Bearing stress is defined as the stress that results from the contact of two members.
The equation to
determine average bearing stress would be sigmab = P/A where P is the force applied to the
member, and A is the contact area of the object resisting the force. The SI unit for bearing stress is
Newton/meter2 which equates to Pascals (Pa)
A shear stress, denoted (tau), is defined as a stress which is applied parallel or
tangential to a face of a material, as opposed to a normal stress which is applied
perpendicularly. The forces of equal magnitude but opposite direction acts tangent to
the surface of opposite ends of the object.
This makes the formula to calculate shear stress
σs=Las
Where:
σs is the shear stress (Pa)
L is the external force/Load (N)
As is the shear area (m2)
Single and double
Single shear carries all load on one face whule double shear carries it on two faces, so stress is
lowere by a factor of 2 for a given load.
For example shear stress on a cantilever pin is V/A ( load/area, single shear) but on a pin between
two supports it is V/2A
Note that there are about 3 different ways shear stress can take place:
Single shear stress
o This is the most simple of the shear stresses.
o For a situation like (1), the shear force would be acting on the cross sectional area of the
bolt(blue).
o Thus, the shear area would be the bolt's CSA. Then simply apply the formula to calculate
the shear stress.
Double shear stress
o This is when a situation like (2) occurs.
o The shear force would still be acting on the CSA of the bolt, but it's on 2 different planes.
o Thus the shear area would be DOUBLE the bolt's CSA.
The stress which acts on the contact surface area between two members is known as
Bearing stress. An example for this is the stress between nut and the washer.
difference
Sear stress are forces applied in opposition, producing a shearing or tearing force. Bearing stress is
a load placed in one direction, such as the weight of a building bearing on the foundation.
A shear stress is effectively caused by two forces Parallel to each other and acting in opposite directions.
Literally think of how shears work.
A bearing stress is caused by the action of supporting a load on an area. It is similar to standard stress.
Often used in the design of plain bearings and bushes. In all cases the units are F/A (N/m^2 Pa etc)
