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Mechan|cs of Mater|a|s-1ens|on and Compress|on
Tension and Compression Forces
1wo key Lypes of forces lnvolved ln bulldlng any sLrucLure are tens|on and
compress|on. Lvery maLerlal has Lhe ablllLy Lo hold up Lo a cerLaln amounL of
Lenslon and a cerLaln amounL of compresslon. A Lenslon force ls one LhaL pulls
maLerlals aparL. A compresslon force ls one LhaL squeezes maLerlal LogeLher.
(8ody compressed)

(8ody sLreLched, Lensloned)

Some maLerlals are beLLer able Lo wlLhsLand compresslon, some are beLLer able Lo
reslsL Lenslon, and oLhers are good Lo use when boLh compresslon and Lenslon
are presenL. lor example, lf you pull on a sLrong rope, lL can supporL a large
amounL of Lenslon. lf you push on a rope, lL cannoL reslsL compresslon very well,
and [usL bends. Marshmallows are an example of a maLerlal LhaL ls easlly
compresslble, buL pulls aparL under a greaL amounL of Lenslon. lrom Lhese
examples, lL ls clear LhaL maLerlals may bend or sLreLch when under a
compresslve or Lenslle force.




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8end|ng Stress
When Lwo people slL on a seesaw, ls Lhe meLal bar beLween Lhe Lwo seaLs
experlenclng compresslve or Lenslle sLress? 1hls ls a Lrlck quesLlon! A "bar ln
bendlng" experlences boLh compresslve and Lenslle sLresses! 1o vlsuallze Lhls,
grab a phone book and bend lL down (see I|gure 1).
When you do Lhls, Lhe phone book maLerlals "wanL" Lo reLurn Lo Lhelr normal
sLaLe of resL, so lL feels llke Lhe Lop pages Lry Lo pull your flngers LogeLher because
Lhey are ln Lenslon and Lhe boLLom pages push your flngers aparL because Lhey
are ln compresslon. 1he bendlng phone book experlences compresslve and Lenslle
sLress, [usL llke a seesaw bar LhaL ls belng benL!

I|gure 1. A demonsLraLlon uslng a phone book lllusLraLes Lenslle and
compresslve sLresses due Lo bendlng, Lhe Lop pages sLreLch aparL (Lenslon)
and Lhe boLLom pages push LogeLher (compresslon).
WlLh Lhe bendlng phone book, Lhe greaLesL Lenslle and compresslve sLresses
occur on Lhe ouLer covers, Lhe dlrecLlon of Lhese forces can be seen wlLh Lhe
arrows ln llgure 1. 1he neutra| ax|s or layer runs along Lhe mlddle of Lhe book
beLween Lhe arrows, as lf lL was Lhe mlddle page ln Lhe phone book. Amazlngly,
Lhls axls experlences zero sLresses whlle bendlng! 1hls has pracLlcal appllcaLlons.




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lor example, lf you ever need Lo drlll a hole ln a supporL beam, llke Lhe ones along
Lhe celllng ln your basemenL, drlll ln Lhe cenLer of Lhe beam where Lhere are no
sLresses (see llgure 2).

