BIOM9510

Introductory Biomechanics

Lecture Week 7

Anne Simmons
a.simmons@unsw.edu.au
Lectures from now

 Mechanics of materials
 Kinematics and Dynamics
 Work Power and Energy
 Instrumentation in biomechanics
 Seminars 1
 Seminars 2 and revision
Mechanics of materials
 What is mechanics of materials

 Stress and strain – uniaxial tensile test

 Stress and strain – multiaxial loading
 Failure modes
 Calculating stresses
 Properties of materials
 Examples
What is the mechanics of materials
 Internal response of a body to an applied
load and the deformations resulting from
those loads

 The study of the mechanics of materials

provides the means to analyse and design
structures and devices
Stress and strain – the tensile test

 Basic experiment used for

determining mechanical properties
 Common tests are in tension,
compression and shear
A load can be applied to a material in tension,
compression or shear or any combination of these forces

Shear

Compression
Tension
A cylinder under load
 The cylinder is subjected to
an axial force F and is
stretched from l0 by a small
displacement ∆l
 If the cylinder is subjected
to 2F then it will be
stretched 2∆l ie a linear
relationship between force
and deformation
 Force is uniaxial
 Deformation is elastic
The stress strain curve

Stress σ = Force (N) / A0 (mm2)

where A0 = original cross sectional area

Units are usually Megapascals (MPa)

The stress strain curve

Strain ℇ = deformation / length = ∆l / l0

where l0 = original length

Units are mm/mm ie dimensionless but

often given in percent
The stress strain curve
Linking σ and ℇ,

σ∝ℇ

And

σ =Eℇ

Where E is the modulus of elasticity or

Youngs modulus (Hooke’s law)
The generic linear stress strain curve

In the linear region of the

stress strain curve, If the
gradient is steeper, the
material has a higher E
and stiffness
Typical values
Stainless steel = 190 GPa
Aluminium = 70 GPa
HDPE = 830 MPa
Polyurethane = 10 MPa
Tensile testing equipment

To determine Young’s
modulus, a tensile testing
machine is used
Force is applied by the load
cell and the change in
length measured
Tensile/Fatigue Testing
Yield strength

if the stress strain curve is

extended beyond the linear
region, the material enters
the plastic region and will
eventually fail
Yield strength is defined as
shown in Figure 7.5 –
intercept of a line with the
same gradient as in the
linear section but displaced
by 0.2% on the strain axis
Yield strength

After the material has

passed the Yield
Strength point, it
enters the plastic
region and is said to
have “yielded”
Plastic deformation and elastic recovery

After a material has been subjected to plastic

deformation, it can still elastically recover
Typical stress strain curve with plastic region

Typical curve
for a metal
UTS
YS
ℇfailure
σfracture
Typical values for stress strain curve
 Data from Stress-Strain Curve

3
2

Stress
Area under
4 curve =
Toughness
1

Strain
(1) Young’s modulus (Stiffness) (2) Yield Strength (onset of
plastic deformation
(3) Ultimate tensile strength
(4) % elongation at failure
(UTS)
Toughness and the stress strain curve

Toughness is defined
as the area under the
stress strain curve

Toughness = ʃ σdℇ

Ductility is often
measured as
elongation at failure
Toughness can be
controlled by various
heat and other
treatments
 Ductile and Brittle Materials

High strength, high stiffness, low toughness

e.g. Ceramic

Stress
High strength, high toughness
e.g. Steel

Low strength, low

toughness
e.g. Silicone
rubber
Strain
Viscoelasticity

Viscoelasticity means
having the mechanical
behaviour of both
liquids (visco) and solids
(elastic)
When an elastic material is
loaded and unloaded,
the material returns
along the same line
A viscoelastic material
does not return along
the same line and there
is a loss of energy
Shear force and shear stress

Shear stress τ is
defined as

F
τ=
A0‖

A0‖ is the area parallel

to the applied force
Shear force and shear stress

Shear strain Ɣ is
defined as

∆l
Ɣ=
l0⊥

Note : deformation is
defined relative to
the original
perpendicular
height
Shear force and shear stress

There is a linear
relationship
between shear
stress and shear
strain:

Τ = GƔ

Where G is the shear

modulus

G = 25GPa for
aluminium
Shear force and shear stress

There is a
relationship
between E, G and ʋ

E = 2G (1 + ʋ)

ʋ is Poisson’s ratio
Stress and strain – multiaxial loading
Poisson’s effect
 There is a shape
change as a
result of an
applied load
 When a body is
subjected to a
uniaxial load and
its dimension
decreases in the
axial direction,
its perpendicular
dimension
increases
Poisson’s ratio
Poisson’s ratio is the
ratio of the strain
in the x direction
to the strain in the
z direction

