Torsion of Prismatic Bar with Rectangular Cross-Section

2 TORSION OF PRISMATIC BAR

The general torsion formula for circular shafts cannot be used for prismatic bar with rectangular crosssection since the planes before and after the torsion doesnt remain plane.
On the basis of the solution of circular shafts, we assume that the cross sections rotate about an axis; the
twist per unit length being . A section at distance z from the fixed end will, therefore, rotate through z .
A point P(x, y) in this section will undergo a displacement rz, as shown in fig .The components of this
displacement are
u x =rz sin
u y =rz cos

Figure 1: Prismatic bar under torsion and geometry of deformation

From Fig 8(c),
y
x
sin = cos =
r
r
In addition to these x and y displacements, the point P may undergo a displacement

uz

in z direction. This

is called warping; we assume that the z displacement is a function of only (x, y) and is independent of z.
This means that warping is the same for all normal cross-sections. Substituting for sin and cos , St.
Venants displacement components are
u x =yz
u y =xz
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BIT BANGALORE

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Torsion of Prismatic Bar with Rectangular Cross-Section

From these displacement components, we can calculate the associated strain components. We have, from
Equations
Ux
Uy
U z
xx=
, yy=
, zz =
x
y
z

xy =

U x U y
U y U z
U x U z
+
, yz =
+
, zx =
+
y x
z
y
z
x

xx= yy = zz = xy =0
x = y = z = xy =0
If it is assumed that in the case of pure torsion, the stresses are the same in every normal cross-section, i.e.
independent of z, then the first two conditions above are automatically satisfied. In order to satisfy the third
condition, we assume a function (x, y) called the stress function, such that
xz =

yz=

The shear acting in the x direction is equal to the slope of the stress function

(x, y) in the y direction.

The shear stress acting in the y direction is equal to the negative of the slope of the stress function in the x
direction.
Equilibrium equation
xz yz z
+
+
=0[31]
x y z
xz =G xz=G

( wx )

yz=G yz =G

( wy + )
x

w
G
y +
G
+ =0
x
x
y
y x

((

)) ( (

))

2 w 2 w
+
=0
x2 y2
Since

is stress function

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BIT BANGALORE

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Torsion of Prismatic Bar with Rectangular Cross-Section

xz =

w
=G
y
y
x

yz=

w
=G
+
x
y x

)
)

2 2
+
=2 G[32]
x2 y2

Figure 2: Bar with Rectangular Cross-section

=m ( x 2a 2) ( y 2b2 )[33]
T =2 dx . dy
a

T =2 m ( x2a2 ) ( y 2b 2) dx . dy
a b

This gives
9T
m=
32 a3 b 3

9T
( x 2a2 )( y 2b2 )
3 3
32 a b

yz=

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BIT BANGALORE

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Torsion of Prismatic Bar with Rectangular Cross-Section

max =

T
[34 ]
k 1 b a2

35
TL
=

k 2 a3 bG
Table 1: constants k1 and k2 for different b/a ratios
b/a
k1

1.00
0.208

1.20
0.219

1.5
0.231

2.0
0.246

2.5
0.258

3.0
0.267

4.0
0.282

5.0
0.391

10.0
0.312

0.333

k2

0.141

0.166

0.196

0.229

0.249

0.263

0.281

0.291

0.291

0.333

Example
Length=L=150mm; Breadth=30mm; Depth=40mm
By interpolation, k1=0.224; k2=0.179

Torque [N-mm]
Analytical
Solution
Ansys
Solution

max [Mpa]
6
10 [rad]

max [Mpa ]
6
10 [rad]

1000
0.124

2000
0.248

3000
0.372

4000
0.496

5000
0.62

10.08

20.16

30.24

40.32

50.4

0.113313

0.2267

0.3399

0.453

0.566

9.85

19.7

29.6

39.4

49.25

Steps in Ansys to solve the above torsion Problem

1. Pre-processor - Element Type - Add/Edit/Delete Add-Beam-2 node 188-OK
2. Material Props- Material Models -Structural- Linear- Elastic-Isotropic
a. Enter EX=2E5
b. PRXY=0.3-OK
3. Sections - Beam- Common Sections
a. B= 30
b. H=40-OK
4. Modelling Create- Key points- In Active CS
a. Leave X Y Z location default i.e. 0,0,0-OK
b. Enter X value 200-OK
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Torsion of Prismatic Bar with Rectangular Cross-Section

5. Modelling- Create-Lines- Straight Line

a. Join the node 1 and 2 in active CS
6. Meshing-Mesh Tool
a. Chose Smart Size- Fineness value=2-Mesh-Select Beam- OK
7. Solution- Define the loads- Apply- Structural- Displacement- on Key points
a. Select node 1-OK -All dof- OK
8. Structural- Force/Moment- On Key points
a. Select key point 2-Select MX- Enter Force/Moment value 1000-OK
9. Solve- Current LS- OK- Close
10. General Postproc- Plot Results- Contour Plot- Nodal Solution
a. Stress- XY Stress (Plot 1)
b. DOF Solution- Rotation about X axis (Plot 2)
c. Go to plot controls- style- Shape and Size- Display of the element- ON- OK
d. Plot Controls- Write Metafile- Invert White/Black-Save

Figure 3: Shear stresses

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BIT BANGALORE

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Torsion of Prismatic Bar with Rectangular Cross-Section

Figure 4: Rotation
MATLAB Program for Torsion
INPUT:
% Enter the inputs
T=1000; L=150; a=30; b=40; E=2e5; mu=0.3; k1=0.224; k2=0.179;
G =(E/(2*(1+mu))); %Modulus of rigidity
maximum_Shear_stress= (T/ (k1*b*a^2)) %Maximum shear stress
rotation =(T*L/(k2*a^3*b*G)) %Rotation about x-axis
OUTPUT:
maximum_Shear_stress =
0.124
rotation =
10.08 e-06

Reference
1. Torsion of a rectangular prismatic bar: solution using a power fit model, louis angelo m. Danao* and
ryan m. Cabrera, university of the philippines-diliman, quezon city, philippines
2. Torsional rigidity in beams with arbitrary cross-sections, Sudeep Nayak, National Institute Of
Technology Rourkela

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, BIT BANGALORE

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