ME 3201: Design of Machine Element

August-November 2025

Dr. Manoj Pandey (mpandey@iitm.ac.in)

411 Machine Design Section
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Phone Ext. : 4658

Static Failure Theories

 These are Theories not absolutes

𝜎
× strain @ failure
𝜎
𝑆𝑦 ×
𝜖
Brittle 𝜖

/yield
Ductile higher
lower
factor of
factor of
safety
safety

Von Mises
Strength vs. Stress
Strength and stress both have units of force per area (e.g., MPa, psi).
Strength is a material property.
▪ Strength depends on material composition, heat treatment, and
processing.
▪ Tensile test:
▪ Test specimen is loaded in tension.
▪ Load and deflection are observed. Torsion test:
▪ Results plotted as a stress-strain diagram.
• Test specimen is loaded in torsion.
▪ Used to determine yield strength 𝑆𝑦 and ultimate tensile
• Load and deflection are observed.
strength 𝑆𝑢𝑡 .
▪ Compression test: • Results plotted as a torque-twist diagram.
▪ Similar to tensile test, but more difficult to conduct. • Used to determine torsional yield strength ( 𝑆𝑠𝑦 ) and
▪ Specimen may buckle during testing. modulus of rupture ( 𝑆𝑠𝑢 ).
▪ Stresses are difficult to distribute uniformly. Stress depends on load, geometry, and temperature.
▪ Ductile materials bulge after yielding. • Residual stresses occur when a region is constrained
▪ Used to determine ultimate compressive strength ( 𝑆𝑢𝑐 ). by adjacent regions from expanding, contracting, or
▪ For most ductile materials, compressive strengths are releasing elastic strains.
the same as tensile strengths. Tensile test video
Torsion test video
 • Proportional limit ( 𝑝𝑙 ): The point until which Hooke's Law can be applied.
𝑆𝑢𝑡 • Elastic limit (el): The point at which additional stress causes permanent
deformation.
𝑆𝑓 • Yield strength 𝑆𝑦 : The stress at which the material will retain a 0.2%
𝑒𝑙 𝑆𝑦 permanent elongation after the load is removed.
𝑝𝑙
nonuniform • Ultimate tensile strength ( 𝑆𝑢𝑡 ): The maximum stress the material can
withstand.
uniform plastic • Fracture limit 𝑆𝑓 : The point at which the material will fracture.
plastic necking • If load is removed in the elastic region, the material will return to its original
shape.
• If load is removed in the uniform plastic region, the material will retain
permanent deformation and strain hardening.
elastic • During strain hardening, the yield point is moved to the right on the
stress-strain curve. Moving the yield point to the right increases the
material's yield strength.
The stress-strain curve for a tensile test is shown above. Load 𝑃 is
applied to a tensile test specimen. The test specimen's initial cross- • The specimen's cross-sectional area decreases in the nonuniform plastic
necking region.
sectional area is 𝐴0 .
Label the stress-strain curve with the following.
Stress Torsion
𝜎𝑟 = 𝜎𝜃 = 𝜎𝑧 = 0
𝜏𝑟𝜃 = 𝜏𝑟𝑧 = 0
Uniaxial tension test 𝜏𝜃𝑧 = 𝐺𝛾𝜃𝑧
𝐹
𝐹
𝜎1 =
𝐴
𝜎2 = 𝜎3 = 0
𝑥 𝑧

𝜎1 𝜏𝜃𝑧
𝜎1 𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
2
2

𝐹 𝜎2 = -𝜏𝜃𝑧 𝜎1 = 𝜏𝜃𝑧
𝜎2 , 𝜎3 = 0 𝜎1
𝜎3 = 0
Failure Modes
𝜎1
𝜎1 𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
2
2
𝐹 𝜎2 , 𝜎3 = 0 𝜎1

