Solid Mecahnics-10

Principal values of the stress tensor

10.1 Principal normal stress
Given the stress tensor components at a point in the continuum, both magnitude and the
direction of the stress depends on the orientation of the surface, i.e. on the direction of n , the unit
normal to the surface. For one particular direction n , we get one value of the normal component
of the stress. If plot these normal stresses considering all directions, n then we get an ellipsoid.
This ellipsoid is called the normal stress ellipsoid. There are three axis of the ellipsoid, one major
axis and two minor axes. On these axes, the normal stress takes extremum values. These three
axes are called the principal axes of normal stress ellipsoid. One important problem of stress
analysis is to find the directions at which the normal components of the stress have extremum
values and find these values.

The normal stress on the plane with unit normal n is given by n T n . This should be
maximized with respect to n subject to the constraint that n n 1. Thus we define the objective
function F to be extremized as

F n T n n n 1
Here, is the Lagrange multiplier. Extremization can be performed by differentiation with
respect to each component of n and equating the derivative to zero. Simpler way is to
differentiate directly with respect to n and get

F
0 T n n T 2n T T T n 2n
n

But since T is a symmetric matrix, T T T . Hence the equation above reduces to

T n n

This is an eigenvalue problem and can be written as

T I n 0

The set of equations has only trivial solution n 0 if the determinant T I 0 . On the other

hand, a nontrivial solution is obtained if

T I 0 ,

1
12
13
21
2
23 0
31
32
3
1

This equation can be expanded to give

3 I1 2 I 2 I 3 0
where

I1 1 2 3

2
2
I 2 1 2 2 3 31 122 23
31

2
2
2
I 3 1 2 3 212 23 31 112
2 23
3 31

I1 , I 2 , and I 3 are called invariants of stress tensor. They remain the same if the coordinate frame
is rotated, although the values of the individual components change.
The cubic equation written above has three roots. All roots are real ( eigenvalues of
symmetric matrix are real) The roots give three values of stresses (1) , 2 , 3 . These are called
the principal normal stresses.

Each root when substituted in the equations, T I n 0 yields one value of n , i.e. one
direction. It is called the principal direction of normal stress. These form the set of three vectors

n 1 , n 2 , n 3 . These are the eigenvectors of matrix T . Since it is a symmetric matrix, the

eigenvalues are real and eigenvectors are orthogonal to each other. If we setup our Cartesian
system along the three principal axes, we call it the principal coordinate system for the given
tensor field.
10.1 Determining the values of principal normal stresses
The equation 3 I1 2 I 2 I 3 0 is a cubic equation and its roots can be found using
the standard procedure reported in the literature for finding roots of cubic equations. It is
described below

(1) 0 2

where

J2
cos
3

2 0 2

J2

cos
3
3

3 0 2

J2

cos
3
3

1
1 2 3
3

The angle (called the Lode angle) is given by

2

cos 3

J3
2 J2 3

32

Where J 2 and J 3 are given by

2
2
J 2 1 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 122 23
31

and
2
2
J 3 1 0 23
2 0 31
3 0 122 1 0 2 0 3 0

After obtaining principal normal stresses (1) , 2 , 3 , we can obtain the corresponding
principal directions n 1 , n 2 , n 3 by solving the equations

T n 1 (1) n 1 , T n 2 ( 2) n 2 and T n 3 3n 3

10.3 Example: Find principal normal stresses and their directions for the following stress tensor

3 0 0
T 0 2 2 MPa
0 2 5

Solution: Principal normal stresses are obtained by solving the following equation

0
0

2
2

0
2 0
5

Expansion gives

3 2 5 4 0
One of the roots of the equation is 3 . Other two roots are obtained by solving the quadratic
equation

2 7 6 0 or 6 1 0
Thus we have three principal normal stresses (1) 6 MPa, ( 2) 3 MPa, and (3) 1 MPa.
The principal direction corresponding to (1) 6 MPa is obtained by solving the equation

0
0 n1 0
3 0 0
3 6
0 2 2 n 6n or 0
26
2 n2 0

0
0 2 5
2
5 6 n3 0
Simplification gives
3

0 n1 0
3 0
3n1 0
0 4 2 n 0 or 4n 2n 0
2
3

0
2n2 n3 0
2 1 n3 0
These give the following solutions

n1 0 and n3 2n2 since n is a unit vector n32 n22 1 or n2

The principal direction corresponding to (1)

