When two bodies are forced together contact stresses develop at the interface. These stresses are called bearing stresses and are localized on the surfaces of the bodies.
The following is taken from Mechanics of Materials by James Gere, 7the edition
Fig 1: Clevis – Bolt Joint
The bearing stresses exerted by the clevis against the bolt appear on the left-hand side of the free-body diagram and are labeled 1 and 3. The stresses from the bar appear on the right-hand side and are
labeled 2.
The actual distribution of the bearing stresses is difficult to determine, so it is customary to assume that the stresses are uniformly distributed. Based upon the assumption of uniform distribution, we can calculate an average bearing stress by dividing the total bearing force Fb by the bearing area Ab. The bearing area is defined as the projected area of the curved bearing surface.
This page is part of The Encyclopedia of Stresses in Solids