Tensile stress is when a material is stretched, causing deformation. Test equipment can measure stress and generate a stress-strain curve to determine maximum allowable stress before failure. The ultimate strength varies depending on the material’s elasticity, with soft materials experiencing significant deformation before failure and hard materials having little or no deformation.
Tensile stress occurs when a material is subjected to a tensile or elongation force. Stress is defined as a force applied over a cross-sectional area, with typical units of pounds per square inch (psi) or Newton per square meter, also known as pascals (Pa). The type of stress a material is exposed to will depend on how the force is applied. The three basic types of stress are tensile, compressive, and shear. Understanding this force is important in material selection for mechanical engineering and design applications.
The size of an object under stress will change due to the deformation or deformation that occurs when a force is applied. A material subjected to tensile stress will stretch, or elongate, when it undergoes deformation. A material subjected to low stresses will return to its original dimensions after the force is removed. At high stresses, a material may not return to its original state when the force is removed and permanent deformation will occur. The relationship between the applied stress and the corresponding strain can be used to predict the behavior of a material when exposed to tensile stress.
Test equipment is available that can accurately measure the stress and strain experienced by a material and generate a stress-strain curve. The stress-strain curve typically provides an understanding of how a material will behave when exposed to the applied tensile force and determines the maximum allowable stress before permanent deformation and eventual failure occurs. To measure tensile stress, a gradually increasing force is applied to a test specimen and the amount of force required to stretch and eventually break the specimen is measured and recorded. Materials that are exposed to tensile stresses and experience a large amount of deformation before failure are considered to have high elasticity.
The maximum tensile stress a material can withstand before failing is known as its ultimate strength or tensile strength. The value of the breaking load varies widely depending on the materials. Soft, malleable materials, such as many plastics, rubber, and metals, are considered elastic and will experience significant deformation before complete failure occurs. Hard, brittle materials, such as concrete and glass, will have little or no deformation before complete failure occurs. The ultimate tensile strength for many different types of metal, wood, glass, rubber, ceramic, concrete, and plastic is readily available in various material properties reference manuals.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
