Shear Stress Calculator

This calculator finds the shear stress in a bolt or pin under load, the stress that acts to slice it across its cross-section, for both single and double shear arrangements. Where tensile stress pulls a material apart along its length, shear stress acts across it, as when a bolt holding two plates together is loaded so the plates try to slide past each other, tending to cut the bolt. Shear stress is the shearing force divided by the cross-sectional area resisting it, and checking it against the material's shear strength is essential in mechanical and structural design to ensure fasteners and pins do not fail. This calculator computes it. You enter the applied force, the diameter of the bolt or pin in millimetres, and whether the connection is in single or double shear, and the calculator returns the shear stress in megapascals, the shear area, the stress in pascals, and the force for reference. The results update as you type. Use it for engineering design, for checking fasteners, or for mechanics study. The shear area is the circular cross-section of the bolt, pi times the diameter squared over four, and in double shear there are two such areas resisting the load, so the area is doubled and the stress halved. The shear stress is the force divided by that area. The distinction between single and double shear matters greatly: a bolt in double shear, supported on both sides so it would have to be cut in two places, carries twice the load for the same stress as one in single shear. Comparing the calculated shear stress against the allowable shear strength of the bolt material, with an appropriate safety factor, tells you whether the connection is adequate. This is one of the fundamental checks in the design of bolted and pinned joints, where shear is usually the critical mode of failure.

Shear stress = force / shear area. Area = π d² / 4, doubled for double shear. Compare against the bolt's shear strength with a safety factor. Diameter in mm.