PPB 25403 Strength of

Materials
Lecture 5: Torsion
 Learning Outcomes
 Torsion twisting of an object due to an applied torque

 Torsional Deformation of Circular Shaft

 Torsion Formula
 Angle of Twist
 Transmission of Power
Torsional Deformation of a Circular Shaft

 Torque is a moment that twists a member about its

longitudinal axis.
 If the angle of rotation is small, the length of the shaft
and its radius will remain unchanged.
The Torsion Formula
 When material is linear-elastic, Hooke’s law applies.
 A linear variation in shear strain leads to a
corresponding linear variation in shear stress
along any radial line on the cross section.
Tc Tp
max or
J J
= maximum shear stress in the shaft
max
= shear stress
T = resultant internal torque
J = polar moment of inertia of cross-sectional area
c = outer radius of the shaft
p = intermediate distance
The Torsion Formula
 If the shaft has a solid circular cross section,

J c4
2

 If a shaft has a tubular cross section,

J co4 ci4
2
Example 5.2
The solid shaft of radius c is subjected to a torque T. Find the fraction of T that is
resisted by the material contained within the outer region of the shaft, which has an
inner radius of c/2 and outer radius c.

Solution:
Stress in the shaft varies linearly, thus c max

The torque on the ring (area) located within

the lighter-shaded region is
dT ' dA c max 2 d

For the entire lighter-shaded area the torque is

c
2 max 3 15 3
T' d max c (1)
c c/2
32
Solution:
Using the torsion formula to determine the maximum stress in the shaft, we have

Tc Tc
max
J 2 c4
2T
max
c3

Substituting this into Eq. 1 yields

15
T' T (Ans)
16
Example 5.3
The shaft is supported by two bearings and is subjected to three torques. Determine
the shear stress developed at points A and B, located at section a–a of the shaft.

Solution:
From the free-body diagram of the left segment,
Mx 0; 4250 3000 T 0 T 1250 kNmm

The polar moment of inertia for the shaft is

4
J 75 4.97 107 mm
2
Since point A is at ρ = c = 75 mm,
Tc 1250 75
B 1.89 MPa (Ans)
J 4.97 107
Likewise for point B, at ρ =15 mm, we have
Tc 1250 15
B 7
0.377 MPa (Ans)
J 4.97 10
Power Transmission
 Power is defined as the work performed per unit of
time.
 For a rotating shaft with a torque, the power is

P T where shaft angular ve locity, d / dt

 Since 1 cycle 2 rad 2 f , the power equation is

P 2 fT
 For shaft design, the design or geometric parameter
is J T
c allow
Example 5.5
A solid steel shaft AB is to be used to transmit 3750 W from the motor M to which it
is attached. If the shaft rotates at w =175 rpm and the steel has an allowable shear
stress of allow τallow =100 MPa, determine the required diameter of the shaft to the
nearest mm.

Solution:
The torque on the shaft is
P T
175 2
3750 T T 204.6 Nm
60
J c4 T
Since
c 2 c allow
1/ 3 1/ 3
2T 2 204.6 1000
c 10.92 mm
allow 100

As 2c = 21.84 mm, select a shaft having a diameter of 22 mm.

Angle of Twist
 Integrating over the entire length L of the shaft, we have
L Φ = angle of twist
T x dx T(x) = internal torque
J xG J(x) = shaft’s polar moment of inertia
0
G = shear modulus of elasticity for the material

 Assume material is homogeneous, G is constant, thus

TL
JG
 Sign convention is
determined by right hand rule,
Example 5.8
The two solid steel shafts are coupled together using the meshed gears. Determine
the angle of twist of end A of shaft AB when the torque 45 Nm is applied. Take G to
be 80 GPa. Shaft AB is free to rotate within bearings E and F, whereas shaft DC is
fixed at D. Each shaft has a diameter of 20 mm.

Solution:
From free body diagram,
F 45 / 0.15 300 N
TD x 300 0.075 22.5 Nm
Angle of twist at C is
TLDC 22.5 1.5
C 4 9
0.0269 rad
JG 2 0.001 80 10
Since the gears at the end of the shaft are in mesh,
B 0.15 0.0269 0.075 0.0134 rad
Solution:
Since the angle of twist of end A with respect to end B of shaft AB caused by the
torque 45 Nm,

TAB LAB 45 2
A/ B 4
0.0716 rad
JG 2 0.010 80 109

The rotation of end A is therefore

A B A/ B 0.0134 0.0716 0.0850 rad (Ans)

Example 5.10
The tapered shaft is made of a material having a shear modulus G. Determine the
angle of twist of its end B when subjected to the torque.

Solution:
From free body diagram, the internal torque is T.

c2 c1 c2 c c2 c1
c c2 x
L x L
4
c2 c1
Thus, at x, J x c2 x
2 L
For angle of twist,
L
2T dx 2TL c22 c1c2 c12
4
(Ans)
G 0 c2 c1 3 G c13c23
c2 x
L
Example 5.11
The solid steel shaft has a diameter of 20 mm. If it is subjected to the two torques,
determine the reactions at the fixed supports A and B.

