Static and dynamic forces
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Flip to reveal answersName the five forces and what each does to a material.
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Question
Name the five forces and what each does to a material.
Answer
Compression squashes, tension stretches, shear slides one part across another along a plane, torsion twists about the long axis, and bending stretches one face while squashing the other.
Question
Why is bending not a separate kind of force?
Answer
A loaded beam is in tension along one face and compression along the other, with a neutral axis between where the stress is zero — which is why an I-beam has thick flanges and a thin web.
Question
Static vs dynamic forces?
Answer
Static forces are steady — self weight, a shelf of books, a parked car. Dynamic forces change — a person walking, wind gusting, a door slammed — and they cause fatigue at a fraction of the static load.
Question
Why is a closed tube so much better in torsion than a slotted one?
Answer
A closed section carries the twist as a continuous shear flow all the way round. Slotting it lengthways breaks that loop, so torsional stiffness collapses while bending stiffness barely changes.
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