Obstacles in a Structure

Earlier in the course, you learned about the concept of a load path: that a structure provides a path along which load can be transmitted. So in a way, you can think about load flowing through a structure where stress is the local intensity of this flow. But what happens if there is an obstacle to this flow?

Well, any aerodynamicist would tell you that it is important to streamline any disruptions or obstacles within a fluid flow. This leads to the very streamlined and aerodynamic looking shapes of aircraft, but does this translate to structures as well? We will examine the concept of a stress concentration (and thus strain concentration due to Hooke’s Law) which helps us quantify the severity of a disruption in the flow of stress through a structure.