ℇx
ʋ=
ℇz

ʋ stainless steel = 0.29

ʋ aluminium = 0.33
Biaxial loading

In real life, multidimensional

loads are applied, Fx and Fy

Stresses are
σx = Fx/Ax
σy = Fy/Ay
Biaxial loading
Strains due to σx are
ℇxσx = σx / E
ℇyσx = - ʋ ℇxσx = - ʋ (σx / E)

Strains due toσy are

ℇxσy = - ʋ ℇyσy = - ʋ (σy / E)
ℇyσy = σy / E

Total strain
ℇx = ℇxσx + ℇxσy = σx / E - ʋ (σy / E)
ℇy = ℇyσy + ℇyσx = σy / E - ʋ (σx / E)
Some types of failure
 Ductile fracture – where a material is overloaded and
taken beyond the elastic limit
 Brittle fracture – rapid crack propagation with
significant plastic deformation
 Fatigue failure – slow crack growth by repeated cyclic
loading and unloading. Materials subject to fatigue can
fail at stresses much lower than ductile fracture
 Corrosion fatigue failure – combination of cyclic
loading and a corrosive environment
 Stress corrosion cracking – combination of non-cyclic
tensile stress and the effects of a chemical environment
 Wear failure – surface damage occurs due to wear
particles
 Complex failure – a combination of several failure
modes eg crack starts due to chemical effect but
ultimate failure due to fatigue
Calculating stresses
Why?
If the applied stress exceeds the failure
stress at a particular point, then the
structure will fail
If the applied stress exceeds the yield
stress at a particular point, then the
structure will deform
Calculating stresses

Analysis procedure

 Determine the mode of failure

 Find the maximum stress/strain
allowable (yield or UTS)
 Calculate the conditions under which
these stresses or strains are exceeded
Direct stress
Direct or normal stress

Force (N)
Stress σ =
A0 (mm2)

Can be either tension or compression

Example
Bending stress
A cantilevered beam is
subjected to a force at its
end
Force causes a bending
moment
Beam experiences tension
on one side and
compression on the other
Bending moment varies
along the length of the
beam with the largest
moment occurring at the
base
Bending stress
The stress due to
bending can be
calculated by
σ = My/I
where M is the applied
moment, y is the
distance from the
neutral axis and I is
the moment of inertia
Moment of inertia

moment of inertia is a body’s ability to

resist bending - - the larger the
moment of inertia, the less an object
will bend

polar moment of inertia (J) is a body’s

ability to resist torsion - the larger the
polar moment of inertia, the less an
object will twist
Moment of inertia

in a rigid body, the

gravitational forces on
the body can be
replaced by one single
force through its
centre of gravity
tables of the centroids
of common shapes
can be found in
textbooks
Moment of inertia

consider the point masses of

a body rotating around an
axis
I = r12∆m + … + rn2∆m
= ʃ r2dm
radius of gyration, k
k= I/m
Shear stress in response to bending

when there is shear

stress in bending,
τ = QV/Ib
where Q is the first
moment of area, V is
the shear force, I is
the moment of inertia
and b the width
τ is maximum at the
neutral axis and
minimum at the
surface
Torsional loading
when a shaft is twisted
torsion is created and
stresses (direct and
shear) are created
the maximum shear
stress in torsion occurs
at the surface
τ = Tr/J
where T is the applied
torque, r is the radial
distance and J the polar
moment of inertia
Torsional loading

the angle of twist can be

calculated by

θ = TI/GJ
Torsional loading

in torsion, there is also

normal stress (tension
and compression) which
is maximum at the
surface
the applied torque
creates spiralling stress
lines at the surface as
shown
these lead to helical
fractures when the
tensile stress > UTS
Combined loading

in practice, pure loading

of one type rarely occurs
eg the femur is subjected
to an off axis force
to calculate the stresses
due to combined loading,
the individual stresses
can be simply summed
Properties of some biological materials

 Bone
 Tendon
 Ligament
Properties of bone

 Bone is found in many forms but the usual

distinction is cortical and cancellous
 Cortical bone is dense and hard and is
usually on the surface of bones
 Cancellous bone is porous and makes up
the interior of most bones
Properties of
cortical bone

Properties vary
between longitudinal
and transverse
direction due to the
way the bone is
organised at the
microscopic level
Properties of
cortical bone

Properties vary
between longitudinal
and transverse
direction due to the
way the bone is
organised at the
microscopic level
Properties of cancellous bone

 More porous, weaker and less stiff

than cortical bone
 Properties vary depending on
microscopic structure
Properties of tendon

 Tendons connect muscle to bone

 Have the highest tensile strength of
all soft tissues
 Due to high collagen content (~86%
by weight) and fibre arrangement
Properties of tendon
Fibres are initially
crimped and as
they are subjected
to load, they
straighten – toe
region)
Tendons fail when
the fibres tear and
separate
 Properties of ligament
 connect bone to bone
 similar to tendon
 lower percentage of
collagen and more
random distribution
of collagen
 curve is similar to
tendon with low
stiffness toe region
and increasing
stiffness elastic
region
Bending
Torsion
Femur example
Hip implant