Torsion constant

Last updated
Main quantities involved in bar torsion:
th
{\displaystyle \theta }
is the angle of twist; T is the applied torque; L is the beam length. TorsionConstantBar.svg
Main quantities involved in bar torsion: is the angle of twist; T is the applied torque; L is the beam length.

The torsion constant or torsion coefficient is a geometrical property of a bar's cross-section. It is involved in the relationship between angle of twist and applied torque along the axis of the bar, for a homogeneous linear elastic bar. The torsion constant, together with material properties and length, describes a bar's torsional stiffness. The SI unit for torsion constant is m 4.

Contents

History

In 1820, the French engineer A. Duleau derived analytically that the torsion constant of a beam is identical to the second moment of area normal to the section Jzz, which has an exact analytic equation, by assuming that a plane section before twisting remains planar after twisting, and a diameter remains a straight line. Unfortunately, that assumption is correct only in beams with circular cross-sections, and is incorrect for any other shape where warping takes place. [1]

For non-circular cross-sections, there are no exact analytical equations for finding the torsion constant. However, approximate solutions have been found for many shapes. Non-circular cross-sections always have warping deformations that require numerical methods to allow for the exact calculation of the torsion constant. [2]

The torsional stiffness of beams with non-circular cross sections is significantly increased if the warping of the end sections is restrained by, for example, stiff end blocks. [3]

Formulation

For a beam of uniform cross-section along its length, the angle of twist (in radians) is:

where:

T is the applied torque
L is the beam length
G is the modulus of rigidity (shear modulus) of the material
J is the torsional constant

Inverting the previous relation, we can define two quantities; the torsional rigidity,

with SI units N⋅m2/rad

And the torsional stiffness,

with SI units N⋅m/rad

Examples

Bars with given uniform cross-sectional shapes are special cases.

Circle

[4]

where

r is the radius

This is identical to the second moment of area Jzz and is exact.

alternatively write: [4] where

D is the Diameter

Ellipse

[5] [6]

where

a is the major radius
b is the minor radius

Square

[5]

where

a is half the side length.

Rectangle

where

a is the length of the long side
b is the length of the short side
is found from the following table:
a/b
1.00.141
1.50.196
2.00.229
2.50.249
3.00.263
4.00.281
5.00.291
6.00.299
10.00.312
0.333

[7]

Alternatively the following equation can be used with an error of not greater than 4%:

[5]

where

a is the length of the long side
b is the length of the short side

Thin walled open tube of uniform thickness

[8]
t is the wall thickness
U is the length of the median boundary (perimeter of median cross section)

Circular thin walled open tube of uniform thickness

This is a tube with a slit cut longitudinally through its wall. Using the formula above:

[9]
t is the wall thickness
r is the mean radius

Related Research Articles

In physics, the cross section is a measure of the probability that a specific process will take place when some kind of radiant excitation intersects a localized phenomenon. For example, the Rutherford cross-section is a measure of probability that an alpha particle will be deflected by a given angle during an interaction with an atomic nucleus. Cross section is typically denoted σ (sigma) and is expressed in units of area, more specifically in barns. In a way, it can be thought of as the size of the object that the excitation must hit in order for the process to occur, but more exactly, it is a parameter of a stochastic process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogen atom</span> Atom of the element hydrogen

A hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. Atomic hydrogen constitutes about 75% of the baryonic mass of the universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutherford scattering</span> Elastic scattering of charged particles by the Coulomb force

In particle physics, Rutherford scattering is the elastic scattering of charged particles by the Coulomb interaction. It is a physical phenomenon explained by Ernest Rutherford in 1911 that led to the development of the planetary Rutherford model of the atom and eventually the Bohr model. Rutherford scattering was first referred to as Coulomb scattering because it relies only upon the static electric (Coulomb) potential, and the minimum distance between particles is set entirely by this potential. The classical Rutherford scattering process of alpha particles against gold nuclei is an example of "elastic scattering" because neither the alpha particles nor the gold nuclei are internally excited. The Rutherford formula further neglects the recoil kinetic energy of the massive target nucleus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radian</span> SI derived unit of angle

The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. It is defined such that one radian is the angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc that is equal in length to the radius. The unit was formerly an SI supplementary unit and is currently a dimensionless SI derived unit, defined in the SI as 1 rad = 1 and expressed in terms of the SI base unit metre (m) as rad = m/m. Angles without explicitly specified units are generally assumed to be measured in radians, especially in mathematical writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steradian</span> SI derived unit of solid angle

The steradian or square radian is the unit of solid angle in the International System of Units (SI). It is used in three dimensional geometry, and is analogous to the radian, which quantifies planar angles. Whereas an angle in radians, projected onto a circle, gives a length of a circular arc on the circumference, a solid angle in steradians, projected onto a sphere, gives the area of a spherical cap on the surface. The name is derived from the Greek στερεός stereos 'solid' + radian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torque</span> Turning force around an axis

In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force. It describes the rate of change of angular momentum that would be imparted to an isolated body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinetic theory of gases</span> Historic physical model of gases

The kinetic theory of gases is a simple, historically significant classical model of the thermodynamic behavior of gases, with which many principal concepts of thermodynamics were established. The model describes a gas as a large number of identical submicroscopic particles, all of which are in constant, rapid, random motion. Their size is assumed to be much smaller than the average distance between the particles. The particles undergo random elastic collisions between themselves and with the enclosing walls of the container. The basic version of the model describes the ideal gas, and considers no other interactions between the particles.

