Stress, Strain,

and Strength –
Definition and
Types
 Stress
• In physics, stress is the force acting on the
unit area of a material. The effect of stress
on a body is named as strain. Stress can
deform the body. How much force material
experience can be measured using stress
units. Stress can be categorized into three
categories depending upon the direction of
the deforming forces acting on the body.
 What Is Stress?
• When the deforming force is applied to an object,
the object deforms. In order to bring the object
back to its original shape and size, there will be
an opposing force generated inside the object.
• When the deforming force is applied to an object,
the object deforms. In order to bring the object
back to its original shape and size, there will be
an opposing force generated inside the object.
• Thus, Stress is defined as “The restoring force per
unit area of the material”. It is a tensor quantity.
Denoted by Greek letter σ. Measured
using Pascal or N/m2. Mathematically expressed as –

Where,
• F is the restoring force measured in Newton or N.
• A is the area of cross-section measured in m2.
• σ is the stress measured using N/m2 or Pa.
 Types of Stress

• There are several types of stress in physics

but it is mainly categorized into two forms
that are Normal Stress and Tangential or
Shearing Stress. Some stress types are
discussed in the points below.
 Normal Stress:
• As the name suggests, Stress is said to be
Normal stress when the direction of the
deforming force is perpendicular to the
cross-sectional area of the body. The
length of the wire or the volume of the
body changes stress will be at normal.
Normal stress can be further classified
into two types based on the dimension of
force-
• Longitudinal stress
 Longitudinal Stress:
• Consider a cylinder. When two cross-sectional areas of
the cylinder are subjected to equal and opposite forces
the stress experienced by the cylinder is called
longitudinal stress.
• Longitudinal Stress = Deforming Force / Area of
cross-section = F/A
• As the name suggests, when the body is under
longitudinal stress-
• The deforming force will be acting along the length of the
body.
 Longitudinal Stress:

• The Longitudinal Stress either stretches

the object or compresses the object along
its length. Thus, it can be further classified
into two types based on the direction of
deforming force-
• Tensile stress
• Compressive stress
 Tensile Stress
• If the deforming force or applied
force results in the increase in the
object’s length then the resulting
stress is termed as tensile stress.
For example: When a rod or wire
is stretched by pulling it with
equal and opposite forces
(outwards) at both ends.
 Compressive Stress

• If the deforming force or applied force

results in the decrease in the object’s
length then the resulting stress is termed
as compressive stress. For example: When
a rod or wire is compressed/squeezed by
pushing it with equal and opposite forces
(inwards) at both ends.
 Bulk Stress or Volume Stress

• When the deforming force or applied

force acts from all dimensions
resulting in the change of volume of
the object then such stress in called
volumetric stress or Bulk stress. In
short, when the volume of body
changes due to the deforming force it
is termed as Volume stress.
Shearing Stress or Tangential
Stress
• When the direction of the
deforming force or external
force is parallel to the cross-
sectional area, the stress
experienced by the object is
called shearing stress or
tangential stress. This
results in the change in the
 TENSILE TESTING
•Tensile testing is a fundamental type of mechanical
testing performed by engineers and materials
scientists in manufacturing and research facilities
all over the world.
• A tensile test (or tension test) applies force to a
material specimen in order to measure the
material's response to tensile (or pulling) stress.
•This type of testing provides insight into the
mechanical properties of a material and enables
product designers to make informed decisions
 Strain
• Strain is the deformation of a material from
stress. It is simply a ratio of the change in
length to the original length.
• Deformations that are applied
perpendicular to the cross section
are normal strains, while deformations
applied parallel to the cross section
are shear strains.
 What is Strain?
• Strain is the amount of deformation experienced by the
body in the direction of force applied, divided by the
initial dimensions of the body.
• The following equation gives the relation for
• deformation
where ε is the in terms
strain dueof
tothe
the length
stress of a solid:
applied, δl is the change in length and L is
the original length of the material.
• The strain is a dimensionless quantity as it
just defines the relative change in shape.
 Types of Strain
• Strain experienced by a body can be of
two types depending on stress
application as follows:
 Tensile Strain
• The deformation or elongation of a solid
body due to applying a tensile force or
stress is known as Tensile strain. In other
words, tensile strain is produced when a
body increases in length as applied forces
try to stretch it.
 Compressive Strain

• Compressive strain is the deformation

in a solid due to the application of
compressive stress. In other words,
compressive strain is produced when a
body decreases in length when equal
and opposite forces try to compress it.
 Hooke’s Law
• Hooke’s Law states that the strain of the material
is proportional to the applied stress within the
elastic limit of that material.
• Mathematically, Hooke’s law is commonly
expressed as:
F = –k.x
• Where F is the force, x is the extension in length,
and k is the constant of proportionality known as
the spring constant in N/m.
 Elasticity
• Elasticity is a physical property of a material
whereby the material returns to its original shape
after having been stretched out or altered by force.
Substances that display a high degree of elasticity
are termed "elastic."
• The SI unit applied to elasticity is the pascal (Pa),
which is used to measure the modulus of deformation
and elastic limit.
• The causes of elasticity vary depending on
the type of material.
• Polymers, including rubber, may exhibit
elasticity as polymer chains are stretched
and then subsequently return to their
original form when the force is removed.
• Metals may display elasticity as atomic
lattices change shape and size, again,
returning to their original form once energy
is removed.
• Examples: Rubber bands and elastic and
other stretchy materials display elasticity.
Modeling clay, on the other hand, is
relatively inelastic and retains a new
shape even after the force that caused it
to change is no longer being exerted.
 Tensile strength
• Tensile strength can be defined as the maximum
stress that a material can bear before breaking
when it is allowed to be stretched or pulled
• Tensile strength is a key parameter in borehole
facture calculations. Two methods are normally
used to measure it in the lab:
• 1.Direct test
• 2Brazilian disk test
 Strain Energy
• Strain energy is defined as the energy
stored in a body due to deformation.
• The strain energy per unit volume is known
as strain energy density and the area under
the stress-strain curve towards the point of
deformation.
• When the applied force is released, the
whole system returns to its original shape.
 Strength of Materials
• Strength of Materials (also known
as Mechanics of Materials and Mechanics
of Deformable Bodies) is the study of the
internal effect of external forces applied to
structural member.
• Stress, strain, deformation deflection,
torsion, flexure, shear diagram, and
moment diagram are some of the topics
Strength of Materials
• The knowledge of this subject is a must in
Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering,
Materials Engineering, Electrical
Engineering, etc. Select a topic below for
solved problems in Mechanics and Strength
of Materials.