Mechanics of Material

Shear Strength

Executive Summary: .
Shear strength in engineering is a term used to describe the strength of a material or
component against the type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails
in shear.
In this experiment , I will take three different types of materials and will find its shear strength
using the VEGA hydraulic shear .
In structural and mechanical engineering the shear strength of a component is important for designing
the dimensions and materials to be used for the manufacture/construction of the component (e.g.
beams, plates, or bolts) In a reinforced concrete beam, the main purpose of stirrups is to increase the
shear strength.
For shear stress τ applies

where
σ1 is major principal stress
σ2 is minor principal stress

In general: ductile materials fail in shear (ex. aluminum), whereas brittle materials (ex. cast iron) fail in
tension. See tensile strength.
To calculate: Given failing sum of force and the force acting area, example-bolt shear strength:

As a very rough guide[1]:

Material Ultimate Strength Relationship Yield Strength Relationship
Steels USS = approx. 0.75*UTS SYS = approx. 0.58*TYS
Ductile Iron USS = approx. 0.9*UTS SYS = approx. 0.75*TYS
Malleable Iron USS = approx. 1.0*UTS
Wrought Iron USS = approx. 0.83*UTS
Cast Iron USS = approx. 1.3*UTS
Aluminiums USS = approx. 0.65*UTS SYS = approx. 0.55*TYS

1
Objectives :
To became aware with the importance of shear strength , by conducting the shear strength test
on three different materials. ( steel , brass , aluminium)

Theory :

The maximum shear stress which a material can withstand without rupture. The ability of a
material to withstand shear stress. It is kind of stress which is developed when a material is
punched.
It is a very important thing while designing a machine part or some elements. Machines are
consists of many bolts, rivets , hinges which shares this kind of stress. In manufacturing
process such as punching , shear cutting, blanking all depend upon the shear strength of the
material .
In mathematics it is the maximum shear load divided by the area under shear. It is less precise
then the tensile strength because it consists of bending stress and friction . These tests are often
performed on flat stocks . In ductile materials it is closely related to tensile strength . It is
known for many materials that shear strength is about three -fourths of tensile strength .
Subjected to forces which cause it to twist, or one face to slide relative to an opposite face, a
material is said to be in shear (Figure 5). Compared to tensile and compressive stress and
strain, the shear forces act over an area which is in line with the forces.

Figure 5: Shear stress applied to an object

The force per unit area is referred to as the shear stress, denoted by the symbol τ (Greek letter tau),
where

Its unit is the pascal (Pa), where force is measured in newtons (N) and area in square metres.
Materials :
1) Steel
2) Brass
3) Aluminum

Procedure:
1) First I measured the diameter of each sample.
2) Then I put the steel into the hole in all three plates of double shear fixture .
3) After this I placed the loaded fixture under the hydraulic press and closed the safeguard .
4) After checking analog scale and tracer needle at zero , I started pumping the hydraulic
lever until the sample shears .
5) This gave me the maximum load reading . After it breaks, I continue punching the press
so shearing slug passes into the relieved area in the lower part of the holder .
6) Then I released the load took out the fixture from the machine and removed the slug .
7) Again I put the same sample into the fixture for the second reading
8) As going I repeated the same steps for other two samples

DATA :
Materials Diameter Test one Test two
Steel 0.375 in 14200 lb 14600lb
Brass 0.375 in 10,000 lb 9800 lb
Aluminum 0.375 in 7200 lb 7400 lb

SAMPLE CALCULATIONS:

Steel :
shear-strength = Force
Area

= 2F
3.14*D^2

= 2 * 14400
3.14 * .375

= 28800
.44156
= 65223.29 psi
 Brass =

2F
3.14*D^2

= 2 * 9900
3.14 * .375

= 19800 = 44841.01 psi

.44156

Aluminum:

2F
3.14*D^2

= 2 * 7300
3.14 * .375

= 14600
.44156
= 33106.576 psi

RESULTS:

Materials Diameter Test 1 Test 2 Average load Shear strength

(maximum load) (maximum load)
Steel 0.375 in 14200 lb 14600lb 14400 lb 65223.29 psi
Brass 0.375 in 10,000 lb 9800 lb 9900 lb 44841.01 psi
Aluminum 0.375 in 7200 lb 7400 lb 7300 lb 33106.576 psi

Results shows that shear-strength of different materials is different. Steel shows the very high
value as campare to brass and Aluminum . From these values we can say that steel is very good
metal as it have high shear-strength value , whereas brass and aluminum are less stronger .
The shear strength of a material is the maximum stress that it can withstand in shear before
failure occurs. For example, punching, cropping and guillotining all apply shear stresses of
more than the maximum shear stress for that material

Theoratical values of these materials are as follows

Steel: 73 500 Psi
Brass: 49 000 Psi
Aluminum: 28 000 Psi

ERROR PERCENTAGE

STEEL =

= 65223.29 -73500 *100

73500

= 11.26%

BRASS =

= - 44841.01- 49 000 *100

49 000

= 8.48%

ALUMINUM =

33106.41 - 28000 *100

= 28000

= 18.23%

DISCUSSION:
 From the results we can see that steel and brass values are almost same as experimental and
theoretical . But for the aluminum there is lot of differnce between the two values . Steel gave
us 12.68 % while brass gave us 9.27% between the experimental and theoretical values . but
for aluminium there is lot of difference between the two values.The results obtained from the
experiment are close to the theoretical results. The calculated shear strength of steel, brass
and aluminium are 65223.29 psi, 44841.01 psi and 33106.576 psi respectively. These
calculated values are close to the theoretical values.
Although there are errors while performing the experiment in the experiment values because
Results shows that shear-strength of different materials is different. Steel shows the very high
value as campare to brass and Aluminum . From these values we can say that steel is very good
metal as it have high shear-strength value , whereas brass and aluminum are less stronger .
The shear strength of a material is the maximum stress that it can withstand in shear before
failure occurs. For example, punching, cropping and guillotining all apply shear stresses of
more than the maximum shear stress for that material

REAL LIFE EXAPLES

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There are so many examples of shear strength in our daily life .

In today world infrastructure is not possible until we don't know the shear-strength of materials
which are used in the to build .

1)Suppose we are building a bridge , if we don't know the strength of the material we can't tell
the safety of that bridge and weight it can handle .

> In Designing a car we should know the strength of the material which we are using for the
factor of safety. Until unless we are not sure the material's strength we can't sucessfully design
it .

2)Scott Brown gets some Shear Strength (5.11c) at Penitente Canyon.

3) In a reinforced concrete beam, the main purpose of stirrups is to increase the shear strength.

REFERENCES
http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/Matter/shear_tensile.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/shear-strength

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_strength