Stress (physics)

In physics, stress is the internal distribution of forces within a body that balance and react to the loads applied to it. Stress is a tensor quantity with nine terms, but can be described fully by six terms due to symmetry. Simplifying assumptions are often used to represent stress as a vector for engineering calculations.

Stress measurement

As with force, stress cannot be measured directly but is usually inferred from measurements of strain and knowledge of elastic properties of the material.

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