Filament torsional stiffness Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
For an isotropic elastic rod with shear modulus , polar second moment of area , and twist rate , the torque is and the energy per length is . For a circular section of radius , . This material twist stiffness is distinct from the energy of bending filament centerlines into a helix.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 Section C 12 Solution 2026-10-20
Use positive normal stress for tension. On a small rectangular material element, is the normal force per unit area on the face perpendicular to axis , and is the corresponding normal strain. Young's modulus is the ratio of axial normal stress to axial strain in uniaxial stress; Poisson's ratio is minus the transverse-to-axial strain ratio in the same test. Thus isotropic linear elasticity gives and cyclic permutations. The stress symbols here follow the question; denotes Poisson's ratio, not a stress component.
For , the two transverse compliance equations imply . Substitution into the first givesThis uniaxial strain modulus is greater than the uniaxial-stress Young's modulus for the positive Poisson's ratio of interest, because the lateral constraints prevent free Poisson contraction.
For a small twist , the bonded faces' relative tangential displacement at radius is . The layer's shear strain is , so the shear stress is . Integrating the torque givesThe minus sign denotes a restoring torque; the question quotes its magnitude. This uses the disk's polar second moment of area.
For tilt about H, choose in the plate perpendicular to H. The vertical displacement of the bonded top face is to first order, giving normal strain . The thin layer is constrained laterally by bonding, so its leading normal traction is , not . Integrating its moment about H givessince the diametric second moment of area is . This is the specified thin-layer approximation to the torsion and tilt stiffness of a bonded elastic disk. Relaxation near the free cylindrical edge is neglected; for a nearly incompressible layer it can limit quantitative accuracy unless the thinness is sufficient.
The thin square plate's moment of inertia about V is . Its two perpendicular in-plane central moments are equal and sum to , so the diagonal H has . Dividing the two angular stiffnesses by the appropriate moments of inertia givesThe geometry factors cancel in their ratio. Using the supplied relation between shear modulus and Young's modulus,The result lies just below the incompressible isotropic limit , as expected for a rubber with a large compression stiffness compared with its shear modulus. It is an inference within the bonded-layer model, rather than an independently measured material constant.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 2 Section B B9 Solution 2026-10-20
Elasticity describes recoverable deformation. For small displacements , the infinitesimal strain tensor is the symmetric part of the displacement gradient,Its diagonal entries describe extension, while its off-diagonal entries describe shear. The engineering shear strain is ; the antisymmetric part of the displacement gradient is a small rigid rotation, not elastic strain.
The stress tensor specifies the force per unit area on each oriented plane: . Positive normal stress is tensile in the convention used here; tangential traction gives shear stress. In the absence of internal couples, angular-momentum balance makes the stress tensor symmetric. Force balance gives in static equilibrium, where is body force per unit volume.
Linear elasticity relates stress and strain. A homogeneous isotropic solid needs two independent elastic constants:Here is the shear modulus and is the other Lamé parameter. For uniaxial loading, Young's modulus is , with lateral contraction described by Poisson's ratio . The bulk modulus is for a small hydrostatic compression. The relations between these constants areStable isotropic elastic strain energy density requires and , implying . The incompressible limit is approached as . Anisotropic crystals generally need more constants; the isotropic relations should not be imposed on arbitrary directions in such a crystal.
The elastic energy density is . In the isotropic linear model this becomes . The quadratic form explains why reversible loading stores energy and unloading can return it, unlike plastic deformation or a dissipative hysteresis cycle.
For a slender beam described by the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation, plane sections approximately remain plane. A fibre a distance from the neutral axis has axial strain , where is curvature, and stress . Integrating its moment about the neutral axis gives, with consistent signs, is a second moment of area, with units of length to the fourth power; it is not a mass moment of inertia. For a rectangular section of width and thickness , , explaining the strong dependence of bending stiffness on thickness. For small transverse deflection , curvature is approximately , and the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation is with a suitable load-sign convention. A cantilever of length under end load has tip deflection and largest bending stress of magnitude , where is the furthest distance from the neutral axis.
In torsion of a solid circular shaft, a cross-section rotated by angle has shear strain . ThereforeHere is the polar second moment of area. A uniform shaft of length under constant torque twists by , and its largest shear stress is . Noncircular sections can warp, so replacing their torsional stiffness by times their polar area moment is not generally valid. Both bending and torsion formulas presume small, elastic deformations; exceeding the elastic limit can produce permanent deformation or fracture.
Power is transmitted at rate , soFor , and , the polar second moment of area is . HenceThe density does not enter this static torsional deformation.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2018 Paper 1 Section C C12 Solution 2026-10-18
Compression and stretch viewed on rotated faces. To isolate shear, take equal small principal strains , . A square with sides at to these directions becomes a rhombus: adjacent side lengths are unchanged to first order, but their right angle changes by . In axes rotated through , the same strain tensor has zero diagonal entries and off-diagonal entries of magnitude .
The pure shear from opposite principal strains therefore has engineering shear strain , not . Equal opposite principal stresses give purely tangential traction of magnitude on those rotated faces. HenceIf the compression and stretch are not equal and opposite, an additional dilatational strain remains; their deviatoric part still supplies shear.
Original comparison of compression and transverse extension with the same stress resolved as shear on faces rotated through 45 degrees; deformation is exaggerated
. Details. The shaft's torsional stiffness. At radius , an end twist over length gives tangential displacement and shear angle . The local shear stress is . An annular area contributes torque , soThus torsion of a solid circular shaft givesHere is the polar second moment of area, in , not a mass moment of inertia. This is the transmitted torque magnitude; the shaft's restoring couple opposes the twist. The formula assumes small elastic shear and a circular uniform section.
Shear modulus Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
The shear modulus is the ratio of shear stress to small engineering shear strain in an isotropic linear elastic material:For a slab of thickness whose upper face moves sideways by while the lower face is fixed, . A tangential force distributed over face area gives . Thus in the uniform-shear idealization. Its units are pressure, and the engineering convention gives in terms of the infinitesimal strain tensor.
An experiment on the torsion of a solid circular shaft measures the same parameter through torque and end rotation: for shaft length and polar second moment of area , . This separates material resistance to shear strain from the specimen's geometric resistance to twisting. In isotropic linear elasticity, , where is Young's modulus and is Poisson's ratio.
A circular elastic layer of thickness bonded between rigid faces develops shear strain under a relative twist . Integrating the shear stress times its moment arm gives . A small relative tilt produces longitudinal strain ; when lateral deformation is constrained, the corresponding normal traction gives . The polar second moment of area is and the diametric second moment of area is . Edge relaxation limits this thin-layer approximation, especially in a nearly incompressible material.
Torsion of a solid circular shaft Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-11-05
A circular shaft twisted uniformly through small end angle over length has local engineering shear strain at radius . Its shear stress is , so the integrated torque is , using the polar second moment of area. The restoring torque has the opposite sign to the imposed twist. The stored elastic energy is . The circular cross-section is important: general noncircular sections can warp and have a different torsion constant.

