Tumukunde Dan Uganda Petroleum Institute - Kigumba Email: danj2006k@yahoo.co.

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What are von mises stresses exactly? Von Mises Stress is actually a misnomer. It refers to a theory called the "Von Mises - Hencky criterion for ductile failure". In an elastic body that is subject to a system of loads in 3 dimensions, a complex 3 dimensional system of stresses is developed (as you might imagine). That is, at any point within the body there are stresses acting in different directions, and the direction and magnitude of stresses changes from point to point. The Von Mises criterion is a formula for calculating whether the stress combination at a given point will cause failure. There are three "Principal Stresses" that can be calculated at any point, acting in the x, y, and z directions. (The x,y, and z directions are the "principal axes" for the point and their orientation changes from point to point, but that is a technical issue.) Von Mises found that, even though none of the principal stresses exceeds the yield stress of the material, it is possible for yielding to result from the combination of stresses. The Von Mises criteria is a formula for combining these 3 stresses into an equivalent stress, which is then compared to the yield stress of the material. (The yield stress is a known property of the material, and is usually considered to be the failure stress.) The equivalent stress is often called the "Von Mises Stress" as a shorthand description. It is not really a stress, but a number that is used as an index. If the "Von Mises Stress" exceeds the yield stress, then the material is considered to be at the failure condition. The formula is actually pretty simple, if you want to know it: (S1-S2)^2 + (S2-S3)^2 + (S3-S1)^2 = 2Se^2 Where S1, S2 and S3 are the principal stresses and Se is the equivalent stress, or "Von Mises Stress". Finding the principal stresses at any point in the body is the tricky part. OR

For an element subject to principal stresses 1,2,3 this theory states that yielding begins

(1-2)^2 + (2-3)^2 + (1-3)^2 = 2((yp)^2 where yp is the yield point of the material. Then, yp =
(12)^2 + (23)^2 + (13)^2 2

The theory states that a ductile material starts to yield at a location when the von Mises stress becomes equal to the stress limit. In most cases, the yield strength is used as the stress limit. However, the ultimate tensile or set your own stress limit. yp limit Yeild strength is a temperature dependant property. This specified value of the yield strength should consider the temperature of the component. The factor of safety at a location is calculated from: Factor Of Safety(FOS) =
limit yp

yp can also be termed von mises stress arge factors of safety in a region indicate that you can save material from that region.
o o o o

A factor of safety less than 1.0 at a location indicates that the material at that location has failed. A factor of safety of 1.0 at a location indicates that the material at that location has just started to fail. A factor of safety larger than 1.0 at a location indicates that the material at that location is safe. The material at a location will start to fail if you apply new loads equal to the current loads multiplied by the resulting factor of safety.