Elasticity/Torsion of circular cylinders

Torsion of Circular Cylinders edit

 
Torsion of a cylinder with a circular cross section

About the problem: edit

  • Circular Cylinder.
  • Centroidal axis thru the center of each cross section (c.s.)
  • Length  , Outer radius  .
  • Applied torque  .
  • Angle of twist  .

Assumptions: edit

  • Each c.s. remains plane and undistorted.
  • Each c.s. rotates through the same angle.
  • No warping or change in shape.
  • Amount of displacement of each c.s. is proportional to distance from end.

Find: edit

  • Shear strains in the cylinder ( ).
  • Shear stress in the cylinder ( ).
  • Relation between torque ( ) and angle of twist ( ).
  • Relation between torque ( ) and shear stress ( ).

Solution: edit

If   is small, then

 

Therefore,

 

If the material is linearly elastic,

 

Therefore,

 

The torque on each c.s. is given by

 

where   is the polar moment of inertia of the c.s.

 

Therefore,

 

and