Shear strength

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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 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. For example, beams, plates, bolts etc. In a reinforced concrete beam, the main purpose of stirrups is to increase the shear strength.

For shear stress $τ$ applies

$\tau = \frac {\sigma_1 - \sigma_2}{2} ,$

where

σ 1

is major principal stress

σ 2

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 force and area, example-bolt shear strength:

$\tau = \frac {F}{A} = \frac {F}{\pi r_{bolt}^2} = \frac {4F}{\pi d_{bolt}^2}$

[edit] See also

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