Shear (and Torsion)

Shear: A force (or stress) which tends to slide the

material on one side of a surface relative to the
material on the other side of the surface in
directions parallel to the surface is termed a shear

force (or shear stress)

This demonstration shows how lateral forces can

be resisted and transmitted in frame structures
through the use of shear elements, such as shear
walls

Shear in beams

Shear in beams

The thin pages slide over each other in the unbolted

catalogue while in the bolted catalogue there is no movement
of the pages. This is because the bolts and the friction
between the pages provide horizontal shear resistance and
prevent the pages sliding between each other.

Built up beams
The following figures show a number of wrought
iron plates which are bolted together to form a
thick beam
As demonstrated with the catalogue book, there
are no relative sliding movements between the
thin plates when the beam is loaded
Due to the shear resistance of the connecting
bolts, the thin plates act together as a single
member, which is many times stiffer than a
member made of plates acting independently

Composite beam sections

Shear walls in a building

Torsion

Torsion
A moment that is applied about the
longitudinal axis of a member is called a
torque which tends to twist the member
about this axis and is said to cause torsion
of the member

Torsion in a circular shaft or a

closed circular section
Plane circular cross sections remain plane
and the cross sections at the ends of the
member remain flat
The length and the radius of the member
remain unchanged
Plane circular cross sections remain
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis

Torsion in a non-circular section

member or an open section
Plane cross sections of the member do not
remain plane and the cross sections
distort in a manner which is called
warping. In other words, the fibres in the
longitudinal direction deform unequally

Open and closed sections subject

to torsion with warping

Foam pipe insulation with

typical slit along length

Foam pipe insulation with

slit along length sealed
with glue and sticky tape

Open and closed sections subject

to torsion with warping
When twisting the two foam pipes with a
similar effort it can be seen that:
It is much easier to twist the open section
than the closed section
The effect of warping can be observed at
the right hand end of the pipe which has a
slit along its length
There is little warping effect on the pipe
with the closed section

Torsion in ordinary life

The first photo shows the connectors which keep
the bottle sealed
To open the bottle, the failure shear stress has
to be reached
The design of the cap and its connection to the
bottle, in terms of the size of the cap and the
number and size of the connectors, needs to be
such that this can be achieved with a modest
effort
The second photo shows the shear failure of the
connectors

Torsion opening a drinks bottle

When opening the lid of a common plastic drinks

bottle, a torque T applied to the cap is gradually
increased until the plastic connectors between the
cap and the bottle experience shear failure

Torsion problem
There are 15 connectors, each with an
area 2 mm2, uniformly distributed along
the circumference of the cap which has a
radius of 12mm
The torsion applied to the cap to open it is
0.025 kNm
What is the failure shear stress of the
plastic connectors (N/ mm2)?

Torsion problem - answer

= 0.025 x 103 x 103 Nmm
= 25,000 Nmm
Torsional resistance = n x A x r x tf
= 15 x 2 x 12 x tf = 360 tf
For equilibrium at failure:
25,000
= 360 tf
Therefore
tf = 69.4 N/mm2
Applied torsion