shear strength vs. shear resistance

English translation: limit vs. proportion - see detailed answer

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:shear strength vs. shear resistance
Selected answer:limit vs. proportion - see detailed answer
Entered by: B D Finch

15:31 Apr 1, 2009
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Construction / Civil Engineering
English term or phrase: shear strength vs. shear resistance
This question is for any engineers out there. Definitely not for guessing by lay-persons.

Are these two terms interchangeable? If there is any difference, then how might one know which to use to translate "résistance au cisaillement"?
B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:42
shear strength vs. shear resistance
Explanation:
I have already seen sources where the two concepts were treated as synonyms and where they were not. In my experience, it is commoner to consider them as synonyms, meaning the limiting value of shear stress that an object can withstand.
A 4-language physics dictionary published by Verlag (predecessor of Springer-Verlag) in 1973 lists them as synonyms.
Tear strength and tear resistance are used as synonyms here: http://www.rlhudson.com/O-Ring Book/selecting-physical6.html
And a lot of other sources can be found.

However, a case can be made for the other interpretation, too. The argument goes like this:
When a body is subject to a shear force, a shear strain (deformation) occurs. For small enough forces there is a linear relationship between the two: if the applied force is twice as large, the resulting strain will be twice as large as well. The "shear resistance" is the physical parameter that describes this proportional relationship. (How much the material resists against shearing.)
When the same body is subjected to very large shear forces, a significant plastic deformation, yielding, or some other qualitative change occurs. The "shear strength" parameter is this limit value.


All that to say: there is not a hard and fast answer to your question. Take a look at the context, and if it is clear that "résistance au cisaillement" refers to a limiting value, then you can safely go with "shear strength". Otherwise you can opt for "shear resistance", which is also an established term. However, you may wish to check with the client whether a limiting value is meant - otherwise by using "shear resistance" you will just pass the dilemma to the reader.
Selected response from:

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 02:42
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +1shear strength vs. shear resistance
Jennifer Levey
4shear strength vs. shear resistance
Attila Piróth
4Please see explanation:
eski


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
shear strength vs. shear resistance


Explanation:
Simplifying somewhat, we can say that 'shear resistance' is a property of the material used to make something (a wooden beam or a concrete slab, for example), whereas the shear strength is a characteristic of the completed beam or slab (or whatever) under conditions of normal use.

Consequently if you made two beams of different cross-sectional areas using the same mix of concrete (i.e. having the same shear resistance) you would get two different values of shear strength.

In practice a trade-off can often be made between the two parameters; for example, making a thinner beam with concrete of high shear resistance (which will likely be more expensive / m2 of cross-section) or a thicker beam of possibly cheaper concrete.

Assuming 'résistance au cisaillement' is being used correctly in the French text, then the translation will be 'shear resistance'.

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 20:42
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks mm. See my note to Attila. I don't know how to choose between your equally convincing answers!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gary D
4 hrs
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16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
shear strength vs. shear resistance


Explanation:
I have already seen sources where the two concepts were treated as synonyms and where they were not. In my experience, it is commoner to consider them as synonyms, meaning the limiting value of shear stress that an object can withstand.
A 4-language physics dictionary published by Verlag (predecessor of Springer-Verlag) in 1973 lists them as synonyms.
Tear strength and tear resistance are used as synonyms here: http://www.rlhudson.com/O-Ring Book/selecting-physical6.html
And a lot of other sources can be found.

However, a case can be made for the other interpretation, too. The argument goes like this:
When a body is subject to a shear force, a shear strain (deformation) occurs. For small enough forces there is a linear relationship between the two: if the applied force is twice as large, the resulting strain will be twice as large as well. The "shear resistance" is the physical parameter that describes this proportional relationship. (How much the material resists against shearing.)
When the same body is subjected to very large shear forces, a significant plastic deformation, yielding, or some other qualitative change occurs. The "shear strength" parameter is this limit value.


All that to say: there is not a hard and fast answer to your question. Take a look at the context, and if it is clear that "résistance au cisaillement" refers to a limiting value, then you can safely go with "shear strength". Otherwise you can opt for "shear resistance", which is also an established term. However, you may wish to check with the client whether a limiting value is meant - otherwise by using "shear resistance" you will just pass the dilemma to the reader.

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 02:42
Does not meet criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian
PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: Now you've got me really confused! I thought that a material either had sheared or it hadn't. I can see a relationship between your answer and mediamatrix's, but they are quite different and I simply don't know which of your explanations is correct.

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46 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Please see explanation:


Explanation:
Hi BD: I know of no simple way to substitute these terms, but I will say that they are distinct and not synonymous. Shear strength refers to the total load capacity of the member (or material) and takes into account many factors which ultimately imply an imposed displacement of ductility; shear resistance may refer (for example) to the loss of anchorage in reinforcement.


"The previous result indicates that the proposed shear strength
model can be improved by introducing a ductility-related factor k
similar to that used by Aschheim and Moehle (1992); Priestley et
al. (1994); and FEMA 273 (1997). It should be noted, however,
that those shear strength models apply the factor k only to the
concrete contribution based on the understanding that a crack
opening in the concrete leads to degradation of its load-carrying
capacity while the reinforcement does not degrade. As shown in
Fig. 5, concrete damage in the study columns is likely to lead to
loss of anchorage of the transverse reinforcement and therefore to
some degradation in its contribution to shear resistance. Similarly,
viewed in terms of a truss model, degradation of the concrete also
leads to reduction in bond capacity for the longitudinal reinforcement
and transverse reinforcement, so that the truss mechanism
strength is reduced."
http://www.ceegs.ohio-state.edu/~sezen/Publication_docs/ASCE...


Saludos :))


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Note added at 1 day1 hr (2009-04-02 17:26:16 GMT)
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Shear strength
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Shear strength in engineering is a term used to describe the strength of a material or component against the type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails in shear.

In structural and mechanical engineering the shear strength of a component is important for designing the dimensions and materials to be used for the manufacture/construction of the component (e.g. beams, plates, or bolts) In a reinforced concrete beam, the main purpose of stirrups is to increase the shear strength.

For shear stress τ applies


where

σ1 is major principal stress
σ2 is minor principal stress
In general: ductile materials fail in shear (ex. aluminum), whereas brittle materials (ex. cast iron) fail in tension. See tensile strength.

To calculate: Given failing force and area, example-bolt shear strength:




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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2009-04-02 17:36:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Contribution of Concrete to Shear Resistance

Robert J. Frosch

The contribution of concrete to shear resistance is an important factor considering both the economic and safe design of structural concrete members. While this contribution is often taken for granted in design, there continues to be considerable debate on the internal mechanisms that resist shear and for that matter the shear strength provided by the concrete. For this reason, multiple design expressions can be found in various codes of practice and even within the same design code. Over the past several years, a reevaluation of the shear strength provided by the concrete and in particular the uncracked compression zone has been conducted. This has led to a simple methodology, now adopted in ACI440 design guidelines, for calculating shear capacity that has proven remarkably accurate for a wide range of beams including those constructed with FRP reinforcement. This presentation will highlight the benefits provided by this approach and delve into several of the primary factors influencing shear strength including flexural reinforcement ratio, concrete strength, and size effect.




eski
Mexico
Local time: 18:42
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks eski. I think that the loss of anchorage affects the contribution of the reinforcement bars to shear resistance (or strength?) of the concrete, but the example deals with shearing of the concrete not of the reinforcement bars. Indeed, they are used as reinforcement because steel has higher resistance to shearing than concrete. Fig 5 does show some buckling to a reinforcement bar.

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