Question

A brass tube has an internal diameter of 120 mm and an outside diameter of 150 mm and is used to support a load of 5 kN. The tube is 500 mm long before the load is applied. Determine by how much the tube contracts when loaded, taking the modulus of elasticity for brass as 90 GPa.

Answer 1

Force in tube, F = 5 kN = 5000 N, and crosssectional area of tube,

Since the modulus of elasticity,

thus, contraction, x = εL = 8.732 × 10⁻⁶ × 0.500

= 4.37 × 10⁻⁶ m.

Thus, when loaded, the tube contracts by 4.37 μm.