a member divided by area, which carries the force, formerly express in psi,
now in N/mm2 or MPa.

where P is the applied normal load in Newton and A is the area in mm2. The
maximum stress in tension or compression occurs over a section normal to the load.

Normal stress is either tensile stress or compressive stress. Members subject to pure
tension (or tensile force) is under tensile stress, while compression members
(members subject to compressive force) are under compressive stress.

Compressive force will tend to shorten the member. Tension force on the other hand
will tend to lengthen the member.

A normal stress will occur when a member is placed in tension or compression.

Examples of members experiencing pure normal forces would include columns,
collar ties, etc.
CONCHA, JAMES LLOYD ANTHONY
Strength of Materials

Bending Stress

When a member is being loaded similar to that in figure one bending stress (or
flexure stress) will result. Bending stress is a more specific type of normal stress.
When a beam experiences load like that shown in figure one the top fibers of the
beam undergo a normal compressive stress. The stress at the horizontal plane of the
neutral is zero. The bottom fibers of the beam undergo a normal tensile stress. It
can be concluded therefore that the value of the bending stress will vary linearly with
distance from the neutral axis.

Calculating the maximum bending stress is crucial for determining the adequacy of
beams, rafters, joists, etc.

Shear Stress
Normal stress is a result of load applied perpendicular to a member. Shear stress
however results when a load is applied parallel to an area. Looking again at figure
one, it can be seen that both bending and shear stresses will develop. Like in bending
stress, shear stress will vary across the cross sectional area
CONCHA, JAMES LLOYD ANTHONY
Strength of Materials

Calculating the maximum shear stress is also crucial for determining the adequacy of
beams, rafters, joists, etc.

Final Considerations
When doing any kind of beam design using structural design software will greatly
ease the entire process of calculating stresses. There are several different
engineering design software packages available for beams, columns, or foundation
design. StruCalc, Enercalc, Risa, and BeamChek will all take in to account normal
and shear stresses when doing any kind of beam design.