I|gure 2. A dlagram LhaL shows Lhe effecL of a heavy welghL placed on a beam.
1he beam experlences Lenslon and compresslon. lf Lhe welghL ls Loo blg, Lhe beam
wlll break!
1he dlagram ln llgure 2 shows Lhe effecL on Lhe beam when a heavy welghL ls
placed on lL, causlng boLh Lenslon and compresslon ln Lhe beam. 1he welghL
causes compresslon on Lhe Lop of Lhe beam as lL squeezes LogeLher, and causes
Lenslle sLress on Lhe boLLom slde of Lhe beam where lL ls pulled aparL. 1he beam
shorLens on Lhe Lop due Lo compresslon, and elongaLes on Lhe boLLom due Lo
Lenslon.
WlLh Lhls ln mlnd, whaL would happen lf Lhe beam had an even heavler welghL
placed on lL? ln Lhls case, Lhe forces would exerL a greaLer amounL of Lenslon and
compresslon on Lhe beam, and lf Lhe forces were Loo greaL, Lhe maLerlal would
noL be able Lo handle Lhe sLress and lL would break ln half.
1enslon and compresslon forces are lmporLanL Lo keep ln mlnd when deslgnlng a
bulldlng or sLrucLure. lf we consLrucL a brldge wlLh maLerlals LhaL are noL sLrong
enough Lo hold up Lo Lhe amounL of compresslon and Lenslon LhaL vehlcles cause
when Lhey Lravel across lL, Lhe brldge could collapse. All sLrucLures must be able
Lo handle Lhe forces LhaL acL upon Lhem, or Lhey would noL sLay up. A greaL deal
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of sclence, deslgn and englneerlng goes lnLo predlcLlng Lhe klnds of loads a
sLrucLure mlghL encounLer (for example, wlnd, snow, welghL of a baLhLub full of
waLer, eLc.). lor example, houses and brldges bullL ln Callfornla musL be deslgned
Lo wlLhsLand earLhquakes.
Compresslve and Lenslle forces are presenL
ln all brldges, and lL ls Lhe [ob of englneers
Lo deslgn brldges capable of wlLhsLandlng
Lhese forces wlLhouL buckllng or snapplng.
8uck||ng occurs when compresslve forces
overcome an ob[ecL's ablllLy Lo handle
compresslon, and snapp|ng occurs when Lhe
Lenslle forces overcome an ob[ecL's ablllLy Lo
handle Lenslon. 1he besL way Lo deal wlLh
Lhese forces ls Lo elLher dlsslpaLe Lhem or
Lransfer Lhem. 1o d|ss|pate force ls Lo
spread lL ouL over a greaLer area, so LhaL no
one spoL has Lo bear Lhe brunL of Lhe
concenLraLed force. 1o transfer force ls Lo
move lL from an area of weakness Lo an area
of sLrengLh, an area deslgned Lo handle Lhe
force. An arch brldge ls a good example of
dlsslpaLlon, whlle a suspenslon brldge ls a good example of Lransference. llgures
3 and 4 lllusLraLe Lenslon and compresslon forces acLlng on Lhree brldge Lypes.

I|gure 4. 1enslon and compresslon forces acLlng on an arch brldge (lefL) and
suspenslon brldge (rlghL). Compresslve forces are lndlcaLed by red arrows and
Lenslle forces are lndlcaLed by blue arrows.

I|gure 3. 1enslle and compresslve forces
acLlng on a beam brldge, ln a Lyplcal
beam brldge Lenslle forces are negllglble.
Compresslve forces are lndlcaLed by Lop
arrows and Lenslle forces are lndlcaLed by
boLLom arrows.
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2ero-force members:
lf only Lwo members form a Lruss [olnL and no exLernal load or supporL
reacLlon ls applled Lo Lhe [olnL, Lhe members musL be zero-force
members.
Lxamp|e: We can qulckly Lell LhaL members Al, A8, uL, and uC are zero-
force members ln Lhe Lruss below. (Allgn Lhe y-axls wlLh Al and
summlng forces ln Lhe x-dlrecLlon shows LhaL l
8A
= 0 as shown below.)


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L LkAM ULS1ICN CN 1LNSICN AND CCMkLSSICN
ln Lhe L exam mornlng secLlon you wlll mosL llkely be asked Lo flnd
forces ln a frame or Lruss and show whlch ls compresslon or Lenslon.
1he answers wlll look llke 20 k(C) or 20 (1) C8 -20,eLc..
So , |ts very |mportant to know ,|f the react|on |s |n 1ens|on (outs|de)
or compress|on(|ns|de) for your f|na| answer.
1hey actua||y m|ght even has |t eas|er for you by g|v|ng you the
react|on forces so you don't have to ca|cu|ate the react|on forces. 1nIS
IS AN LAS LkAM DCN'1 MLSS I1 U.
kLMLM8Lk, IN 1nL MCkNING II I1 1AkLS CU LCMGLk 1nLN 4-6
MINU1LS 1C SCLVL A ULS1ICN , U AkL DCING SCML1nING WkCNG.

Lxam examp|e:
l wlll demonsLraLe an example here Lo lllusLraLe on whaL Lo expecL.








M
A
= 0 = -300 lb.(10 fL) + Cy(10 fL) C
y
= 300 lb
10 l1
10 l1
300 lb
10 l1
10 l1
300 lb
A
C
8
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ly = 0 = A
y
+ Cy A
y
= -300 lb
lx = 0 = A
x
+ 300 lb A
x
= -300 lb
1he equat|ons of equ|||br|um for [o|nt A.





lx = 0 = l
AC
- 300 lb l
AC
= 300 lb
ly = 0 = l
A8
- 300 lb l
A8
= 300 lb
1he equat|ons of equ|||br|um for [o|nt 8



lx = 0 = l
8C
cos43 + 300 lb
l
8C =
-707.2

lb.
1he forces ln Lhe Lruss can be summarlzed as
I
A8 = S00 |b (1)
I
8C = S00 |b (C)
I
AC = S00 |b (1)

l
A8

l
AC

300 lb
300 lb
l
8C

l
A8

300 lb