The true distribution of bearing stress in the axial member is somewhat complex; therefore, an approximate approach is used for design. The area of contact is taken as the product of the plate thickness $\mathrm{t}$ and the pin diameter $\mathrm{d}$. The bearing stress is calculated from:

${{\text{σ}}_{}}_{\mathrm{b}}=\frac{\mathrm{P}}{\mathrm{t} {\mathrm{d}}_{\mathrm{pin}}}$