Ductile failure of a mild steel specimen Brittle failure of a cast iron specimen

𝜏𝜃𝑧

𝜎2 = -𝜏𝜃𝑧 𝜎1 = 𝜏𝜃𝑧
❖ Ductile steel specimen fails in shear. Since torsion is a pure shear loading, the
failure is along the maximum shear plane (plane normal to axis)
𝜎3 = 0
❖ Brittle cast iron specimen fails along a 45o plane to the specimen axis as the
failure is along the planes of maximum normal stress as the material is weak in
tension
Maximum Shear Stress theory for ductile materials
𝜎1 − 𝜎3 Uniaxial tension test
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
2
𝑆𝑦
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
The Maximum Shear Stress (MSS) theory states that a component fails (yields) when 2 𝑠𝑦
the maximum shear stress at any location in the component to is greater than, or equal to,
the maximum shear stress in a tension test specimen when that specimen starts to yield. 𝜎3 𝜎2 𝜎1 0
The failure criterion for the MSS theory is:
𝑆𝑦 𝑆𝑦
𝑛= =
𝜎1 − 𝜎3 2𝜏max

Mohr circle needed to come up with 𝜎1 , 𝜎3 and 𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥

The yield envelope for the MSS theory is shown in Figure 7 for a plane stress state.

• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 ≥ 0: 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 , 𝜎2 = 𝜎𝐵 and 𝜎3 = 0.
Failure Not
Predicted
𝑆𝑦 𝑆𝑦
𝑛= =
𝜎1 𝜎𝐴
𝜎𝐵
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 : 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 , 𝜎2 = 0 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 .
𝑆𝑦 𝑆𝑦
0
𝑛= =𝜎𝐴
𝜎1 − 𝜎3 𝜎𝐴 − 𝜎𝐵

• For 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 : 𝜎1 = 0, 𝜎2 = 𝜎𝐴 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 .
𝑆𝑦 𝑆𝑦
𝑛= =
−𝜎3 −𝜎𝐵
 Distortion Energy theory for ductile
materials

The Distortion Energy (DE) theory states that a component fails (yields)
when the distortion strain energy per unit volume in the component is greater
than, or equal to, the distortion strain energy per unit volume in a tension test
specimen when that specimen starts to yield.

Consider a stress element subjected to principal stresses 𝜎1 , 𝜎2 , and 𝜎3 .

The principal stresses can be separated into two components (see Figure 8).

• The hydrostatic stress ( 𝜎avg ) causes only volume change.

𝜎1 + 𝜎2 + 𝜎3
𝜎𝑎𝑣𝑔 =
3
• The distortional component causes only angular distortion.

The DE theory suggests that it is the distortional component that leads to

failure.
 DE: Used for failure investigation
The failure criterion for the DE theory is: MSS: Used for Design
𝑆𝑦
𝑛=
𝜎′
The von Mises stress ( 𝜎 ′ ) is:

𝜎1 − 𝜎2 2 + 𝜎2 − 𝜎3 2 + 𝜎3 − 𝜎1 2
′
𝜎 =
2
2 2 2 2 + 𝜏2 + 𝜏2
′
𝜎𝑥 − 𝜎𝑦 + 𝜎𝑦 − 𝜎𝑧 + 𝜎𝑧 − 𝜎𝑥 + 6 𝜏𝑥𝑦 𝑦𝑧 𝑥𝑧
𝜎 =
2

For a plane stress state, the von Mises stress is:

𝜎′ = 𝜎𝐴2 − 𝜎𝐴 𝜎𝐵 + 𝜎𝐵2

A comparison of yield envelopes for the MSS theory and the DE theory
is seen in Figure 9.
Coulomb-Mohr theory for ductile materials

The Ductile Coulomb-Mohr (DCM) theory applies to

ductile materials with different compressive and tensile
strengths.
Mohr failure curve
• For some magnesium alloys, 𝑆𝑢𝑡 is about twice 𝑆𝑢𝑐 .
• For gray cast irons, 𝑆𝑢𝑐 is three or four times 𝑆𝑢𝑡 .

