Skills Used: CAD: Fusion 360 design and simulation FEA (static modeling), MATLAB equations and system solver function.

Keywords and topics: Mechanics of Materials principles: bending, torsion, Mohr’s circle, Von Mises stress, principle stresses and failure analysis.

Problem Statement: Design a system to break a copper tube T assembly. Predict at exactly what loads the copper T will break, exactly how and with what loading. Present the exact state of stress at the location of failure and show on Mohr's circle the maximum shear and normal stress that occur at that location.

Summary: Although FEA was not technically part of this assignment I had a lot of fun exploring it during this challenge. First I choose a load configuration that caused both bending and torsion. I solved for the bending stress and shear stress caused by torsion and applied them to a stress element located at the critical point. Since copper is a ductile material and ductile materials fail in shear I only had to solve for the maximum shear stress that occurs in the T using Mohrs circle. Knowing that copper yields at  4.83 ksi, I was able to solve for the exact forces (assuming they are equal to each other) that cause the copper T to yield. Following this I confirmed the location of the critical point in FEA, and investigated several phenomena related to the 3D stress element.