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Shear modulus
Shear modulus
from Wikipedia
Shear modulus
Common symbols
G, S, μ
SI unitPa
Derivations from
other quantities
G = τ / γ = E / [2(1 + ν)]
Shear strain

In materials science, shear modulus or modulus of rigidity, denoted by G, or sometimes S or μ, is a measure of the elastic shear stiffness of a material and is defined as the ratio of shear stress to the shear strain:[1]

where

= shear stress
is the force which acts
is the area on which the force acts
= shear strain. In engineering , elsewhere
is the transverse displacement
is the initial length of the area.

The derived SI unit of shear modulus is the pascal (Pa), although it is usually expressed in gigapascals (GPa) or in thousand pounds per square inch (ksi). Its dimensional form is M1L−1T−2, replacing force by mass times acceleration.

Explanation

[edit]
Material Typical values for
shear modulus (GPa)
(at room temperature)
Diamond[2] 478.0
Steel[3] 79.3
Iron[4] 52.5
Copper[5] 44.7
Titanium[3] 41.4
Glass[3] 26.2
Aluminium[3] 25.5
Polyethylene[3] 0.117
Rubber[6] 0.0006
Granite[7][8] 24
Shale[7][8] 1.6
Limestone[7][8] 24
Chalk[7][8] 3.2
Sandstone[7][8] 0.4
Wood 4

The shear modulus is one of several quantities for measuring the stiffness of materials. All of them arise in the generalized Hooke's law:

  • Young's modulus E describes the material's strain response to uniaxial stress in the direction of this stress (like pulling on the ends of a wire or putting a weight on top of a column, with the wire getting longer and the column losing height),
  • the Poisson's ratio ν describes the response in the directions orthogonal to this uniaxial stress (the wire getting thinner and the column thicker),
  • the bulk modulus K describes the material's response to (uniform) hydrostatic pressure (like the pressure at the bottom of the ocean or a deep swimming pool),
  • the shear modulus G describes the material's response to shear stress (like cutting it with dull scissors).

These moduli are not independent, and for isotropic materials they are connected via the equations[9]

The shear modulus is concerned with the deformation of a solid when it experiences a force perpendicular to one of its surfaces while its opposite face experiences an opposing force (such as friction). In the case of an object shaped like a rectangular prism, it will deform into a parallelepiped. Anisotropic materials such as wood, paper and also essentially all single crystals exhibit differing material response to stress or strain when tested in different directions. In this case, one may need to use the full tensor-expression of the elastic constants, rather than a single scalar value.

One possible definition of a fluid would be a material with zero shear modulus.

Shear waves

[edit]
Influences of selected glass component additions on the shear modulus of a specific base glass.[10]

In homogeneous and isotropic solids, there are two kinds of waves, pressure waves and shear waves. The velocity of a shear wave, is controlled by the shear modulus,

where

G is the shear modulus
is the solid's density.

Shear modulus of metals

[edit]
Shear modulus of copper as a function of temperature. The experimental data[11][12] are shown with colored symbols.

The shear modulus of metals is usually observed to decrease with increasing temperature. At high pressures, the shear modulus also appears to increase with the applied pressure. Correlations between the melting temperature, vacancy formation energy, and the shear modulus have been observed in many metals.[13]

Several models exist that attempt to predict the shear modulus of metals (and possibly that of alloys). Shear modulus models that have been used in plastic flow computations include:

  1. the Varshni-Chen-Gray model developed by[14] and used in conjunction with the Mechanical Threshold Stress (MTS) plastic flow stress model.[15][16]
  2. the Steinberg-Cochran-Guinan (SCG) shear modulus model developed by[17] and used in conjunction with the Steinberg-Cochran-Guinan-Lund (SCGL) flow stress model.
  3. the Nadal and LePoac (NP) shear modulus model[12] that uses Lindemann theory to determine the temperature dependence and the SCG model for pressure dependence of the shear modulus.

Varshni-Chen-Gray model

[edit]

The Varshni-Chen-Gray model (sometimes referred to as the Varshni equation) has the form:

where is the shear modulus at , and and are material constants.

SCG model

[edit]

The Steinberg-Cochran-Guinan (SCG) shear modulus model is pressure dependent and has the form

where, μ0 is the shear modulus at the reference state (T = 300 K, p = 0, η = 1), p is the pressure, and T is the temperature.

NP model

[edit]

The Nadal-Le Poac (NP) shear modulus model is a modified version of the SCG model. The empirical temperature dependence of the shear modulus in the SCG model is replaced with an equation based on Lindemann melting theory. The NP shear modulus model has the form:

where

and μ0 is the shear modulus at absolute zero and ambient pressure, ζ is an area, m is the atomic mass, and f is the Lindemann constant.