1900 -𝑆𝑐 𝑆𝑡
The Mohr theory was developed as a graphical method. tension
Compression shear

• Based on three simple tests: tension, compression, and

shear.
• The failure curve is tangent to the three Mohr's circles.
The Coulomb-Mohr theory is based on two simple tests:
tension and compression.
• The failure curve is a straight line.
• It is easier to calculate the shear yield strength Coulomb-Mohr failure
than measure it: 𝑺𝒔𝒚 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟕𝑺𝒚 curve

-𝑆𝑐 𝑆𝑡
Compression tension
The failure criterion for the DCM theory is:

1 𝜎1 𝜎3
= −
𝑛 𝑆𝑦𝑡 𝑆𝑦𝑐

The failure criterion for the DCM theory can be visualized using a
Failure
yield envelope for a plane stress state (see Figure 6).
Predicted
𝜏
𝜎2 = 𝜎 𝐵 (𝜎𝐴 , 𝜎 𝐵 )
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 ≥ 0: 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 , 𝜎2 = 𝜎𝐵 and 𝜎3 = 0. 𝜎3 = 0
𝜎1 = 𝜎 𝐴 ×
𝑆𝑦𝑡 𝑆𝑦𝑡 𝜎
Failure Not
𝑛= =
𝜎1 𝜎𝐴
Predicted
𝜏
𝜎3 = 𝜎 𝐵
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 : 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 , 𝜎2 = 0 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 . 𝜎1 = 𝜎 𝐴
1 𝜎1 𝜎3 𝜎𝐴 𝜎𝐵 𝜎
= − = −
𝑛 𝑆𝑦𝑡 𝑆𝑦𝑐 𝑆𝑦𝑡 𝑆𝑦𝑐 𝜎2 = 0

𝜏
𝜎3 = 𝜎 𝐵
• For 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 : 𝜎1 = 0, 𝜎2 = 𝜎𝐴 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 . 𝜎2 = 𝜎 𝐴
𝑆𝑦𝑐 𝑆𝑦𝑐 𝜎
𝑛= =
−𝜎3 −𝜎𝐵 𝜎1 = 0
 Coulomb-Mohr theory for brittle materials

The Brittle Coulomb-Mohr (BCM) theory is identical to the DCM theory, except the
material's ultimate tensile strength ( 𝑆𝑢𝑡 ) and ultimate compressive strength ( 𝑆𝑢𝑐 ) are used
instead of the tensile yield strength ( 𝑆𝑦𝑐 ) and compressive yield strength ( 𝑆𝑦𝑐 ).

The failure envelope for the BCM theory is seen in Figure 10 for a plane stress state.
Failure Not
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 ≥ 0, 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 and 𝜎3 = 0. Predicted
𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑡
𝑛= =
𝜎1 𝜎𝐴

• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 , 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 .
1 𝜎1 𝜎3 𝜎𝐴 𝜎𝐵
= − = −
𝑛 𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑐 𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑐

• For 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 , 𝜎1 = 0 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 .
𝑆𝑢𝑐 𝑆𝑢𝑐
𝑛= =
−𝜎3 −𝜎𝐵
Modified Mohr theory for brittle
materials
The Modified Mohr (MM) theory was proposed based on observed data.
For a plane stress state, the MM theory is identical to the BCM theory in
the first and third quadrants.
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 ≥ 0, 𝜎1 = 𝜎𝐴 and 𝜎3 = 0.
𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑡
𝑛= =
𝜎1 𝜎𝐴
• For 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 , 𝜎1 = 0 and 𝜎3 = 𝜎𝐵 .
𝑆𝑢𝑐 𝑆𝑢𝑐
𝑛= =
−𝜎3 −𝜎𝐵
The MM theory differs from the BCM theory in the second and fourth
quadrants.
𝜎𝐵
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 and ≤1
𝜎𝐴
𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑡
𝑛= =
𝜎1 𝜎𝐴
𝜎𝐵
• For 𝜎𝐴 ≥ 0 ≥ 𝜎𝐵 and >1
𝜎𝐴

1 𝑆𝑢𝑐 − 𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝜎𝐴 𝜎𝐵 𝑆𝑢𝑐 − 𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝜎1 𝜎3

= − = −
𝑛 𝑆𝑢𝑐 𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑐 𝑆𝑢𝑐 𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑐
used for used for used for
failure design failure
investigation investigation
& design

used for
used for
design
failure
investigation