MHB Understanding Stress and Strain in Springs for Engineers

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The discussion focuses on understanding stress and strain in springs, particularly in the context of a mass impacting a flange and its subsequent deflection. Key assumptions include that the mass remains in contact with the flange during maximum deflection and that the forces in both sections of the spring are equal. Two methods are proposed for analyzing the problem, emphasizing conservation of energy and the application of Hooke's law. The conversation also highlights the importance of defining symbols like stress and strain, and mentions a broken link to additional course material. Overall, the thread aims to clarify the principles governing stress and strain in engineering applications.
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Rido12 said:
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Have no clue... :(

What's this, AP physics or some such? (Wondering)

Anyway, to make sense of this, we'll need to make a couple of assumptions, which we may want to reexamine later.

Here are the assumptions I would make - at least at first:
  1. When the mass hits the flange, it remains in contact with the flange up to its maximum deflection.
  2. At all times, the force in the top section is equal to the force in the bottom section.

Hints:

Both sections will deform as per Hooke's law.
The spring constants are given by Young's modulus for low-alloy-steel.
The energy transferred by the mass to achieve maximum deflection, would be given by the kinetic energy of the mass.
 
So I have two methods, not sure which was is right or wrong.

Method 1:

By conservation of energy:

$$mgh=0.5 \sigma_1^2 \frac{V_1}{E}+0.5 \sigma_2^2 \frac{V_2}{E}$$
$$T_1=T_2$$
$$\sigma_1^1A_1=\sigma_2^2A_2$$

Two equations, two unknowns.

Method 2:

http://skule.ca/courses/exams/custom/20099/CIV102_2009__1329360837.pdf

Number two on this document.

About this course...it is hard to explain. It's just a compilation of 3 undergraduate courses in 1. The final exam might give a good indication of what is covered:
http://skule.ca/courses/exams/bulk/20139/CIV102H1F_2013_STRUCTURES%20&%20MATERIALS-AN%20INTRODUCTION%20TO%20ENGINEERING%20DESIGN.PDF

I've been told that the problem set questions (such as this one) are much easier than the ones on the exam.
 
Rido12 said:
By conservation of energy:

$$mgh=0.5 \sigma_1^2 \frac{V_1}{E}+0.5 \sigma_2^2 \frac{V_2}{E}$$
$$T_1=T_2$$
$$\sigma_1^1A_1=\sigma_2^2A_2$$

What do your symbols mean? (Wondering)

Btw, your second link seems to be broken.
 
Starting with:
$$mgh=\frac{1}{2}\sigma_1\epsilon V_1+\frac{1}{2}\sigma_2\epsilon V_2$$

Where sigma is stress, and epsilon is strain. Now we know that strain = stress / Young's modulus, we can make the substitution to get the equation I got in my previous post.

The broken link is:
http://skule.ca/courses/exams/bulk/20139/CIV102H1F_2013_STRUCTURES%20&%20MATERIALS-AN%20INTRODUCTION%20TO%20ENGINEERING%20DESIGN.PDF
The URL doesn't work if you directly click on it, you have to copy + paste from editing my post
 
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