Force, deformation and Failure

Types of force and deformation

Non-technical word Technical term (noun) Adjective used with Initial deformation of
the nouns stress, load component or member
and force
stretching tension tensile stress It will extend (lengthen).
squashing compression compressive stress It will compress
(shorten).
bending bending bending stress It will bend – we can
also say it will deflect or
flex. Beams usually sag,
deflecting downwards.
In some cases deflection
or flexure is upward- the
beam hogs.
scissoring shear or shearing shear stress It will deform very little,
failing suddenly.
twisting torsion or torque torsional stress It will twist.

 Tension: a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression).

Tension

 Compression: the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress.

Compression

Bending: In applied mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the

behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied
perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element.

Bending

 Shear or Shearing: Shearing in continuum mechanics refers to the occurrence of a shear

strain, which is a deformation of a material substance in which parallel internal surfaces
slide past one another. It is induced by a shear stress in the material.

Shear or Shearing
  Torsion or Torque: torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque.

Torsion or Torque

Bending comprises two opposite stresses: tension and compression. This is shown in the diagram
of a simply supported beam. As a result of the bending force, the lower half of the beam is in
tension and upper half is in compression. These opposite stresses reach their maximum at the
upper and lower surfaces of the beam, and progressively decrease to zero at the neutral axis- an
imaginary line along the centre of the beam which is free from stress.