6 is n 1

1
2
and n2
5
5

0
1
.
5
2

The principal direction corresponding to ( 2) 3 MPa is obtained by solving the equation

0
0 n1 0
3 3
3 0 0
0 2 2 n 3n or 0
23
2 n2 0

0
0 2 5
2
5 3 n3 0
Simplification gives

0
0 0 0 n1 0

0
0 1 2 n 0 or n 2n 0
3
2

2
2n2 2n3 0
0 2 2 n3 0
These give the following solutions

n1 a and n2 n3 0 since n is a unit vector n1 a 1 or n2 0 and n3 0

The principal direction corresponding to

( 2)

3 is n

1
0 .
0

The principal direction corresponding to 3 1 MPa is obtained by solving the equation

0 n1 0
3 0 0
3 1 0
0 2 2 n n or 0
2 1 2 n2 0

0
0 2 5
2
5 1 n3 0
4

Simplification gives

2 0 0 n1 0
2n1 0
0 1 2 n 0 or n 2n 0
3

2
2

0 2 4 n3 0
2n2 4n3 0
These give the following solutions

n1 0 and n2 2n3 since n is a unit vector n32 n22 1 or n2

The principal direction corresponding to (3)

2
1
and n2
5
5

0
2
.
1 is n 3
5
1

10.4 Principal planes of shear

The square of the magnitude of the shear stress at a plane having unit normal n can be
obtained using the following expression

2n T n T n n T n

The square of the magnitude of the shear stress is obtained by subtracting the square of the
magnitude of the normal stress from the square of the magnitude of the total stress on the plane.
The problem of finding the extremum values of the shear stresses involves finding n so as to

extremized the magnitude ( or square of magnitude of n ) subject to the constraint that n n 1 )

2
G T n T n n T n 2 n n 1
Here, 2 is the Lagrange multiplier.
The problem of finding the extremal shear stress planes in a direct manner is complicated.
It can however be simplified if we rotate the coordinate axes so that they coincide with the
principle normal stress directions n 1 , n 2 , n 3 .

Rotation of vector is accomplished by multiplication matrix Q , the columns of which are

n 1 , n 2 , n 3 .

 1
n1
Q n21
n31

n12

n32

n32

n13

n23
n33

When we multiply n 1 by Q T we get

n11

QT n 1 n21
n31

n12

n11

QT n 2 n21
n31

n12

n11

QT n 3 n21
n31

n12

n32

n32

n32

n32

n32

n32

n13

n23
n33
n13

n23
n33

n13

n23
n33

n11 n11
1 2
n2 n1
n21 n13

n12 n11
2 2
n2 n1
n22 n13

n13 n11
3 2
n2 n1
n23 n13

n21

n22
n23
n21

n22
n23
n21

n22
n23

n31 n11 1

n32 n21 0 e1
n33 n21 0
n31 n12 0

n32 n22 1 e2
n33 n22 0
n31 n13 0

n32 n23 0 e3
n33 n23 1

Note that

QT Q I and hence QT Q 1

Thus by multiplying all vectors of the original system by Q T we can form new coordinate

frame where original n 1 , n 2 , n 3 vectors become new e1 , e2 , e3 vectors.

Since n 1 , n 2 , n 3 form orthogonal set of vectors, they are suitable as Cartesian axes. In
the new coordinate system, the stress tensor is diagonal
1
0
0

2
T 0
0
0
0 3

Hence for a plane with normal n in the new system, the stress vector is
1n1

T n 2 n2
3n3

and the normal stress is

n T n 1n12 2 n22 3n32

6

Hence

G 1 n12 2 n22 3 n32 1n12 2 n22 3n32 2 n12 n22 n32 1

2

This function can be extremized with respect to n1 ,n2 and n3 to give, the following three
equations

0 2 n 4 n n
0 2 n 4 n n

n 2 n
n 2 n

0 2 1 n1 4 1n1 1n12 2 n22 3n32 2 2 n1

2

3 2

2
1

2 n22

2
1

2 n22

2
3

2
3

Note that each of the vectors n 1,0,0 , n 0,1,0 and n 0,1,1 satisfy these equations.
For example, if we substitute n 1,0,0 into these equations, The from the first equation, we get

0 2 1 4 1 1 2 2 or 2 1
2

The rest of the are identically satisfied. However, shear stress on these planes is zero and hence
they are the trivial solution of the problem.
If n1 n2 n3 0 , then the equations reduce to the following form

1 2

3 2

2 n
2 n

n
n

2 1 1n12 2 n22 3n32 2 0

2

2
1

2 n22

2
1

2 n22

2
3

2
3

Eliminating 2 from these equations, we get

2 n
2 n

n 0

2
1

2 n22 3n32 0

2
1

2 n22

2
3

They do not have a solution unless 2 3 , similarly we can show that 1 2 .