Shear relaxation modulus

[edit]

The shear relaxation modulus is the time-dependent generalization of the shear modulus[18] :

.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
The shear modulus, also known as the modulus of rigidity and denoted by G, is a fundamental measure of a material's elastic against shear deformation, defined as the ratio of applied to the resulting shear strain within the linear elastic regime. Shear deformation occurs when tangential forces cause adjacent layers of a material to slide relative to one another, such as in torsion or parallel displacement scenarios. In mathematical terms, the shear modulus relates τ (force per unit area) to shear strain γ (the angular distortion, often approximated as γ ≈ tan θ for small angles θ) through the Hookean linear relationship τ = G γ, where γ is dimensionless, giving G units of pressure, such as pascals (Pa) in the SI system. This constant is interconnected with other elastic properties, including Young's modulus (which measures axial stiffness) and ν (which quantifies lateral contraction under axial load), via the relation G = E / [2(1 + ν)], allowing estimation from tensile test data. The shear modulus plays a critical role in and , characterizing a material's resistance to shear distortion and enabling predictions of behavior under loads like torsion in shafts, beams, or structural components. Values vary widely by material—for instance, metals like exhibit high G around 80 GPa, indicating rigidity, while softer materials like rubber have much lower values near 0.01 GPa, reflecting flexibility—making it essential for selecting materials in applications from structures to geotechnical analysis. It is typically determined experimentally through torsion tests or dynamic methods, ensuring accurate modeling of elastic limits before yielding or deformation occurs.

Fundamentals

Definition

The shear modulus, denoted by GG, is defined as the ratio of shear stress τ\tau to shear strain γ\gamma for a material undergoing simple shear deformation, expressed mathematically as G=τγ.G = \frac{\tau}{\gamma}. This constant quantifies the material's resistance to shearing forces that cause layers to slide parallel to each other./20%3A_Miscellaneous/20.03%3A_Shear_Modulus_and_Torsion_Constant) Shear deformation represents a distortion of the material's shape without altering its volume, as the trace of the infinitesimal strain tensor is zero in pure shear, distinguishing it from tensile or compressive deformations that primarily involve changes in length and potentially volume. In the International System of Units (SI), the shear modulus is measured in pascals (Pa), equivalent to newtons per square meter (N/m²), though values for engineering materials are often reported in gigapascals (GPa) due to their magnitude./20%3A_Miscellaneous/20.03%3A_Shear_Modulus_and_Torsion_Constant) The concept was introduced by Thomas Young in 1807 as part of his work on elastic constants in "A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts," where he described shear deformation and its associated modulus. Early experimental measurements of the shear modulus were conducted by Guillaume Wertheim in 1848 through studies on the elasticity of homogeneous solid bodies. For homogeneous and isotropic materials, where properties are uniform and independent of direction, the shear modulus is a scalar quantity. In anisotropic materials, such as or composites, it takes the form of a fourth-rank tensor to account for direction-dependent stiffness.

Relation to Other Moduli

In isotropic linear elastic materials, the shear modulus GG is interrelated with other elastic constants, such as EE and ν\nu, through the equation G=E2(1+ν)G = \frac{E}{2(1 + \nu)}. This relation arises from the equivalence of under uniaxial tension and deformation, ensuring consistency in the Hookean constitutive laws for isotropic solids. Similarly, GG connects to the KK via G=3K(12ν)2(1+ν)G = \frac{3K(1 - 2\nu)}{2(1 + \nu)}, which derives from the volumetric response under hydrostatic stress and the incompressibility limit approached as ν0.5\nu \to 0.5. These interdependencies extend to the , where the shear modulus corresponds directly to the second Lamé constant μ=G\mu = G, while the first Lamé constant λ\lambda relates to the through K=λ+23μK = \lambda + \frac{2}{3}\mu. This formulation parameterizes the isotropic compactly, with λ\lambda capturing the coupling between normal strains and the resistance to uniform compression. For thermodynamic stability in isotropic materials, the must be positive definite, constraining to 1<ν<0.5-1 < \nu < 0.5, which in turn requires G>0G > 0 to prevent unphysical negative stiffness. As an illustrative example, for typical with E200E \approx 200 GPa and ν0.3\nu \approx 0.3, the shear modulus computes to G77G \approx 77 GPa using the relation with . In anisotropic materials, such as cubic crystals, the shear modulus is not a single scalar but involves direction-dependent components; notably, the stiffness constant C44C_{44} represents a key shear modulus for specific orientations, like shear in the {100} plane.

Physical Properties and Behavior

Shear Waves and Propagation

Shear waves, also known as S-waves, are transverse elastic waves that propagate through solids, characterized by particle displacements perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. Unlike longitudinal waves, these transverse motions induce shear stresses in the medium, making the shear modulus a key parameter governing their behavior. This perpendicular motion distinguishes S-waves from other seismic or acoustic waves and underscores their sensitivity to the material's resistance to shearing deformation. The propagation speed of shear waves in an isotropic elastic solid is determined by the formula vs=Gρv_s = \sqrt{\frac{G}{\rho}}
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