Why is it Important to Study Stress and Strain?

When you are talking about solids and various other materials, it is crucial to understand how these types of materials usually react when a force is applied. This process helps the students identify their strengths, deformations, and various other parameters acting on the objects. And to find these parameters, the stress and strain quantities are important. Here, in this article, we are going to provide a detailed guide about these aspects including how we define stress and strain, their types, and difference between stress and strain. Also let us learn about stress formula and strain formula.

Why is it important to study stress and strain?

It is important to study the stress and strain curve differences and basics, and stress strain curve, all of which will help in ascertaining the amount of stress or load that a material is capable of handling before it breaks, gets distorted, or stretches. So, the study of stress and strain is all about understanding how and why certain materials are more malleable and can be easily deformed or distorted than others.

Stress is defined as the force per unit area that is observed by a material when an external force is applied. These external forces are generally uneven heating, permanent deformation, etc.

Types of Stress

There are different types of Stress that can be applied to a material, such as

Compressive Stress

When a force acts on a body, it causes a reduction in the volume of the said body, resulting in deformation. This type of stress is referred to as Compressive stress.

Compressive stress leads to material failure that is ultimately caused due to tension. The compressive stress from its application to brittle materials differs from that of ductile materials.

Tensile Stress

When an external force is applied per unit area on a material, and it results in the stretching of the said material, then it is described as Tensile Stress.

Tensile stress leads to elongation of any material due to external stretching force.

If a body experiences deformation due to the applied external force in a particular direction, it is called strain. Moreover, the strain does not have any dimensions, as it only explains the change in the shape of the object.

Types of Strain

Similar to stress, strain is also differentiated into Compressive Strain and Tensile Strain.

Compressive Strain

Compressive strain is defined as the deformation observed on an object when compressive stress acts on it. And in this type of strain, the length of the material or object generally decreases.

Tensile Strain

The Tensile stress acting on a body or a material that causes the increase in the length of said material is referred to as a tensile strain.

The stress-strain curve typically consists of several distinct regions:

Let us understand stress-strain curve as we try to understand the stress-strain graph better through various regions:

Elastic Region: In this region, the material deforms elastically in response to applied stress, meaning it returns to its original shape once the stress is removed. The relationship between stress and strain is linear, and this region is characterized by Hooke’s Law, which states that stress is proportional to strain.

Yield Point: Beyond a certain stress threshold known as the yield point, the material begins to deform plastically, meaning it undergoes permanent deformation even after the stress is removed. The yield point marks the transition from elastic to plastic deformation.

Plastic Region: In this region, the material continues to deform plastically with increasing stress, undergoing significant strain without a proportional increase in stress. Plastic deformation is irreversible, and the material’s shape changes permanently.

Ultimate Tensile Strength: The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) is the maximum stress that a material can withstand before failure occurs. It represents the highest point on the stress-strain curve and indicates the material’s resistance to fracture under tension.

Fracture Point: Beyond the ultimate tensile strength, the material experiences a rapid decrease in stress leading to fracture or failure. The fracture point marks the end of the stress-strain curve, indicating the material’s ultimate failure under tension.

Difference between stress and strain

In physics, stress refers to the force that is acting per unit area of the object, whereas strain depicts the ratio of the change in an object’s dimension to its original dimension. In physical parlance, stress is equivalent to Pressure and its unit is Pascal or psi, or pounds. On the other hand, strain signifies the ratio of change in dimensions to that of the original dimension, therefore has no units of measurement. Strain, however, can be measured by strain gauges.

Stress and strain are related, but are characterised by distinct properties. Stress causes deformation, while strain can be caused by several types of stress, including tension or compression.

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