Hence this solution is valid only for isotropic tensor. Hence it is not the general solution of the
problem.
Hence the only possibility which is left is one of the three component of n is zero and the
rest of the components are nonzero. Let us consider the case where n1 0 and n2 0, n3 0 . In
that case the first equation is satisfied identically and the next two equations give

2 2 2 n22 3n32 2 0
7

2 3 2 n22 3n32 2 0

Eliminating 2 between the two equations, we get

2 2 2 n22 3n32 3 2 3 2 n22 3n32 0

Or

2 n
2

2
2

3n32 0

Writing n32 1 n22 in this equation, we obtain

2 n
2

2
2

3 3n22 0

Simplification gives

2 n
2

2
2

Further simplification gives

n22

1
1
or n2
2
2

Thus we have two solutions

n 1

0
0
1
1
and n '1

2
2
1
1

2
2

Note that
n 1 n '1 0

This means these two planes are orthogonal to each other. We call n '1 the complementary shear
plane to n 1 .
The shear stress on this plane is

n n n n
1 2

1 2

2
1

2
2

2
3

2
1

2 n22 3n32

2
3 1 2
1
3 2 1
3

2
4
2
2 2
2

Or

1 2
3
2

We call this stress one of the three principal shear stresses

8

Similarly for

2
n

1
1

2
2
0 and n ' 2 0
1
1
2
2

We have the following value of principal shear stress

1 1
3
2

and for

n 3

1
1

2
2
1
1

and n '3

2
2

0
0

the principal shear stress is

1 1
2
2

The angle made by n i with principal normal coordinate axes are

e1 n 1 1 0 0

0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
, e3 n 0 0 1
0 , e2 n 0 1 0

2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1

2
2
2

This means the principal shear plane passes through axis-1 and makes angle of 450 with axis-2
and axis-3. On the other hand

0
0
1
1
1
,
e1 n '1 1 0 0

0 , e2 n '1 0 1 0

2
2
2
1
1

2
2

0
1 1
e2 n 1 0 0 1

2
2
1

This means the complementary principal shear plane passes through axis-1 and makes angle
of 1350 with axis-2 and 450 with axis-3.
In a similar manner, we can prove that the shear plane corresponding to
through axis-2 and makes angle of 450 with axes-1 and 3. Similarly,

n 2 passes

the shear plane

corresponding to n 3 passes through axis-3 and makes angle of 450 with axes-1 and 2.
It is important to note that the normal stresses on the principal shear planes need not be
zero since

2 3
n 1 T n (1) 1n12 2 n22 3n32
2
Similarly

1 2
1 3
n 2 T n ( 2)
and n 3 T n (3)
2
2
10.3 Example: Find principal shear planes and principal shear stresses for the following stress
tensor

3 0 0
T 0 2 2 MPa
0 2 5

Solution: For this tress tensor , we have already obtained the principal stresses as (1) 6 MPa,

( 2) 3 MPa, and (1) 1 MPa The corresponding principal normal directions are

10

n 1

0
1
0
2
1
2
3
, n 0 and n

5
5

0
1

5
5

We now assume that we have rotated the coordinate axes to coincide with the principal normal
direction. In this frame

6 0 0
T 0 3 0
0 0 1

The principal shear stresses are given by

1 2
1
3 3 1 1 MPa.
2
2

1 1
1
5
3 6 1 MPa.
2
2
2

1 1
1
3
2 6 3 MPa.
2
2
2

Thus the highest shear stress is 2

5
MPa.
2

We are interested in finding the directions of shear planes with respect to the original coordinate
system.

n1s

1 2
, n s

2
0 , ns3

1
2
1
2
0

We can get the original vectors by reverse transformations

T
1
1
Q
n s Q n s

0
1
5
2
5

1
0
2
0
5
1
0

0
1

2
1

2

2
2
10
1

10
11

Q ns2

Q n s

0
1
5
2
5

0
1
5
2
5

1
0
2
0
5
1
0

5

1
0
2
0
5
1
0

1
2
0
1

0
3
10
1

10

2
0

2
1
10
2

10

These three vectors are the components of the normal to the principal shear planes in the original
system.

12