MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY OF KENYA
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING EXAMINATIONS 2024/2025
SECOND YEAR SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION
FOR BACHELOR OS SCIENCE DEGREE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MME 2225: SOLID MECHANICS I
DATE: 7TH MAY, 2025 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS:
ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IN THE ANSWER BOOKLET PROVIDED
ANSWER QUESTION ONE (COMPULSORY) AND ANY OTHER TWO QUESTIONS
QUESTION ONE - COMPULSORY (THIRTY MARKS)
a) Define the following types of deformation of materials
i. Elastic deformation (1 mark)
ii. Plastic deformation (1 mark)
iii. Brittle deformation (1 mark)
b) Differentiate the following terms as used in mechanical engineering:
i. Engineering stress and true stress (1 marks)
ii. Engineering strain and true strain (1 marks)
c) A cylindrical bar with an original diameter of 12 mm is loaded in tension. The true stress
and true strain at this load are 350 MPa and 0.12, respectively. The final length of the bar is
300 mm, determine:
i. The initial length of the rod (2 marks)
ii. The engineering stress; and (2 marks)
iii. The engineering strain (2 marks)
d) A reinforced cement concrete column of dimension 600 mm×600 mm has eight steel rods
of diameter 40 mm as reinforcement. Find the stresses in steel and concrete, and the
elastic shortening of the column if E= 205 MPa for steel and 10 MPa for concrete. Load
on column = 3000 kN and length = 5 m. (3 marks)
e) A brass rod 2.0 m long is fixed at both ends. If the thermal stress is not to exceed 70 MPa,
calculate the temperature through which the rod should be heated. Take the values of α
and E as 17×10−6/K and 90 GPa, respectively. (2 marks)
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f) Differentiate the following terms:
i. Hoop stress and Longitudinal stress in thin-walled pressure vessels (1 marks)
ii. Tangential and radial stresses in spherical thin-walled pressure vessels (1 marks)
A cylindrical vessel 500 mm long, 200 mm in diameter and of wall thickness 10 mm is
subjected to an internal pressure of 4 MPa. Taking E=207 GPa and Poisson’s ratio =0.3
for the vessel material, calculate the circumferential and longitudinal strain. Calculate the
original volume and change in volume of the vessel. (3 marks)
g) Given the following graph of an engineering material:
i. Identify the points 1, 2 and 3
1……………………………. (1 mark)
2 ……………………………. (1 mark)
3……………………………. (1 mark)
ii. Explain what happens in regions 4 and 5
4. …………………………………………. (1 marks)
5. …………………………………………. (1 marks)
iii. Between the shaded region A and B in the graphs, identify one that describes
resilience and that which describes toughness. Explain each of your answers. (2
marks)
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l) A solid shaft of length 4m and diameter d has shear strength of 150 MPa. If a torque of
200Nm is applied at one of its ends while the other end is fixed, determine the value of d
when factor of safety of 1.5 is used (2 marks)
m) List two tests used to determine impact resistance of a material. (2 marks)
QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)
a) Stake Hooke’s law for stress and strains in engineering materials (2 marks)
b) A cylindrical rod made of aluminum has a diameter of 25 mm and a length of 1 m. A tensile
load of 10 kN is applied along its length.
i. Calculate the direct stress in the rod (2 marks)
ii. If the rod elongates by 0.29 mm under this load, calculate the strain (2 marks)
iii. Given Young's modulus, E, for aluminum is 70 GPa, verify the strain calculation
using the stress-strain relationship (2 marks)
ratio, 𝜈 = 0.3 (4 marks)
iv. Calculate the change in volume and volumetric strain of the rod assuming Poisson's
E
v. Calculate the bulk modulus, K where K= (2 marks)
3 ( 1−2 ν )
c) A steel rod of cross-sectional area 600 mm 2 and a coaxial copper tube of cross-sectional area
1000 mm2 are firmly attached at their ends to form a compound bar. Determine the stress in
the steel and the copper when the temperature of the bar is raised by 80 oC and an axial
tensile force of 60 kN is applied. (6
marks)
For steel, E=200 GPa with α=11×10−6/K
For copper, E=100 GPa with α=16.5×10−6/K
QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)
a) A circular solid shaft of length L, and cross-sectional radius R is subjected to torsion. If it
rotates through an angle θ and has shear strain γ , derive the relationship between shear stress
τ , R, θ , L and shear modulus, G. (4 marks)
b) A hollow cylindrical steel shaft is 1.5 m long and has inner and outer diameters respectively
equal to 40 and 60 mm
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i. What is the largest torque that can be applied to the shaft if the shearing stress is not to
exceed 120 MPa? (3 marks)
ii. What is the corresponding minimum value of the shearing stress in the shaft? (3 marks)
c) Cross-section of a thin tube centroid O and of thickness, t, in torsion is as shown below. The
mean area of cross-section is given as Am and shear flow, q=τt , acting on elemental area,
T
dA=tds , at a distance r from centroid O and s along the wall. Show that τ = . (5
2 Amt
marks)
d) A thin-walled tube of 2 mm thickness has the shape shown in the figure below. Find the
shearing stress caused by a torque of 600 Nm on the tube (5 marks)
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QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)
a) For a cylinder with internal pressure Pi and external pressure Po , force due to external
pressure at two circular ends is given by F o=Po π r 20 and force due to hoop stress is given by
F c =π ( r 20−r 2i ) σ hoop. Longitudinal Force due to internal pressure at the two ends is given by
2 ( P −P o ) r i
F l=π r i Pi . Show that σ hoop ≈ i . (5 marks)
t
b) A close-coiled helical spring shown, composed of a wire of round rod of diameter dd wound
into a helix of mean radius, R, with n number of turns, is subjected to an axial load, P. The
4P
maximum shearing stress is the sum of the direct shearing stress τ 1 = 2 , and the torsional
πd
Td
shearing stress τ 2= , with torque, T =PR . Show that total direct shearing stress
2J
τ=
16 PR
πd
3( 1+ ) d
4R
. (d = diameter of spring, δ = deflection of the spring) (5 marks)
c) A 20m diameter spherical tank is to be used to store gas. The external pressure, P0 to the
sphere is 101.325kPa. The shell plating is 10 mm thick and the working stress of the material,
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that is, the maximum stress to which the material should be subjected, is 125 MPa. What is
the maximum permissible gas pressure, Pi? (6 marks)
d) State two role of each of the following in influencing or preventing failure of thin-walled
pressure vessels:
i. Rotating rings (2 marks)
ii. Welded joints (2 marks)
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