In geometry, a solid angle is a measure of the amount of the field of view from some particular point that a given object covers. That is, it is a measure of how large the object appears to an observer looking from that point. The point from which the object is viewed is called the apex of the solid angle, and the object is said to subtend its solid angle at that point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavendish experiment</span> Experiment measuring the force of gravity (1797–1798)

The Cavendish experiment, performed in 1797–1798 by English scientist Henry Cavendish, was the first experiment to measure the force of gravity between masses in the laboratory and the first to yield accurate values for the gravitational constant. Because of the unit conventions then in use, the gravitational constant does not appear explicitly in Cavendish's work. Instead, the result was originally expressed as the specific gravity of Earth, or equivalently the mass of Earth. His experiment gave the first accurate values for these geophysical constants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circular segment</span> Slice of a circle cut perpendicular to the radius

In geometry, a circular segment, also known as a disk segment, is a region of a disk which is "cut off" from the rest of the disk by a secant or a chord. More formally, a circular segment is a region of two-dimensional space that is bounded by a circular arc and by the circular chord connecting the endpoints of the arc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airy disk</span> Diffraction pattern in optics

In optics, the Airy disk and Airy pattern are descriptions of the best-focused spot of light that a perfect lens with a circular aperture can make, limited by the diffraction of light. The Airy disk is of importance in physics, optics, and astronomy.

In physics, circular motion is a movement of an object along the circumference of a circle or rotation along a circular arc. It can be uniform, with a constant rate of rotation and constant tangential speed, or non-uniform with a changing rate of rotation. The rotation around a fixed axis of a three-dimensional body involves the circular motion of its parts. The equations of motion describe the movement of the center of mass of a body, which remains at a constant distance from the axis of rotation. In circular motion, the distance between the body and a fixed point on its surface remains the same, i.e., the body is assumed rigid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cone</span> Geometric shape

A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base to a point called the apex or vertex.

The second moment of area, or second area moment, or quadratic moment of area and also known as the area moment of inertia, is a geometrical property of an area which reflects how its points are distributed with regard to an arbitrary axis. The second moment of area is typically denoted with either an or with a . In both cases, it is calculated with a multiple integral over the object in question. Its dimension is L (length) to the fourth power. Its unit of dimension, when working with the International System of Units, is meters to the fourth power, m4, or inches to the fourth power, in4, when working in the Imperial System of Units or the US customary system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torsion (mechanics)</span> Twisting of an object due to an applied torque

In the field of solid mechanics, torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque. Torsion is expressed in either the pascal (Pa), an SI unit for newtons per square metre, or in pounds per square inch (psi) while torque is expressed in newton metres (N·m) or foot-pound force (ft·lbf). In sections perpendicular to the torque axis, the resultant shear stress in this section is perpendicular to the radius.

The second polar moment of area, also known as "polar moment of inertia" or even "moment of inertia", is a quantity used to describe resistance to torsional deformation (deflection), in objects with an invariant cross-section and no significant warping or out-of-plane deformation. It is a constituent of the second moment of area, linked through the perpendicular axis theorem. Where the planar second moment of area describes an object's resistance to deflection (bending) when subjected to a force applied to a plane parallel to the central axis, the polar second moment of area describes an object's resistance to deflection when subjected to a moment applied in a plane perpendicular to the object's central axis. Similar to planar second moment of area calculations, the polar second moment of area is often denoted as . While several engineering textbooks and academic publications also denote it as or , this designation should be given careful attention so that it does not become confused with the torsion constant, , used for non-cylindrical objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circular arc</span> Part of a circle between two points

A circular arc is the arc of a circle between a pair of distinct points. If the two points are not directly opposite each other, one of these arcs, the minor arc, subtends an angle at the center of the circle that is less than π radians ; and the other arc, the major arc, subtends an angle greater than π radians. The arc of a circle is defined as the part or segment of the circumference of a circle. A straight line that connects the two ends of the arc is known as a chord of a circle. If the length of an arc is exactly half of the circle, it is known as a semicircular arc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pendulum (mechanics)</span> Free swinging suspended body

A pendulum is a body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back towards the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force acting on the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging it back and forth. The mathematics of pendulums are in general quite complicated. Simplifying assumptions can be made, which in the case of a simple pendulum allow the equations of motion to be solved analytically for small-angle oscillations.

The scattering length in quantum mechanics describes low-energy scattering. For potentials that decay faster than as , it is defined as the following low-energy limit:

In geometry, a fat object is an object in two or more dimensions, whose lengths in the different dimensions are similar. For example, a square is fat because its length and width are identical. A 2-by-1 rectangle is thinner than a square, but it is fat relative to a 10-by-1 rectangle. Similarly, a circle is fatter than a 1-by-10 ellipse and an equilateral triangle is fatter than a very obtuse triangle.

References

  1. Archie Higdon et al. "Mechanics of Materials, 4th edition".
  2. Advanced structural mechanics, 2nd Edition, David Johnson
  3. The Influence and Modelling of Warping Restraint on Beams
  4. 1 2 "Area Moment of Inertia." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/AreaMomentofInertia.html
  5. 1 2 3 Roark's Formulas for stress & Strain, 7th Edition, Warren C. Young & Richard G. Budynas
  6. Continuum Mechanics, Fridtjov Irjens, Springer 2008, p238, ISBN   978-3-540-74297-5
  7. Advanced Strength and Applied Elasticity, Ugural & Fenster, Elsevier, ISBN   0-444-00160-3
  8. Advanced Mechanics of Materials, Boresi, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN   0-471-55157-0
  9. Roark's Formulas for stress & Strain, 6th Edition, Warren C. Young