Solution:
By inspection of the free-body diagram,
Mx 0; Tb 800 500 TA 0 (1)

Since the ends of the shaft are fixed, A/ B 0

Using the sign convention,

TB 0.2 TA 500 1.5 TA 0.3

0
JG JG JG
1.8TA 0.2TB 750 (2)

Solving Eqs. 1 and 2 yields TA = -345 Nm and TB = 645 Nm.

Solid Noncircular Shafts
 The maximum shear stress and the angle of twist for
solid noncircular shafts are tabulated as below:
Example 5.13
The 6061-T6 aluminum shaft has a cross-sectional area in the shape of an
equilateral triangle. Determine the largest torque T that can be applied to the end of
the shaft if the allowable shear stress is τallow = 56 MPa and the angle of twist at its
end is restricted to Φallow = 0.02 rad. How much torque can be applied to a shaft of
circular cross section made from the same amount of material? Gal = 26 GPa.

Solution:
By inspection, the resultant internal torque at any cross section
along the shaft’s axis is also T.

20T 20T
allow 3
; 56 3
T 1779.2 Nm
a 40
46T 46T 1.2 103
allow ; 0.02 T 24.12 Nm (Ans)
a 4Gal 404 26 103

By comparison, the torque is limited due to the angle of twist.

Solution:
For circular cross section, we have
1
Acircle Atriangle; c2 40 40 sin 60 c 14.85 mm
2
The limitations of stress and angle of twist then require

Tc T 14.85
allow ; 56 4
T 288.06 Nm
J / 2 14.85
TL T 1.2 103
allow ; 0.02 4
T 33.10 Nm (Ans)
JGal / 2 14.85 26 103

Again, the angle of twist limits the applied torque.

Thin-Walled Tubes Having Closed Cross Sections
 Shear flow q is the product of the tube’s thickness and
the average shear stress.
q avg t
 Average shear stress for thin-walled tubes is
T τavg = average shear stress
avg
2tAm T = resultant internal torque at the cross section
t = thickness of the tube
Am = mean area enclosed boundary

 For angle of twist,

TL ds
4 Am2 G t
Example 5.14
Calculate the average shear stress in a thin-walled tube having a circular cross
section of mean radius rm and thickness t, which is subjected to a torque T. Also,
what is the relative angle of twist if the tube has a length L?

Solution:
The mean area for the tube is Am rm2

T T
avg 2
(Ans)
2tAm 2 trm

For angle of twist,

TL ds TL
(Ans)
4 Am2 G t 3
2 rmGt
Example 5.16
A square aluminum tube has the dimensions. Determine the average shear stress in
the tube at point A if it is subjected to a torque of 85 Nm. Also compute the angle of
twist due to this loading. Take Gal = 26 GPa.

Solution:
By inspection, the internal resultant torque is T = 85 Nm.

The shaded area is Am 502 2500 mm2

For average shear stress,

T 85 103
avg 1.7 N/mm 2 (Ans)
2tAm 2 10 2500
Solution:
For angle of twist,

TL ds 85 103 1.5 103 ds 4

2
0.196 10 mm-1 ds
4 Am2 G t 4 2500 26 103 10

Integral represents the length around the centreline boundary of the tube, thus

4 3
0.196 10 4 50 3.92 10 rad (Ans)
Stress Concentration
 Torsional stress concentration factor, K, is used to
simplify complex stress analysis.
 The maximum shear stress is then determined from the
equation
Tc
max K
J
Example 5.18
The stepped shaft is supported by bearings at A and B. Determine the maximum
stress in the shaft due to the applied torques. The fillet at the junction of each shaft
has a radius of r = 6 mm.

Solution:
By inspection, moment equilibrium about the axis
of the shaft is satisfied
The stress-concentration factor can be determined
by the graph using the geometry,
D 2 40 r 6
2; 0.15
d 2 20 d 2 20

Thus, K = 1.3 and maximum shear stress is

Tc 30 0.020
max K 1.3 4
3.10 MPa (Ans)
J 2 0.020
Inelastic Torsion
 Considering the shear stress acting on an element of
area dA located a distance p from the center of the
shaft,
2
T 2 d
A

 Shear–strain distribution over a radial line on a shaft is

always linear.
 Perfectly plastic assumes the shaft will continue to twist
with no increase in torque.
 It is called plastic torque.
Example 5.20
A solid circular shaft has a radius of 20 mm and length of 1.5 m. The material has an
elastic–plastic diagram as shown. Determine the torque needed to twist the shaft Φ
= 0.6 rad.

Solution:
The maximum shear strain occurs at the surface of
the shaft,
L max1.5
; 0.6 max 0.008 rad
0.02
The radius of the elastic core can be obtained by
Y 0.02
Y 0.004 m 4 mm
0.0016 0.008
Based on the shear–strain distribution, we have
3 3 75 106 3
T Y
4c Y 4 0.02 0.0043 1.25 kNm (Ans)
6 6