My watch list

Shear modulus

In materials science, shear modulus, G, or sometimes S or μ, sometimes referred to as the modulus of rigidity, is defined as the ratio of shear stress to the shear strain:^[1]

Material	Typical values for shear modulus (GPa) (at room temperature)^[2]
Steel	79.3
Copper	63.4
Titanium	41.4
Glass	26.2
Aluminium	25.5
Polyethylene	0.117
Rubber	0.0003

$G \ \stackrel{\mathrm{def}}{=}\ \frac{F/A}{\Delta x/h} = \frac{F h}{\Delta x A}$

Additional recommended knowledge

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Correct Test Weight Handling Guide: 12 Practical Tips

Recognize and detect the effects of electrostatic charges on your balance

where

F / A

= shear stress;

force

F

acts on area

A

;

Δ x / h

= shear strain;

with initial length

h

and transverse displacement

Δ x

Shear modulus is usually measured in GPa (gigapascals) or ksi (thousands of pounds per square inch).

Explanation

The shear modulus is one of several quantities for measuring the strength of materials. All of them arise in the generalized Hooke's law. Young's modulus describes the material's response to linear strain (like pulling on the ends of a wire), the bulk modulus describes the material's response to uniform pressure, and the shear modulus describes the material's response to shearing strains. Anisotropic materials such as wood and paper exhibit differing material response to stress or strain when tested in different directions.

The shear modulus is concerned with the deformation of a solid when it experiences a force parallel to one of its surfaces while its opposite face experiences an opposing force (such as friction). In the case of an object that's shaped like a rectangular prism, it will deform into a parallelepiped.

In solids, there are two kinds of sound waves, pressure waves and shear waves. The speed of sound for shear waves is controlled by the shear modulus.

References

^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. "shear modulus, G". Compendium of Chemical Terminology Internet edition.
^ Crandall, Dahl, Lardner (1959). An Introduction to the Mechanics of Solids. McGraw-Hill.
^ Shear modulus calculation of glasses

v • d • e Elastic moduli for homogeneous isotropic materials

Conversion formulas
Homogeneous isotropic linear elastic materials have their elastic properties uniquely determined by any two moduli among these, thus given any two, any other of the elastic moduli can be calculated according to these formulas.
	$(\lambda,\,\mu)$	$(E,\,\mu)$	$(K,\,\lambda)$	$(K,\,\mu)$	$(\lambda,\,\nu)$	$(\mu,\,\nu)$	$(E,\,\nu)$	$(K,\, \nu)$	$(K,\,E)$
$K=\,$	$\lambda+ \frac{2\mu}{3}$	$\frac{E\mu}{3(3\mu-E)}$			$\lambda\frac{1+\nu}{3\nu}$	$\frac{2\mu(1+\nu)}{3(1-2\nu)}$	$\frac{E}{3(1-2\nu)}$
$E=\,$	$\mu\frac{3\lambda + 2\mu}{\lambda + \mu}$		$9K\frac{K-\lambda}{3K-\lambda}$	$\frac{9K\mu}{3K+\mu}$	$\frac{\lambda(1+\nu)(1-2\nu)}{\nu}$	$2\mu(1+\nu)\,$		$3K(1-2\nu)\,$
$\lambda=\,$		$\mu\frac{E-2\mu}{3\mu-E}$		$K-\frac{2\mu}{3}$		$\frac{2 \mu \nu}{1-2\nu}$	$\frac{E\nu}{(1+\nu)(1-2\nu)}$	$\frac{3K\nu}{1+\nu}$	$\frac{3K(3K-E)}{9K-E}$
$\mu=\,$			$3\frac{K-\lambda}{2}$		$\lambda\frac{1-2\nu}{2\nu}$		$\frac{E}{2+2\nu}$	$3K\frac{1-2\nu}{2+2\nu}$	$\frac{3KE}{9K-E}$
$\nu=\,$	$\frac{\lambda}{2(\lambda + \mu)}$	$\frac{E}{2\mu}-1$	$\frac{\lambda}{3K-\lambda}$	$\frac{3K-2\mu}{2(3K+\mu)}$					$\frac{3K-E}{6K}$
$M=\,$	$\lambda+2\mu\,$	$\mu\frac{4\mu-E}{3\mu-E}$	$3K-2\lambda\,$	$K+\frac{4\mu}{3}$	$\lambda \frac{1-\nu}{\nu}$	$\mu\frac{2-2\nu}{1-2\nu}$	$E\frac{1-\nu}{(1+\nu)(1-2\nu)}$	$3K\frac{1-\nu}{1+\nu}$	$3K\frac{3K+E}{9K-E}$